Continued from previous Archived Thread, the party meets up in the middle of the street in Soubar and head into the tavern to discuss what they wish to do with the items. A debt needs to be settled and a couple of the items are very useful. Amara needs to be paid back, unless the party funds are used to pay her back. You all have a somewhat decent meal and the workers of the tavern are grateful for the business.

-3 gold, 4 silver, 6 copper + tip (if you want to)

Aliana will pay 3 gp and 5 sp. To leave a good tip.  Well fed, she was amiable to just about anything

Kali, still  uncomfortable indoors, ate a meal of vegetable stew with bread, she payed the three gold and five silver, leaving a decent tip, she was one of the first out the door

Roen doesn't eat or drink anything as he sits at the table with the party for the discussion.

"When you all divided the treasure before, I wasn't really involved while I was focusing on being out of that mirror. I have taken vows not to keep any wealth, so please divide it among yourselves, the poor and to help Lorrik pay off his debt."

Roen,  you get an equal share of whatever we find, recover, or salvage as long as you are a part of this group.  What you do with your share is totally up to you.  I have a debt to the group because I wanted to keep a second item and we didn't have enough items and money to make the shares come out equally at that time.  While I could use a couple of the items we have from our latest adventure, I don't have the need or desire to take them and those items would be better served by being in the hands of fellow party members.

"I agree with Byron, for a change.   Roen, you should get your full share.  Yes, you'll give it away, and that's fine.  But it will go to charities that you think will be the most help, rather than going to buy my dirigible.  Even though once I get it, you'll always be welcome aboard.

Perhaps you should consider giving some of your share to Lorrik, in addition to his own share, that would save his farm and allow him to hire on hands to help work it and keep it from falling into peril in the future.  I would think helping a young man protect his home and family is a worthy cause.  He's unlike to blow it like any typical adventurer would.

And speaking of shiny things.  If anybody can really make use of one of the items, then they should use it.  But if it's just a shiny that would be nice to have, it should be sold so that we can get enough coin to help Lorrik and fix up the tower."

Twiggy shrugged, he understood not wanting to keep money. Many of his family lived basic. Roen said something before that the halfling remembered "Maybe you can get Nolan to make you one of those decanter of endless water items. Then you can give it to the farmers like you originally wanted to. I think that would be better than just giving your money to people "

Kali couldn't help but smile at the dynamics of Myarra and Byron, two of the closest friends she had made in the short time she had been with the group. She looked at Myarra. "You agreeing with Byron is disturbing, but for one the human had a uncommonly wise thought." She looked at Byron with a cheeky smile. It was not bivouac the comment was meant to stir the both of them, but she knew Byron would take it harder the Myarra....the woman was so frustratingly unflappable!

"And as for helping Lorick, I may be able to help him too. Though Druids frown on the destruction that farmer cause the land, losing ones home is equally disturbing....maybe my skills can help his farm prosper."

"Then, if no one objects, I shall take the dagger. I have no magical weapons, and you never know when you might come into an unexpectedly tight spot and could benefit from such a thing." Amara replied. "And it sounds like Sister Aliana would like the bow? So shall we sell back the rest and divide the proceeds?" Amara wanted to be going.

Roen listen to the party's advice and shook his head in agreement. He gave plenty of coin to the Temples in this town, so it was time to help others in the next town.

"Yes, I planned on helping the young lad with his debt. I seem to remember a barn that was burnt down? What else do you think you'll need, Lorrik?"

Sister Aliana wrote a letter to Nolan

"Dear Nolan,
I've had a change of plans, in terms  of magical needs.  Rather than the wand you were making for me, would it be possible to make Gauntlets of strength?  The minimum boost should be sufficient.  Any increases in cost should be no problem.
If, however, it's too late and the wand making processnhas already started, then please continue as normal.
My apologies for any inconvenience, and thank you for your help regardless.
Your friend, Sister Aliana Farwalker."

Then, she went to find a message service
This message was last edited by the player at 12:24, Tue 09 July 2019.

So, the group makes their decisions on what to do with the party treasure and they eat their lunch and head back to Aki's place to do the selling. With promises to come back to his shop first so he can look over your "goodies" found in the forest first, he agrees to 60%. He completely understands that the party wanted to keep a couple items and pays you for what is left in 100gp rubies, unless you want to be paid with Platinum or Gold. Amara validates their value.

Treasure found/Party treasure thread has been updated

Lorrik is absolutely stunned by his share of the treasure and talks about plans with the farm. It sounds like he's already spent his small fortune with what he wants to buy. After leaving Aki's shop, you head over to a local merchant to buy food and drink and to a stable to look at horses. Aliana and Twiggy wander off together so she can send off her message to Nolan and for Twiggy to find an item he wanted to buy(Aki didn't have it, but suggested 2 places to check out)

Twiggy pockets the rubies and thanks everyone saying he will meet them back at the inn later. He walks away with Aliana and asks "I am looking for some boots of elvenkind. I met a swashbuckler once that glided across the floor in them. I asked why they were so silent and he just grinned and said "tis elf knowledge". Appatently they don't share the crafting so if you spot some please let me know.

Roen asked for coin for his "share", as he was going to give it away to the needy once the party reached Triel. With Lorrik getting an equal share, Roen was pleased. Now Roen will help the poor in Triel to make their lives easier and to ease their suffering. He was looking forward to this.

Arriving at a local stable, you get a tour from the owner who takes you inside the barn and shows you what he has for sale:

4 Light Horses
1 Light War Horse
1 Heavy Horse

NO Military Gear

Across the street is a Mercantile where you can buy food for the trip

OOC: Everything is Book Price

+++++++++++

Twiggy follows Aliana who wanted to send a message to Nolan. She asked a wandering town guard and he suggested a Scribe and where to find one. It takes about 20 minutes and the Scribe has a local boy do the deed...for 3 gold. The Scribe was smiling until he saw who the note was for and then he looked at the boy with a scowl and told him that he had better make sure the message was delivered. Aliana pays for the service and then follows Twiggy to where he wants to go.

The first place Twiggy goes, the seller mainly deals in scrolls and some very minor magic items. Twiggy asks for what he wants, but he doesn't have it. He suggests other spots around town and they are on Twiggy's list. Arriving at the second location, The seller has scrolls and potions and some minor magic items, but again, doesn't have what Twiggy is looking for. It appears Soubar is a bust.

Byron gets enough trail rations to have 2 weeks worth.  He also gets enough rations for 2 weeks for his war horse (Charger).

OOC: BB please deduct what it will cost me to do that.

Twiggy shruggs at not finding his boots. Maybe they will be in another town. He then walks up to the horses and their bellies are at his head "This town has been a bust for everything I wanted. Let me get some food." Twiggy then buys the same rations as Byron, minus the horse feed.

Lorrik looked over the horses and didn't want anything to do with the War Horse. He didn't want to be mistaken for being in the military. The Big Horse was just too big for him, so he settled for one of the Light horses. He liked the look of the Brown Stallion and it appeared that he knew his way around animals without getting hurt, as he inspected the horse. Nodding with approval after he rode the horse, he purchases it, along with a saddle, a blanket, bit and bridle and 2 saddlebags. He also gets food with Byron, but only enough to get him home to Triel.

Kali followed after Byron, buying the minimal rations for herself. She was a druid....she knew where to find food if need be, and she had no need of a mount

Myarra gladly accepts her share of the treasure toward her long-time goal.  Only 90,000 gps to go.

She still has her horse, so all she needs to do is pick up some rations (10days) to store in the saddlebags.   Foraging off the land was all well can good, but it took time and effort.  And she'd eaten far worse than trail rations in her day.

The horse can graze on the way.  Once they reach farm country, the grasses should be more than enough.

Once done with her errands, Alaina would join the others and get the Light War Horse, unless another person wanted it

Kalliyan smiled as she knew she could turn into a bird and easily cover the distance the party was going to travel. While she followed Byron and Lorrik while they were buying supplies, Myarra stayed around to make sure Aliana wasn't going to get ripped off on her horse, because she was a "girl". She had her eyes on the Light War Horse, but the dealer seemed like a fair man and she paid market value for the Mare. She's grey with white spots, she's 6 years old and her name is Maggie. That brings back memories for Myarra...

Light War Horse
Saddle
Blanket
Bit and Bridle
2 Saddle bags
190.3 gp

After the horses have been purchased, you all go shopping at the Mercantile across the street. Byron, Lorrik and Kalliyan are already there....

Aliana thanked her winged friend for her help

Still having her horse, Amara purchases saddlebags (8gp), 2 weeks rations for herself (7gp), some extra honey for her hummingbird (1gp), and 2 weeks grain (7sp) for her horse.

Twiggy gets a week of rations and stuffs them all in the side pouch of his haversack. He also grabs several bags of hard candy and a couple bottles of whiskey just for kicks.

Walking outside he walks over by Myrra "Can I ride with you until I can find a mount more suitable for me? Do you think anywhere people sell riding rams?"

In reply to Twiggy Flinch (msg # 25):
Aliana frowned in thought
"Probably on the mountains, I'd guess "

"Not a problem," Myarra tells Twiggy.  "I'll be happy to have you along.  At least I'll have someone intelligent to talk to other than my horse.  She's a worshipper of Epona.  I know she's very persuasive, but don't believe her. Centaurs are not half horse/half human in the traditional sense."

Byron teases both Myarra and Twiggy as he hears them talking.

Just make sure you don't have any money he can reach easily.  And, if you think Twiggy is intelligent then you might have been out in the sun too long today.

Twiggy climbs onto Myrra's horse and pats the beast on the side, he didn't know who Epona "Is Epona the cenataur god? I have never met a cenataur but would like to."  As Byron teases the halfling chuckles "Don't worry Myarra, your purse is safe. Although I may have to steal Byron's sword and replace it with an parasol."

"I trust all of you with my money," Myarra tells Byron.  "Just as you all trust me not to wrap my loving arms around you and take you on a magical midnight flight to see the moons close up, followed by an extremely rapid return to the ground.  It's this kind of trust that makes us such an incredibly effective team."

She looks back at Twiggy.  "Epona is the goddess of horses, at least according the a small tribe of folks I ran away from once.  I use to have a small gold statue of her hence the running. But it and I were parted as soon as I got to a civilized marketplace."

With new horses and food bought, the group decides to not waste any time staying in town and decides to hit the road. It's around 1pm-ish when you leave, but with it being close to early Summer, the light will stay out longer, so you figure you have at least 5 hours of travel you can do today before setting up camp. Traveling S/E along the road, you pass farms for a couple hours and pass by all sorts of traffic coming to town: farmers, traders, groups of riders, etc..

By the end of the day, you start looking for a place to rest for the night and spot an old abandoned farm South of the road. The place might have water and a roof over your head, but there is what appears to be a trader there with his wagon and 4 guards. They look to be caravan guards. They spot the group and talk to themselves. The farm is perhaps 50 yards from the road....

Byron looks over at the guards.

OOC:  Looking to see if the guards have any markings on their armor that we would recognize.

Byron turns to Kali and Aliana.

Shall we go say hi to them?

Roen was on foot as he walked to the front of the group to take a look at the guards at the farm,

"I could go over to them and ask if we could share the space with them for the night? I look a lot less threatening than you do, Byron. They're probably worried that we might rob them."

As soon as they come in sight of the other group, Myarra morphs into a less intimidating form, a young human woman with bright red hair.

"As long as they're not cult, it's always best to be polite," she agrees.

Myrra feels Twiggy behind her wiggling a bit "I wonder if they have fresh milk. Nothing better than fresh milk with some cookies. Let's go say hi and see if we can sleep in his barn."

In reply to Byron Rockhead (msg # 32):

Byron doesn't see anything special that he could identify, but the guards are wearing the same type of armor: Chain Shirt with Bucklers that are painted purple. They are also carrying Longswords. The wagon doesn't have any distinguishing marks of ownership either, but the wagon looks pretty new and the 2 horses are Heavy War Horses like Charger that are being taken into the barn, so the party's hopes for the barn are looking grim, unless Roenthelm is a good talker...

I don't see anything would identify them with the Dragon Cult so go on ahead Roen.  Just yell if you get into trouble and we come to your rescue.

Amara would like a roof over her head, but knows that most people do not take kindly to her race - and with good reason, in general. "Why don't we just press on?" They've no reason to trust the caravan, and they have reason not to trust the party.

As Roenthelm starts to walk down the old road to the abandoned farm, one of the guards walks towards him and holds up his hand at around the 50 foot mark. He takes note of Roenthelm's ragged attire, but he isn't rude about it,

"Can I help you?" the guard asked

The guard looks to be human, brown hair and probably in his mid-20's.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:07, Fri 26 July 2019.

Kali walked beside Byron in silence, contemplating the world, and only came out of it when she noticed Roenthelm movements towards the soldiers. The woman sighed, shaking her head. "Haven't we had enough excitement without people looking for some?" She muttered.

She none the less stayed close to Byron, ready for whatever came

He's not looking for trouble, rather to see if we can share the area with them for the night.

Byron replies quietly to Kali.

It is a shame that most everyone assumes that some are evil, just because of their looks or features.  While I thought the troll in the other tower was evil, I didn't go out of my way to kill it first then ask questions.  Now a group of orcs would probably be different.

Byron continues on quietly as he glaces over at Amara.

When the guard held up his hand, Roen stopped and smiled,

"We're just weary travelers looking for a place to spend the night that has some shelter and maybe some water. But, we totally understand if you want your privacy."

08:19, Today: Roenthelm rolled 31 using 1d20+16.  Diplomacy.

Twiggy sighs behind Myrra, letting the thought of milk and cookies go, as he hears Byron and Kali talk. He frowns because he knows they are right "I noticed awhile back that the adventuring life makes you a little cynical of the world. The longer you travel the more you have to have your gaurd up all the time. Not everyone is out to get you but enough are to make you nervious."

Amara just shrugged. She was used to being judged based on her looks - it had ceased to bother her.

The guard smiles,

"Yes, we would like our privacy, but you are more than welcome to get some water from the well to water your horses and fill your stores."

Roen smiled and thanked the guard,

"Yes, that would be great. Thank you. We'll use the well, then be on our way."

Walking back to the group, Roen repeated the guard's request to his friends.

"With the horses watered and everyone's skins topped off, I'm sure we can find a suitable location for us up the road."

So, the party is directed to the well to water their horses, while the guards stand near their wagon, watching the party. They don't speak to the party, which is usual for caravan guards, but once you're finished and headed off up the road, they do wave to you. Myarra made a mental note that she could have easily taken those guards and the wagon, but figured that she's probably carrying more money than that whole wagon and its contents was worth. You all find an old campsite about an hour later and make camp.

Standard watch list from Thread is set up. Does anyone want to do anything special?

I will spend some time training and practicing with Lorrik

Kali, with raieylan at her side, will scout the perimeter of camp. Raieylan will take up a hidden spot on the outskirts (maybe in a tree, etc) and watch over the team.

Kali will then sit down, crossed legged and close her eyes, meditating

Twiggy walks around the surrounding area to make sure nothing is about.  He then walks the edge of the road from the way they came just to make sure the merchants didn't decide to follow them. While walking around Twiggy has his sling ready in case he jumps a rabbit.

 If nothing is about then Twiggy goes back and helps make a meal.

Myarra nods to the guards as they head up the road to find a new campsite.  Once there, she unpacks the few things she's going to need for the night and prepares her bedroll.  Then, with nothing more specific to do (although if anybody has an chores that need doing, they only need to ask) she moves over and watches Byron and Lorrik training.

The shifts are set after camp is made and after everyone has done their chores and their practicing, the guard shifts start after dinner. Each shift has at least 1 or more wagons roll by during the night, but nobody bothers the group. The same goes on for the next 2 days as you get closer to Triel. The farms are on the outskirts of town and supply Triel with crops and livestock. Lorrik points to the North near the Trielta Hills and tells the party where his farm is. You push on pretty late and make it to Triel around 8:15pm. Lorrik is excited to be back in his territory, but sad that his friends are dead. He tells the party that he has no idea how he is going to explain to the families what happened or how he came upon so much money, but he can't wait to pay off his debt to Lord Centauri in the morning....
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:48, Sat 03 Aug 2019.

"The only place to stay in Triel is the Weary Traveler's Inn and Tavern. It's a big place and noisy, but at this time of night, it's the only place I know that's open for us to get a room and something to eat. The stables are kinda dirty, though."

Twiggy nods "As long as they have ale and food I am good with the Weary Traveler. Which house is Lord Centauri's residence?

Twiggy, try to keep your hands out of other people's money bags for once.

"When I came through here last, this place was alot smaller. Just a group of farms and a trading post in town." Roen said to the group "It's much bigger now."

Listening to Lorrik talk about the town and the rich Lord,

"Money does that to people. He probably has enough to help every soul in this place, but decides to keep it all to himself. I feel sorry for him."

Twiggy chuckles at Byron "Don't worry Byron, my hands will not try for any money bags. However, something tells me this lord has a vault that needs my hands to give it some love. Maybe if he didn't have as much he wouldn't be as corrupt? 

"If it is safe, then I am for it. If it is not safe, I would prefer being outside, under the light of the moon," Amara voiced.

Byron gives Twiggy a stern look, but in a half serious, half teasing tone says.

Twiggy, if I find out you have helped yourself to the contents of a vault by illicit means I will kick you all the way back to Daak.

Turning to look Roen, Byron continues.

My friend, people have differing views on money and needs.  I do not say that your way is the best way or that this Centauri's way is the best way either.  My parents and brother struggle to make sure they have enough money to get them through a bad harvest year.  Most years they do fine and can save some for the next time the bad times hit.  Myarra, who wants to own a flying ship has her own views about money.  My views differ slightly from both my parents and Myarra's views.  I want enough to live comfortably when I decide to retire from adventuring.  However, I'm undecided if I want some monstrous castle to live in and rule over an area or be more like Amos and just run a business in a town and be happy that way.

Byron pauses before going on.

Lorrik, are Centauri's sons still a pain in the town's side at times?  When I was about 16 I came through here with some friends of mine in search of adventure.  They seemed to enjoy provoking people into duels.  I know that officially Centauri frowns upon such things, but he puts too much belief into his sons version of what happens.  At least that is how I remember it from 3 years ago.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sun 04 Aug 2019.

"Yeah, that seems about right. When my father and I came to town once a week to sell parts of the crop and get supplies, we just tried to avoid them."

Lorrik heard what Amara had to say and stopped his horse.
OOC: The party is currently located at the 2% writing on the Triel Map.

"When it was my Pa and I, we didn't have problems, but our group will get much attention. Amara, to be blunt, you are very attractive, as is Aliana, Kalliyan and even Myarra." Lorrik said as he pointed to Myarra "Myarra, even though other worldly blood runs through your veins that most people would fear, it's obvious you have your mother's good looks. I think it would be safer if we made camp outside of town and come into town in the morning. I'll pay what I owe and we all can stay at the farm."

"I trust your judgement, master Lorrik. I'm sure we can find a nice spot for the night down the road."

"If we have to keep watch anyway, better in one group, at a campsite," Amara states.

Aliana blushed a bit at Lorrik's words, but nodded her understanding and followed the others

"That's why I use my circlet whenever I travel. At least until the locals know me. It's best not to attract attention," Myarra agrees.

"But you are going to be carrying a lot of money, Lorrik, it would not be wise to travel alone.  Take Roenthelm and Twiggy with you.  Roenthelm won't attract the attention of treasure seekers, and Twiggy can be nearby without actually being with you.  He can scout out the path and detour you around anything that looks suspicious.

And come and fetch us if necessary."

I'll go with Lorrik too.  I doubt that Centauri's sons will recognize me.  I've gained a some muscle and height since I was last here.

"Yes, but encased in that armored shell, you might make people think something is up. Ideally we'd like nobody to look twice at Lorrik until he turns over the payment and it's all a done deal.  We want Lorrik to look like a normal farmer's lad in town for the day, not a heavily armed warrior with his own band of mercenaries.

I freely admit that I might be paranoid, but that doesn't mean people aren't actually out to get us."

Myarra, you are paranoid.  However, you make a reasonable argument in this case and just gave me a good thought as well.

Byron turns to look at Lorrik.

Lorrik, only take money you need to pay off the debt, nothing else.  No sense in letting anyone else know you have some extra coin.  That would attract attention that you don't want or need.  I'd also suggest not wearing the sword Amos gave you.  That will probably attract some attention as well.

"So, we don't want to spend the night outside of town?" Lorrik asked, a bit confused "We can get rooms in town, but I don't know what that will attract, if anything."

We can get rooms in town if that what the others want to do.  I'm just saying you don't want to go around flashing the fact that you have money while you are in town.  It will best for you if others don't know how much you really have.

Twiggy grunts "And these lords are shrewd enough to know that adventurers equal money.  If we all go into town with you Lorrick then the debt may quadruple. Actually Roen would be a good person to bring. He looks broke all the time, no offence Roen. I am going to buy a pillow for my bottom for the trip back to
 Daak, Byron's leg is gonna be tired. Looking at the halfling you realize you have never seen him like this. He has a seething anger in him and is quite determined to do whatever is brewing in his thoughts.

Lorrik chooses the safe route and the party finds a camp site out of town for the night. It takes a bit to find something in the dark, but it will due for the night. He's pretty confident that things will be great and that he'll get things settled in the morning. You set up your planned guard watch and during each shift, you see people going in and out of town, but nobody bothers you.

The next day arrives.

So, Lorrik leaves his Masterwork Longsword with Byron, takes 300 gold with him and Roenthelm, Twiggy and Lorrik head into town, ahead of the rest of the party. Myarra follows about 10 minutes later and the rest of the party about 15 minutes after that. They head on over to the Tavern/Inn to get some breakfast. Twiggy disappears into an alley once Lorrik and Roenthelm were on the road leading to Lord Pervis Centauri's residence. When Lorrik and Roenthelm get past the two homes and it looked like they were headed to the mansion, the 2 guards at the door, previously slacking a bit before, go back to guard duty when they see the visitors approaching. They call out to Lorrik and Roenthelm 20 feet before they approach the steps to the mansion.

"Hand-outs are at the Temples." the guard said, pointing down the street "That way."
-----------------------------

Twiggy looks on from the alley and sees the guards talking to Lorrik and Roenthelm. It's obvious the guards think the two are poor, looking for money. Which is typical of door guards.

-----------------------------

Amara, Byron, Kalliyan and Aliana takes the horses to the tavern/inn and tie them out front, while they go inside for breakfast. The inside of the tavern is quite nice and clean and you can smell breakfast being cooked. There are already at least a dozen people eating breakfast and another 5 in line to the breakfast line, getting their meal. Byron goes to the line and the girl behind the counter tells you breakfast is 2 silver each. You can see eggs, bacon, sausages, rolls, fruits, etc...You grab a tray and they serve you, so people won't take advantage.

.

I pay for the 4 of us and look around.  Trying to spot anyone who might think they can cause us some trouble so I know who to avoid.

Byron speaks to Kali as he looks around.

Raie's going to be ok out there on his own?

Roen just smiled at the guards. Byron was correct in his assumption that the guards wouldn't think much of him.

"We're not here for a hand-out, my friend. We're here to see Lord Centauri." Roen said with a smile "The lad here has business with him."

20:31, Today: Roenthelm rolled 32 using 1d20+16.  Diplomacy.

Aliana grabbed a very unelven breakfast, smiling at her servers as she did so

"Yes, my name is Lorrik, son of Johan Stenfell. I'm here to pay off what my father owed to Lord Centauri." Lorrik said to the guards
This message was last updated by the player at 12:33, Wed 07 Aug 2019.

Twiggy pulls to the shadows in the alley more as he watches the conversation. His eyes wander to the defences of the mansion and the easiest way to scale the walls.


12:35, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 19 using 1d20+15.  Hide.

Twiggy looks at the walls and it doesn't look hard at all to be able to scale the wall to the roof or to a window. There might even be a balcony in the back that has a nice view of the gardens, for all Twiggy knew....
______________

Byron pays for the ladies breakfast and they find a table to sit at while Byron looks for possible trouble. It might be too early for that, but you never know...
______________

The guards look over Lorrik and Roenthelm to see if they pose a threat,

"Stay here. I will inform Lord Centauri."

One of the guards goes into the mansion, while the second one keeps an eye on Lorrik and Roenthelm. Both guards are dressed in Chainmail armor and carry Halberds for their long reach. A couple minutes pass by and the second guard comes back out.

"Leave your weapons at the door and follow me."

The only weapon Lorrik has on him is a dagger, as he slowly pulls it out and hands it to the guard. He doesn't even have his armor on, taking the party's advice by not looking "rich". He just wants to pay the bill and go back to the farm. With his new wealth, Lorrik is thinking about all sorts of new upgrades he could do. He then follows the guard inside...

The guard pats down Lorrik and Roenthelm to make sure they didn't have anything hidden and the other guard leads the duo through the front door and immediately left into an office. The home, what you've seen just walking through the front door, is nice. Very nice. The rumors about his value might be true. Once through the door, you enter a large room with books on shelves, nice paintings hanging on the walls, stuffed animals in corners of the room and a large mahogany desk near a big window that over-sees the town. Standing behind the desk is Lord Centauri. Human, dark hair, tall, thin, late 50's. Fancy dress and a rapier strapped to his side. He's looking at a ledger on his desk and motions for the two of you to sit down. The chairs are plush and comfortable.

"Young, Master Lorrik. When the guard told me you were here, I was surprised and a bit relieved to hear that you were OK. The last I heard, you and a group of your friends went into the forest to look for treasure. That was a fortnight ago. And now you are here to pay off your debt? Where are the rest of your friends? Their families are worried sick about them."

"Everyone but me was killed by Gargoyles at a ruin in the forest. We had a camp in the ruins we were staying at and I managed to get there. I don't know how. I still have the claw scars on my back." Lorrik explained "Another group of treasure hunters found me and healed me and I journeyed with them. In the end, I have enough coin to pay off my Father's debt he owes you to release the deed on the farm back to me."

Looking over Lorrik and Roenthelm, especially him since he looks homeless, Lord Centauri shakes his head in disbelief.

"Amazing. Seasoned adventurers go into the forest and never return. And here you are. Amazing. You should go to your friend's families and pay your respects. They'll want to hear of your story. Is this one of your adventuring friends?"

Lorrik looked sad and ashamed that he was reminded again of his friends deaths.

"Yes, this is my friend, Roenthelm. The rest are in town getting supplies for our next trip into the forest. On our way back to the farm, I will visit my friend's families and explain to them what happened. I'm sad that we couldn't even find bodies to bring back home for burial."

Lord Centauri glances at Roenthelm when introduced and nods his head in greeting. At the mention of the farm, Lord Centauri shakes his head in sadness,

"I'm sorry to tell you, Lorrik, that your family's farm has been sold. I'm not sure if your father shared the details about the loan, but the total was due on the 188 day. That was 11 days ago. I sent some of my collectors to your farm and nobody was there, so I assumed the place abandoned. I'm sorry Lorrik. Your father was an honest, hard working man."

Lorrik was quiet for at least a minute, but Roenthelm and Lord Centauri could see that Lorrik was trying to hold back tears. He felt that his whole adventure to try and save people's farms was a waste of time. Then he came up with an idea...

"Who bought the farm to pay for the debt? I could go to them and explain..."

"The Black family next to you bought the farm. Brenton is marrying your sister and is going to take care of your younger siblings. They thought you were dead, too."

"Brenton Black!? That lazy, no good..." Lorrik replied with more obscenities, tears running down his cheeks

"I'm sorry Lorrik. It is a shame. I don't know anything about Brenton Black's work ethics, but I wouldn't go over there starting a fight. He did everything legal. I'm sure your siblings would love to see and hear that you're alive. I'm pretty sure they would even invite you to the wedding. I hear it's in a couple of days..."

"Can I see the original agreement you and my Pa had? And the sale of the farm to the Black's"

Lorrik still can't believe that he was getting screwed out of everything. His mind is racing with all sorts of thoughts and he's really close to saying something he shouldn't...

Lord Centauri shows Lorrik the documents and explains all the business details about the agreement. Roenthelm hears foot steps outside the office door. More guards? House servants?

"I'm really sorry Lorrik. If only you were here a couple days ago. I could have added a penalty late charge."

Kali, grabbing a plate and having serves of fruit, cheese and bread, she sits next to Byron and breaks open a roll. "He will be fine....he knows well enough to stay away from big groups of people. Hunters have tried to track him, but he has held his own. He will find a place deep in some trees, hunt, rest and wait for us."

The druid smiled, clearly pleased that Byron thought of the panther not as an animal, but an equal enough to be conserned about him.

The druid, grabbing a knife, cut a piece of fruit in half. "I'd be more conserned about that halfling and his sticky fingers getting into trouble more than Raie."

Byron smiles at Kali as he starts to eat the big breakfast of meat and fruit he took.  Speaking in a low voice so as not be overheard.

If he does anything to bring us trouble I really will kick him all the way back to the tower.  Centauri is generally a fair but firm person.  However, he is know to favor his sons over others and I think that clouds his judgement at times.

Byron looks around casually while eating and talking.  Really he's looking out for trouble.  Like most taverns, this one frowns on trouble and the staff will do what it can to prevent it if possible.

Roen sat there silently listening to the conversation, putting pieces together in his head. He also remembered Lorrik mentioning that his barn was burnt down and that his father died trying to fight the fire. Now, a neighbor Lorrik doesn't like is marrying his sister? Something was going on here, but now wasn't the time to argue as Roen heard the extra foot steps outside the office door.

05:10, Today: Roenthelm rolled 22 using 1d20+13.  Sense Motive.

"Lorrik, we're done here. Remember that this is Lord Centauri's home. We should go get some breakfast, then visit your friend's families. They deserve to know what happened."

Roen stood up and was ready to leave.

05:23, Today: Roenthelm rolled 33 using 1d20+13.  Sense Motive.

Twiggy stays hidden weighing the proes and cons of breaking into the house. After all Lorrick has went through he doesn't want to make anything harder on the kid. Especially since the lord would guess it was something to do with us just coming to town.

Lorrik has so much going through his head at the moment, that he can't think. He's angry and sad at the same time. His Mother and Father died on that land. He was born in that house and now he's losing it over an 88 gold debt? And his snobby sister is marrying that so and so Brenton Black? Then things started to click in Lorrik's head. His sister....she must be part of this mess...Turning to Roenthelm, Lorrik could see that he wanted to leave, and Lorrik followed.

"Thank you for your time, Lord Centauri. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"Again, I'm sorry about the situation. You have a good day, Lorrik. You're young. I'm sure you'll recover quickly."

Once outside the door to the office, Roenthelm and Lorrik see 4 guards now. Lorrik is handed back his dagger and the duo leave Lord Centauri's residence. The guards watch you go as you head on up the street...

Once away from the mansion, Lorrik has a couple things to say and Roenthelm just happens to be the person Lorrik says it to.

"This whole thing seems very suspicious to me, for some reason. What the hell is Brenton Black going to do with a farm? He can't even ride a horse! He can't tell the difference between a cow and a pig! That ***** is one of the laziest ******* I've ever seen. He and my sister are made for each other! I hope they both rot in hell! Stupid ****** If I even get any hint they had something to do with my Pa's death, I will hire Nolan to level that farm with the Golems!"

Twiggy and Myarra hear this conversation from over 20 feet away. Both of them can tell things went badly...

Twiggy bounces up and says in a low voice to not travel "Careful how loud you say things Lorrick, ears are everywhere. A trick I learned a long time ago is to praise them in public and to their face to get their gaurd down. The whole time you place the pieces dfor their demise. By the sound of it things went badly so let's figure things out alone, but for now smile and praise.

Roen walked along with Lorrik and Twiggy, listening to Lorrik's upset rant. He couldn't blame the lad. Losing a family farm like that is very upsetting, but he did have a pocket full of coin and his life, so that's a plus. But, Roen was very good at judging people and Lord Centauri seemed like a good talker, but Roen felt that the man was anything but good.

"You all need to get some breakfast. Get it to go. We'll travel to Lorrik's friend's homes and we'll talk on the way there." Roen said to both of them "I know you're upset Lorrik, but keep it to yourself until we get out of town. We don't want the whole town knowing what you're upset about. Places like Triel are ears to the rich."

Twiggy chuckled at Roen "Information is power and people pay well for it. Don't give away your plans for free what others are going to take to profit off of. I would of loved to have been able to have known that at your age Lorrick. 

The three of you make it to the Tavern were Byron and the girls are having breakfast.

Aliana smiled and waved st her friends, but stopped when she saw the looks on their faces

Byron mutters an obscenity when he sees the look on Lorrik's face.

Keeping his voice low.

Looks like trouble is going to find us anyways.

The look on Roen's face was more concern than sad or angry. He knows what money does to people and from what he's heard of the town, it can be a dangerous place for someone like Lorrik.

"The meeting with the Lord went well, but the result didn't end well, if you know what I mean. I think anyone who wants food should get it now, then we need to help Lorrik talk with the families of his friends who died before the ears around here tell them what Lorrik has."

Myarra settles herself down outside the tavern on a convenient bench, or just holding up a wall, if none are available.  She's wearing a brand new disguise that the others haven't seen before.  Well, technically, it's one of the farm ladies from Daak, but it's not somebody the others would know on sight, and not anyone the locals would pay any attention to.


She's having rat-on-a-stick for her meal.  Well, technically it's probably not rat, the town is far too upscale for that, but rat-on-a-stick is what she calls any otherwise anonymous chunk of hot meat that's hawked in the market places.   The elves can have their dainty meals.  Myarra is an unrepentant carnivore.  Which probably helps explain her affinity with Raie and Ashara.

Twiggy sat down and ordered some biscuits and grave the said loud enough for others to hear "Maybe if we pool all of our money together we can offer Lorricks sister's fiance more than he paid for the land. We should be able to scrounge together enough. What Lorrick says they are very merchantile minded and like to make some money when they can. They seem to be very reasonable people"

Twiggy winks at Byron knowing the fighter has a quick enough wit to catch on. Twiggy knows that the waitresses and barmaids are listening so they can bluff their way into getting the farm back.

10:16, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 21 using 1d20+7.  Bluff.

Twiggy Bluffs so people eating breakfast could hear, which some of them do. The pebble in the pond has started. He pays his 2 silver to get a tray full of food, as does Lorrik. To help along with the facade, even Roenthelm gets a tray of food, even though they were provisions that could be taken with him.

Byron plays along with Twiggy's bluff as he recognizes Twiggy's intent.

Twiggy waits on his biscuits and asks Lorrick "So how much did you owe or how much did he have to pay for the farm? "

"I owed 86 gold, 3 silver and 7 copper. I didn't ask how much the land sold for because I know the $%^&* neighbor won't sell it back to me." Lorrik said as he ate his breakfast "I really want to go to the farm and give my sister a piece of my mind!"

Twiggy and Byron can't tell whether the ruse worked or not, but several people definitely heard or else they were deaf. You all finish your breakfast and wonder where Myarra went off to...

Twiggy held in a little groan at the stubborness of youth. The halfling then smiled and said "I know you are upset about coming back without treasures but you at least was able to make it back.. We can help maybe double what you owed. It will almost break us but you will have your farm back.  First we need to go talk to the families of the friends you left with."  Wrapping up a few pastries for Myrra, Twiggy heads outside. He figures she is waiting in the woods for them.

Byron chuckles at Lorrik's frustration.  He understands all to well what it is like to deal with a stubborn sister.  Byron looks around as they walk down the road before speaking.

Now Lorrik, you know your parents would be upset with you for saying mean things about your sister.  So let go of your frustration and anger for a few minutes.  You can calmly tell us more about her and this Mr Black she's ummmm engaged to along the way.  Then we can come up with a plan to get your farm back and stay in Lord Centuari's good graces without actually having to harm anyone or anything.

Byron smiles a knowing smile at Kali before continuing.

I can think of several ways harm could befall this Mr Black, but I know someone would not approve of my ideas.  Hmmmm, do you know if Lord Centuari's sons have anything against this Mr Black that your sister is supposedly marrying?

Byron stops talking as he starts thinking even faster and deeper about some ideas in his head.

Kali, eating fruit, bread and cheese, listens intently to the conversation, and places a hand on lorric's hand. "Stay calm." she says simply, and looks at Byron with a smile and raised eyebrow. The human had ways of suprising the druid, and the calm nature of the warrior was one.

"...and though i man not admit it often, byron has a point here.....don't gloat byron, it is ill becoming" Shge answers the last part without looking at him.

"Just because things seem harder, things are not s they seem. and things are far from over here yet."

"We shouldn't be harming anyone over a piece of land. You could offer to buy it back from him, Lorrik? Or perhaps you could just give your sister your best wishes and find another place? I thought it kind of odd that Lord Centauri didn't offer you anything? A man of his wealth is bound to have property for sale."

"I'd like to visit my sister and her "Husband" first before I look for another piece of property." Lorrik explained "So, I'd like to visit the family of my friends and explain to them what became of their sons and Roenthelm, you need to visit the carpenter about your project. I really appreciate all that you guys have done for me. I'll never be able to repay that back."

Lorrik gets up from the table is is ready to leave,

"I need to visit a Mercantile for some sacks."

Lorrik, this time I will go with you.  I've been there and done that too.  It isn't fun, but it is easier with someone to back up your story.  It may be harder for them to accept that I'm an outsider, but it will be easier to accept than if you don't have anyone to back it up.

"I also will be going with you to your friends homes. This is more important than my project. The more people to confirm your story, the better. This is not going to be easy and even though we're just going to be talking, you're going to be emotionally wore out when it's done. But, don't worry. We all have your back."

"OK, let's do this. Their families are waiting." Lorrik said as he walked to the door "I'll understand if some of you don't want to go. We can meet up where we slept last night, or meet up here for supper. For now, let's go find a shop so I can get some sacks and then we'll be on our way to the farms."

Lorrik leads the way into town. He's been around this place since he was a "Kid" and finds an open shop within minutes. He buys 4 regular burlap sacks and then leads the party out of town. Once the party is alone, he stops and gets off his horse and starts dividing the coin he got. He divides his coin into 5 piles and once he's done, he fills the 4 burlap sacks and sticks his share into a saddle bag.

"One share for Marlo, Dax, Jasper and Steven. All of us had money problems. I'm going to take care of that."

Twiggy sighs and gives a small reassuring smile to Lorrick "You are going to wish for the gargoyles and monsters again. What you are about to do is going to take more courage than anything you have faced this far.  I am truly sorry you have to do this Lorrick, but we will be right there with you." Twiggy lost a childhood friend on a early adventure similar to Lortick. Telling the family what happened made him sick for days.

Going to get some sacks Twiggy looks to the sky and around for Myarra, the halfling knows she is around and safe, but he worries about his friend.

Please refer to the guide so you all know where you're going:

link to a message in this game

The first farm Lorrik takes the party to is his friend Steven. The little wagon road to his family's place is where Lorrik stopped to divide his share of the loot he got. Byron, Roenthelm, Twiggy and Aliana go with Lorrik to the farm while Amara and Kalliyan stay back a ways from the farm because of Raieylan "scaring the livestock". Steven's family consists of Ma and Pa and 2 younger brothers. They are absolutely devastated to hear of Steven's death and Lorrik spends the next 1.5 hours explaining what happened at the ruined tower with the gargoyles. By the end of it, he's in tears. The family is in shock when given the sack full of money.

Riding by the Black Farm, it looks like your normal day at the farm doing their work. They don't even give you a second glance.

Next, you ride by Lorrik's place. He really wants to stop, but keeps on going. You can see that the barn is being rebuilt, but nobody is working on it right now....which is odd. There are a couple people in the fields, but at the distance they are, Lorrik can't tell who they are.

Next stop is Marlo's family. Consisting of Ma and Pa and 3 younger siblings, Pa is highly upset when he sees you riding up the road to his place when he recognizes Lorrik without his son. He takes his hat off and slams it on the ground and is yelling much profanity. When Ma comes out, she starts crying and slaps Lorrik on the face, which the party knew was coming. You spend the next hour telling the tale and Lorrik gives them the sack of coin. He knows he won't be able to step on this property again.

Next is Jasper's Family. Consisting of Pa and his mother, who's a 1/2 elf, making Jasper 1/4 elf, they appeared to already have gone through their mourning when their son was away for so long, knowing where he went. They don't have any other children. You spend the next hour retelling the tale and giving them the sack of coin, but they tell you they already lost the farm and are moving to Elturel. Pervis Centauri owns the land now.

Last stop is Dax's place. Dax was a 1/2 Orc and the youngest of 3 boys. His mother was raped by an orc when a small force attacked farms and looted for supplies. She died giving birth to Dax and his father has hated him since. He doesn't even care to hear how Dax died and Lorrik is hesitant to give this jerk Dax's share of the treasure. But, he does anyways, explaining that he was doing so because their families have helped each other in the past and that Dax loved his family, despite being treated rough all his life. The farmer breaks down in tears and you spend the next 3 hours at the farm. You have lunch there as you tell the story again. The farmer tells you that he will be using the money to clear his debt, which was only 38 gold, and will be doing some upgrades to his farm and to hire more hands to help out. He thanks the party profusely and tells you that you're welcome on his farm anytime.

You leave and head back to town. Riding past his old farm, the party spots 2 men on the porch to the farm. Lorrik tells you they are Brenton Black and Nelson Centauri. They don't say a word as you ride on by.

Myarra never saw anyone leave out of town to follow the party and she meets up with them when they are coming back. You make it to town around 2pm.

Upon seeing the two men on the porch to Lorrik's former residence, and being told who they were, Roen knew they would find out that Lorrik paid the farmers money, which would put Lorrik in danger as well as the group.

"I think it's safe to assume they know what we look like. I think we should prepare. But, I'd still like to visit the carpenter with my project plans."

Byron chuckles softly after they pass by Lorrik's farm.

Brenton should choose his friends more carefully.  Nelson is the biggest troublemaker of the group, from what I remember.  I will say I have to agree with your description about him being a lazy good for nothing.  If my father saw me sitting around talking while there was work to be done he'd take the horse whip to my backside.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Mon 19 Aug 2019.

The halfling stood back as Lorrick spoke to the parents with a small knot in his stomach. He rememebers all to well having to do this.

Twiggy watched the two on the porch and knows they would start trouble if they walked up.  Twiggy then looks at Lorrick once they walk "Lorrick do you truly want to stay here. As you already see and feel, you can never truly go home anymore since home is not what you once believed it was.  To add more injury, we are never the same. Always viewed as an outcast and will be remembered for your failings and not your acomplishments.  You have done what you could honoring your friends deaths, but it may be best to move on.

Have you thought of adventuring on your own? We can help outfit you and small towns always need help. You have trained well and are not the greenhand who left last time.

"Yeah, this place isn't for me anymore. I didn't even see my sisters there. They were probably in the house, but I'm sure they were told I was still alive, I hope."

At the mention of adventuring,

"Since I don't have anything left here, I was thinking of tagging along to help Roenthelm at the tower. Hopefully, I could at least recover a body of one of my friends to bring back home. After that, who knows?"

Amara did not go with Lorrik and the others. She highly doubted seeing a drow would put any of the folks at ease.

She did not know the full story, but she knew Lorrik's family had lost the farm. And she could tell from looking at the other's faces there was something suspicious about it.

It would likely take four retellings of the stories, probably a good four hours. "I'm going to go scout out Lorrik's farm," she told Kalliyan. "Something is not right. I'll take the time I need, but be back no later than moon-set. If I'm still out then, you'll know something has gone wrong."

Roenthelm names the carpenter the carpenter in Soubar told him about. Jameson. Lorrik doesn't know who he is, so it takes a bit with asking people on the street where his shop is. You actually pass by 2 Carpenter shops trying to find Jameson's place and when you find it, you can see why. Jameson lives in an old building and it appears newer buildings where built in front of his place, essentially hiding his business.

Please refer to Game Map S section E7 for his shop location.

You walk your horses around the house, which also appears to be his shop, and you hear a man yelling....

"If you boys would have found a wife already, you Ma and me could retire...but NOOOO..."

You round the corner and see a middle aged human yelling at 3 full grown men, who look like whipped dogs, but their sheer size could take this old man out, easily. But, listening to what you've heard about the men getting married and moving out...that's not happening any time soon. They're fat and not very good looking at all...

Then the old man sees the party walking on his property...

"Are you people lost or something?"

I'm not so sure that some people would want your sisters to know that you are still alive.  From what I see and have heard, someone is making a land grab or trying to.  I think a couple of your friends parents may find that paying back their loans is going to be harder than it should be.  The farm land you and your friends have worked on looks to be well cared for in ways to support good cash crops and stuff.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:27, Thu 22 Aug 2019.

Kali smiles at Amara's insight. "Was thinking the same myself." She looked at Raieylan with a smile. "Stay out of sight and try not to scare anyone."

As if to answer, the panther snorted, and bounded away to a dense tree, climbing up quickly.

The druid looked at Amara. "I'll watch from another vantage...we will meet back here, but I will keep an eye out for you sister."

The druid stood there, eyes closed as her form shifted, a slight wince of pain on her face as her form shrunk and moved with a slight glow. Within moments, the slight druids form was replaced by that or a small hawk, white with orange bands and piercing blue eyes.

The hawk hopped as it took flight and circled the area letting out a cry of ecstasy

Twiggy smiled at Lorrick " Good, one day you xan come back with enough gold to buy the whole town. We can train you some more until then.  So does this twisted town sell riding dogs or even a pony?"

"I wouldn't say that this town is twisted. It appears to be on the less lawful side of things and people without money suffer for it. Which is typical for a town in the middle of nowhere. As for a riding dog or a pony, we can look around for you after meeting up with the carpenter."

Upon finding Jameson the carpenter and being asked if we were lost,

"No sir, we're not lost. I need to hire a carpenter and the one in Soubar recommended Jameson in Triel, so here I am. You're place was hidden from the main road, but we found it anyways. Are you open for business?"

Amara watched the transformation. Magic was an odd thing indeed... Then she followed the panther into the forest to approach one of the farm's out-buildings - from a side other than from the road.

Amara told the party her intentions on checking out Lorrik's old farm while they visited the farmers. An Invisibility spell easily gets her away from the party, so she could sneak around unnoticed to spy on Lorrik's farm. Kalliyan's way of spying was even easier as she changed into a small hawk, which is common around farms and praised for keeping the rodent population down. Raieylan climbed the nearest tree, which was on the Black farm, so the panther will have some difficulty sneaking around in the day light. It takes some time for Amara to travel around the farms to get to the back, as each lot appears to be several dozen acres and ends where the Trielta Hills start. But, once there, it's easy to hide in the corn fields and stay away from the 5 workers to spy on the farm to see what was happening. Each of the workers is male and appear ragged in nature and a couple of them complain about getting drinks. Probably drunks rounded up in town to work on the farm. No women are seen working in the fields.

They are eventually seen doing laundry with Lorrik's older sister bossing them around. At least they weren't sold to Lord Centauri to "work" in his mansion. Kalliyan and Amara have been out here for hours now, but they don't see a thing out of the ordinary. No workers were seen working on the barn, but Amara doesn't go near it because there is not enough adequate cover to hide her while she observes, but Kalliyan doesn't have any problems perching there to observe. Nobody gives the hawk a second glance.

It's around 1pm when the party visiting the farmers ride by to go back to town. Then things start to get interesting. After the party is well away heading back to town, 2 men appear from the front of the farmhouse and walk towards the burnt farm being repaired, talking to each other. Kalliyan gets an ear-full...

"See, I told you he was alive. He visited my father's mansion this morning, wanting to pay off his debt. But, don't worry. He was well past the due date and everything is legal."

"I don't have any doubts about that. I'm just concerned that he might start problems with those new people he was with. You see the size of that guy in the plate armor? That must have cost a fortune."

"Yeah, and that was no child riding with them. That was a Halfling and they're known thieves. I just can't place that hobo traveling with them. He must take care of the horses or something. But, we know that Lorrik and his farmer friends went into the forest and Lorrik came out alive and with enough coin to pay off his debt he owed to my father."

"Did you see the woman riding with them? She was cute. I wouldn't mind 15 minutes alone with her..."

"She'd probably kick your sorry ass. These people are definitely adventurers and most likely found Lorrik in the forest. They also found enough treasure to give that shit stain enough money to be able to pay off his debt. I'm going back to tell my father the news and I need you to find out what he was doing around here."

"Right boss. As soon as I hear of anything, I'll let you know. I'm gonna go inside and tell them their brother is alive. Better to come from me than find out by a stranger in town."

"Yes, good thinking."

The 2 men walk back to the front of the house and the Centauri son rides back to town. He's about 20 minutes behind the party. The workers are still in the fields doing their work and the younger girls hang the laundry on the lines to dry, then go back inside the house. This is when Amara sneaks over to the house to spy/eavesdrop. She hears excited girls happy about Lorrik being alive. She hears one of the girls talk about something, but the details elude her. They must have gone into another part of the house, but then she hears females arguing...

---------------------------

The middle aged man and his 3 sons stare in disbelief that someone looking like Roenthelm needed to hire a Carpenter, but one look at Byron and his expensive looking armor brings them out of silence.

"You talk to my brother in Soubar, huh? Well, it's about time he sent me some business. Let's sit in the shade and talk about what you want to do."

Jameson looks at his boys and waves them away like they were annoying bugs. They go into the shop/house to finish up chores. The party spends the next 30 minutes explaining their plans to Jameson and he looks at the party like they were insane. But, upon observing Roenthelm's adamant attitude about the project and that the workers will be protected, Jameson gives his price:

"20 gold a day. 15 for each of my sons. That's because of the danger. You buy all supplies and I'll build your scaffold so you can clean this tower. You can save money by getting wood directly from the forest. The price will be the same if you wish my boys to help you with this cleaning, however long it takes. My price will also be the same to ensure my son's "safety"."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 06:14, Sat 24 Aug 2019.

Rather than taking the riskier approach of entering, Amara casts detect thoughts as quietly as possible. Houses are rarely more than 100 feet across, and people usually think what they are speaking, so even if she won't be hearing with her ears, she'll know what they are saying with the spell.

Myarra doesn't have any special sneaking or magical skills that would let her perform nefarious deeds, so she stays in town, keeping an eye on things as everyone else goes on about their business.

She's still just relaxing with meatpie and beer when Lorrik and the farm expedition return.  So far everything looks peaceful, and she assumes as long as nobody challenges Centauri or gets in the way of his plans, things should stay peaceful.

Still, there's the town guard.  It's a small town, and she knows small town guards.  These are not small town guards.

But there's little she can do at the moment while Roenthelm deals with carpenters and Amara and Kalliyan are out being sneaky.

She orders another meatpie and another beer and settles down on her bench and watches the town go by.  Once the others come back she can let them know her suspicions.

"Yes, I completely understand your concerns. The forest is a very dangerous place and you'll be away from your home for over a week. Is your wife going to be OK by herself, or do you want to bring her along as well? Home cooked meals on the road would be a huge help while working in the forest. My friends here are used to trail rations and I'm sure you, your sons and the rest of my friends would enjoy fresh food while working hard on the project."

10:21, Today: Roenthelm rolled 34 using 1d20+16.  Diplomacy.
10:14, Today: Roenthelm rolled 32 using 1d20+13.  Sense Motive.

"Yes, leaving my wife alone for that amount of time does concern me, but bringing her into that forest concerns me more. From the looks of you all, you look like treasure hunters. See them all the time coming through here, venturing into Wyrm Forest for fame and fortune. I'll ask her to come out here and explain your project to her and see what she wants to do. If she agrees, I think 10 gold a day is fair for her services. Again, you supply."

Jameson calls out his wife Hilda and you can see where their sons get their weight from. She's 5'5" and probably weighs 240. She's in her mid 50's, shoulder length greyish hair. She seems very cheerful. Once told of the plans, she does look a bit worried, but hesitantly agrees.

"So, we got a deal?"

"Yes, we have a deal. I would like to start as soon as possible. I'll need for you to accompany me and my friends around town to purchase supplies because I honestly don't know what to purchase and I've already taken up too much of their time already with my project."

So, with the deal made, Jameson formally introduces himself, his wife Hilda and their 3 sons, who aren't involved in the deal because they have big mouths. But, they are Oren, Milo and Yars. They are told to watch the shop and finish their chores and help out their mother while he goes shopping with the group. Roenthelm mentions that he wishes to purchase a wagon and a big horse for the trip and tells Jameson that he waited to come here to do so and the carpenter mentions he knows where to get both. Twiggy jokingly asks if Jameson knows if they have riding dogs and the Carpenter stops and looks at the little halfling, thinking about the request.

"Go to the Temple of Gond. One of the priests there trains dogs."

Twiggy happily jogs away in search of his new ride. The rest of the afternoon is spent picking up supplies the Carpenter will need to complete Roenthelm's project. The cart and the Heavy Horse being the most expensive purchase and then the various necessities such as rope, pullies, nails etc.. for the job, plus the food for the trip. The wood will be scavenged from the forest. Jameson looks at Roenthelm each time he pays for something in Gold and mentions,

"With the way you be spending money, we're better off getting out of here quickly before you get anymore attention."

Total Spent for supplies on trip: 235gp for horse and wagon + 100gp for supplies for trip for a total cost of 335 gold plus labor.
_______________________

Myarra hung out in town all day and casually followed the party around, keeping watch as a common farm girl walking the streets. So far, she doesn't notice anyone following the party around and enjoys her meat pies that she buys throughout the day.
_______________________

Twiggy locates the Temple of Gond on the West side of town and asks for the priest that trains the dogs. He is referred to Brother Marcus, who has 2 Mastiff Hounds.
_______________________

Amara casts a Detect Thoughts spell and concentrates on the occupants inside the house. There are 4 of them. She spends at least 30 seconds trying to get adjusted to everyone in the house. The male, Brenton Black, is worrying about Lorrik bringing back friends to beat him up, the oldest sister is highly annoyed that she has to take care of her younger sisters and the 2 sisters want to go see Lorrik in town. They are excited and happy to find out that he is alive, but mad that their sister and Brenton won't let them go.
_______________________

Kalliyan flies around in the sky again, but doesn't spot anything out of the ordinary.

Twiggy goes and looks for Brother Marcus, and has his wooden holy symbol of Brandobaris out for the priests to see. Hopefully they saw his diety as a seeker of personal freedom and strong character instead of a thief.

Locating the mastiff Twiggy looks at Brother Marcus "I am glad to see you training dogs, especially to ride.  I normally expect Priests of Gond to be some type of smith, engineer, or inventer but a dog trainer is a very respectible, if unorthidoxed, profession to give thanks to The Wonderbringer.   Twiggy is glad Gond is a well know diety so that he can know what to say to break the ice "I have been searching for a riding dog to help me on my adventures, have I come to the right place?"

Brother Marcus is a human, perhaps early 30's, tall, thin with long blond hair and really good looking. Not very muscular, but he handles the dogs with grace and patience and it does look strange with him wearing priest robes.

"I do what I can for the grace of Gond." Marcus said with a smile

Turning to the big dogs, Marcus calls them over,

"Arrow! Fritz! Come!"

Once they come over to you, he tells them to sit and they sit.

"Arrow and Fritz are both boys. They just turned 2 years old last week."

Both Mastiffs are chocolate color and they sniff the air, trying to get a sniff of Twiggy. Marcus walks behind them and bends over and quickly claps his hands, hoping to startle the dogs. They don't move a muscle.

"Fritz takes riders much better than Arrow. Hop on and tell me what you think."

Turning to Fritz,

"Fritz, Ride!"

There is a dog collar for Twiggy to hold on to.

Twiggy nods and climbs on Fritz. Holding onto the collor he sees what the dog can do. Once he takes him for a ride Twiggy asks "Can I get a saddle for him and how much? This will be so much better than horses." Twiggy then scratches behing Fritz's ears and says in a silly voice "Oh yea, you are much better than a smelly ol horse arn't you."

"I think it's very sad that people fight over a metal. People die in the streets, but you see people like Lord Centauri sitting in his mansion without a care in the world. But, you are right. I'll be a bit more discreet while paying for our supplies."

Once the supplies are loaded onto the wagon, Roen makes a suggestion to Jameson.

"How about we keep this at your place and we'll meet you here before dawn to head out on the road? I'm sure my friends are quite bored hanging out with me, when they have shopping they might wish to do."

Amara continues to listen. If the younger sisters are essentially being held against their will... well, that's a problem... perhaps listening a bit longer will help her determine this.

The hawk-shaped Kali flew around, perching on the barn, house and various tree's, looking around while keeping an eye on things. The conversation between the men interested her...the men were smart enough to recognise the group as adventurers as well as not to mess with them openly.

but the sound of the 'others' was disturbing.

She decided she couldn't get much more information, so took flight and flew to the tree where Raie was perched. Landing, the hawk screeched at the panther, who (lying down on a branch with his eyes closed), opened an eye and snorted.

The hawk shifted form and again was the red haired druid.

"You know Raie....sometimes you can be a grumpy old man"

The panther yawned and closed his eye again.

The druid sat on the branch, awaiting her colleague

I don't have shopping to do here, but I am worried about the others. Amara, Myarra and Kali can take care of themselves, but it I will feel better when we are all back together again.

Byron pauses for a moment to look around to see if anyone is listening too closely or following us.

I may not have Nolan's farseeing intelligence, but I feel that some of our harder tests are coming up and it would be best to be together as a group when we have to face them.  Even if it means delaying my promise to kick Twiggy all the way back to Daak from here.

Twiggy takes a liking to the Mastiff riding dog, but he can't tell yet if the dog likes him. But, what can he say? It's been 5 minutes, but the dog seems well trained. Brother Marcus goes to a storage shed, where he keeps the supplies for his training and pulls out a new saddle and a bridle that hooks up to the collar of Fritz.

"Out the door, 155 gold and worth every copper, too."
_______________

Kalliyan flew to the tree where Raieylan sat, perched and dozing off. After he snorts at her presence, both of you see Brenton Black exit the house, hop on his horse and travels up the road where Lorrik and the rest came from while they were visiting farms.
_______________

Amara continues to listen to the conversations and also the thoughts while standing close to the farm house. She finds out that Brenton Black is leaving to question the neighbors. The surface thoughts of the eldest sister is threatening, like her younger sisters better do what she says, or they will be thrown out on the streets. The 2 sisters are upset that they can't go see Lorrik, but do as their older sisters says.
_______________

Myarra continues to walk around town. She's visited probably every food vendor the street has to offer and has spent maybe 2 gold total for the day. The only thing of note was she saw a rider coming from up the road where Lorrik, Byron, Aliana and Roenthelm where. The rider doesn't look like a farmer. Myarra takes note the man is quite handsome and follows him and notes that he rides to Lord Cantauri's home. He must be one of the sons as she watches the man walk right into the house.
_______________

Jameson looks at the wagon full of supplies and agrees with Roenthelm,

"Nobody will touch the stuff while parked at my place. My sons may be a bit dense most of the time, but they be built like oxen."

So, after the supplies have been bought, Jameson drives the wagon back to his place and parks the thing next to his back door of the shop.
_______________

It's currently around 4pm-ish....

Twiggy quickly pulls out two gems, a small ruby and a topaz (100gp and a 50gp gem), plus eight gold coins. In true halfling fashion Twiggy starts speaking, the words start to pour out his mouth as quick as he can think of them "Here you go good sir, the extra coins are for a bag of treats and you. My companion has a big cat but I am sure Fritz doesn't worry about such things.  A quick question if you know anything about it.

We are traveling with a young man nsmed Lorrick who is from this town that left for adventure with several friends. The first thing they came across was gargoyls
and Lorrick was the only one who survived.  Now that he is back the neighbor, the Blacks, bought his old house and is marrying the sister. On the outside everything seems fine, and legal, but my gut hasn't settled making me think there is more wrong than what we can see. I mean the lord has soldiers, not gaurds, employed and the people I talked to seem to be walking on egg shells when asked about this. Is it my inherant paranoa, the normal workings of a small town on the fringe of the wilderness, or is something bad brewing?   

Roen shook Jameson's hand as he hopped down off the wagon.

"Well sir, I thank you very much for your help and we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. But, before we take our leave, do you think I should give you an advance as a down payment or something? I'm not too familiar with how this goes."

Brother Marcus looks around to make sure nobody else was around and then looks at the Halfling,

"Yep."

Brother Marcus smiles and puts the money into his robes and hands Twiggy some beef jerky for Fritz.

"Take good care of Fritz. I raised him since he was born. You have a good day."
_______________

Jameson looks at Roenthelm and shakes his head,

"Son, you bought everything in advance. That shows me that you're serious. I only want what's coming to me when I've earned it. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Roen smiled as he was understanding what Jameson meant. With the power of gold, he expects everyone to want a share and it was nice to see someone who was honest.

"We'll see you in the morning."

Turning to his friends,

"What shall we do next?"

Lets get back to the others.  We've been apart too long.  I'm sure they have some interesting things to tell us as well.

Byron still has a look of concentration on his face as he thinks about what he's seen and heard.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Sat 31 Aug 2019.

Twiggy nods at Brother Marcus glad he made sure no one was around to tell him about his paranoia.  The halfing then swings up on the saddle on Fritz. "Do not worry Marcus, I will take good care of your puppy. We will have many adventures together. Good luck with everything.
Forward Fritz! twiggy spurs the mastiff forward "Come on boy, we need some ale and stew.

Twiggy and Brother Marcus wave good byes as Twiggy rides his new dog mount Fritz. It doesn't take long to catch up to the party as they are leaving Jameson's place to wander into town. You all are starting to get a bit hungry and the smells of cooking are all over the place. The food at the Inn you ate at this morning was pretty good, so you all wander there. Walking up the street, a woman walking in the street towards you stops and takes a look at the party. She them puts her hands to her mouth in surprise and looks like she's going to cry! This woman looks like a common farm worker in her late 40's. For her age, she still looks fairly attractive as she walks right up to Byron.

"Byron Rockhead!  You're alive!"

She gives him a big hug, saying in a loud, crackly voice,

"Byron Jr. always said you were still alive.  I'm ashamed to say I'd given up hope, but your children never did!  Thank the gods you've returned to us!"

Ruby, what in the world are you talking about?

Byron replies when he manages to both breath and recover his shock from seeing the mother of one of his friends from when he first started adventuring.

The woman stands back and looks at Byron with disappointment and regret.

"Byron, don't you remember me?  I know I've gotten old and wrinkled, but surely you remember me?  I'm Esther ... your wife.

Byron Jr. told me he'd seen you in the street earlier, but I hardly dared to believe it.  He's gone to tell Marie the good news. Oh, wait until you see your daughter, she's as big as a house.  You're grandchild should be arriving by the end of the month."

I certainly don't remember anyone named Esther.  I'm certainly not old enough to have a grand child.  You must have me confused with someone else.  I remember that a woman around your age named Ruby lived here 3 years ago, but I don't know if she still does as I haven't seen her since then or seen her daughter Amber in 2 1/2 years.

Byron's tone is one of utter confusion and bewilderment.

The woman looks shocked, then gasps, placing her hand over her mouth.

"Oh no, the rift!  I know you tried to warn me about it, but it just sounded so impossible.  You went to the rift, didn't you?  And now it's taken you from us!"

She turns and runs away.

Lorrik looked just as confused as Byron. He looked at his friend again to see if he looked like an old man, but Byron looked like he could be Lorrik's big brother.

"Who was that? She looks like she could be your Mother."

I'm not sure who that was.  As to the rift, I've never crossed or entered one to my knowledge.  Doubly so since I was born on Eleint 13, 1353. (aka Day 283)  Maybe, she could be Ruby's sister.  Although, I don't know if Ruby has or had a sister.  Amber never cared to talk about her family when we were travelling together.

Byron pauses a moment before continuing.

While we are on the subject of families.  I get the impression you don't care what your older sister does, but what about your younger sisters and who looks out for them?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:42, Tue 03 Sept 2019.

The halfling studies the woman as she talks and she seems to believe what she is saying.  Twiggy then looks to Byron "There is something seriously wrong with this town. I am so concerned right now,  do not even want to pick on you."

I know. Right now I'm in the mood to kick someone to the moon, but it won't be you for the moment.  Something isn't right.  Actually more than 1 thing isn't right around here.  I just can't place what's wrong.  Where are the others?

Roen didn't say a word while the woman was talking to Byron. It wasn't really any of his business. But, observing the scene, the woman did look quite a bit older than Byron and what she was saying didn't seem possible unless Byron was stuck in a mirror like he was.

"I'm assuming you weren't stuck in a mirror like I was?"

Byron looks over at Roen.  A smile on his face.

No.  I wasn't stuck in a mirror or anything like that.  Nor have I drunk an anti aging potion.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Tue 03 Sept 2019.

There was little point listening longer to the sisters. Amara had a decent handle on that. Brenton, well, that was another story... but she thought she should return to meet with Kalliyan, and she thought their friends were probably done by now.

She quietly snuck away to meet Kalliyan at their pre-designated spot. Checking to ensure that no one else was around, she noted to Kalliyan, "The older sister does seem like she wants to be there, but the two younger do not, but are afraid to be on their own. Shall we go find the others? I think we may need to go rescue them, even though they don't know they need to be rescued and aren't, as far as I can tell, in real danger except to live life as a peasant in perpetual fear. And the youngest, I can tell you, has potential to be something great - if given the opportunity and a nudge."

Kali, dropping"It seems your thoughts mirror mine. The older sister seems to want to stay, but the others want to see Lorick and they are trying to not let them for some reason." to the ground from the branch, listens to Amara with a serious look. she nods in agreement.

she begins walking towards the others. "What did you mean the youngest has potential?"

"I used detect thoughts. Besides allowing me to eavesdrop on their conversation - and any surface thoughts that they might be purposely hiding while talking - it allows one to know the intelligence of people. The others are fairly average intelligence, but the youngest daughter is highly intelligent."

Kalliyan and Amara walk back to town, discussing what they observed and heard along the way and what they could do about it. They move through town, figuring everyone would probably meet up at the Tavern to get food. Then Amara spots the group talking to some middle-aged woman and points it out to Kalliyan. The both of you observe this woman hug Byron, speaking and then she runs away around a building near you....

Amara can't help but smile and walks in the direction that the woman had gone.

Kali looked on at the sight with a perplexed look until its conclusion and shook her head with a smile, and looked at Amara. Come on....i'm sure the others have something to say about this."

she walks up to the group, smiling, and looks at Byron. "So...what did you do this time?

Nothing that I know of.

Byron replies in confused and bewildered tone.  Looking in the direction Esther took off in.

I wonder if Hanns could provide me with some answers.

Byron says softly more to himself than anyone in the group.

"It's just some crazy old woman who knew Byron. Let's go inside and get something to eat. I'm starving."

"Well, I'm not hungry, so I'm going to wander around town for a bit. The last time I was here, this place was a lot smaller. I'm assuming we'll be sleeping at the same spot as last night?"

With a smile, Roen wanders away from the party to look around town.

Amara catches up with the "woman"

Twiggy looks at where the woman went to, Roen walking away, and looked briefly at Lorrick for saying something directly for the group to do something for the first time. Also curious is the image of Brother Marcus looking around before answering and Twiggy thinking that it is not his normal paranoia.

Twiggy frowns at the ideas in his head and wonders if he needs to go out looking tonight or push the party to leave.  The halfling heads into the tavern with the others but asks Byron "Should I leave Fritz outside, with the horses or... Naaaa come on boy you get a hunk of meat next to me."

Twiggy, you are on your own for that big dog to have a meal.

Byron says in his teasing tone before turning serious.

Have your looks changed from before you were trapped in the mirror till we freed you?

Except for Roenthelm, you all go to the Tavern for dinner and a couple drinks. The place is pretty busy and you eventually get your seats. The dinner is another line, like breakfast was. It's 3 silver per person and you get a variety of meats, veggies, breads, cheeses and fruit. Drinks are 1 silver each.

There is a Bard playing Music. He's pretty good looking, too. He plays a flute while singing a song about Highway men. There are all sorts of different people in the Tavern from farmers, to city guard to traders to other adventurers.

A boy, perhaps 10 years old, smelling like baked goods, comes around selling peanut butter cookies, going from table to table. The tavern girls ignore the little kid, but the cooks tell him to scoot. The kid comes back in a couple minutes later and arrives at your table and asks if you would like to buy any cookies.

"2 for a copper."

Aliana, a spoiled city girl inside her elven exterior, bought the full meal and drink.
When the urchin came around, she was absolutely charmed by the little entrepreneur, and bought two cookies.

Kali looked at Byron and Lorick with a stern look. "A piece of advice for you both, .beware calling a woman crazy....you may live to regret it. We have long memories and can hold even longer grudges." she steps up to Byron, poking him in the chest. "...just remember that, tin man"

Byron chuckles lightly.

I know that all too well.  I have sisters who love to make my life a living nightmare whenever they get the chance to witness one of my screwups.

Byron tone turns much more serious.

Something is seriously wrong around here.  The bigger part of that discussion is for after dinner outside of here where they won't be extra ears around.  Lorrik, you never answered my question about you and your younger sisters: I get the impression you don't care what your older sister does, but what about your younger sisters and who looks out for them?

Twiggy buys 10 cookies for 6 copper, a hunk of meat for Fritz who lays at his feet, and a bowl of veggie stew. The halfling pretended to be transfixed on the bard as he listened to several different conversations around them for anything that seemed off.

"I'm sorry. I was upset at the time when you asked me." Lorrik said as he bought cookies as well from the kid "My older sister is a greedy, stuck up snob who only cares about herself. When my Pa died in the barn fire, it was up to me to take care of my sisters. Now that I lost the farm, I'm now homeless and it's better for them to stay with her until I figure something out."

Lorrik also gives the kid 6 coppers for 10 cookies.

Twiggy hears a conversation a couple tables over about some crazy homeless hobo giving away money...

Lorrik, I've got a couple of ideas about that, but here is not the place to explain them to you.  Part of depends on what you want to do for yourself as well.

Byron declines the cookie salesboy politely, but gives him a copper for his efforts.

Kali listens to Lorick's explination, and pipes in. "I didn't see much, but heard conversation about your younger sisters. They are well from what i can tell, and know of your return. Theyt want to see you, but your older sister is discouraging that."

She looks at Amara, wishing her to continue or add her comments

Twiggy chuckles at hearing about, who he believes is, Roen, he smiles even more thinking of someone who tries to rob him. Continuing watch the bard, he applauses when appropriate but still listenes to everyone. Ocassionaly he drops a bit od bread to the ground for Fritz.

Twiggy wonders if a little midnight explorations is in order at the Lords house or Lorricks old farm. Something is strange about this place and know that a frontier town is perfect for orginizations such as the cult of the dragon.

Myarra gladly buys three cookies, and thanks the boy for his efforts.

"Given everything that's happening, I'd suggest that after we get the tower cleared, we should go back and talk to your sisters.  They deserve the right to decide what happens to them and where they'll stay.  There's plenty of room in Daak for all of you.  It's only right that we explain their options and let them decide."

Amara would rather have had this conversation when they had more privacy, "A plan can be a good thing, or a bad thing. If you live trying to make a plan perfect, you'll never be able to execute to that plan." The she lowered her voice. "Your older sister seems to want to be there, but the younger two do not. They are afraid to venture on their own, and there is some security there. I do not think there is any real danger, other than living as a peasant and in fear of trying to live as anything else or disobeying your older sister and her husband, for fear that they will be kicked out and forced to fend for themselves. They would like to come see you. I think that would be good - and to let them know that they can live on their own if they want."

"Daak sounds like a good idea. There are plenty of burnt out homes that could be repaired. I could find out who the land belongs to and perhaps purchase it? I'm sure all three of us could get hired on as farm hands. I guess we'll see what happens after we complete Roenthelm's project."

Whatever you all ate, it wasn't that bad. You've had better food in the Tower, but that food is magically created. All the tables in the tavern are full and people are talking everywhere. At some points, it was hard to hear your friends at the table, so the chances of your conversation being heard by others is 50/50. You finish your food and drink and munch on your cookies as you head out the door. Walking into the street with your horses, you see Roenthelm walking out of the Tymora Temple across the street with several priests happily chatting with him and shaking his hand.

Once we've started walking away from town Byron looks at Lorrik.

Daak is one of the options I was thinking about.  The town needs people to help rebuild it.  Also you can train with us when we are there.  If not I was thinking it might be possible for you and your sisters to stay with my family in Soubar for a while.  You could train with Amos when not working on the farm there.  Your sisters would be welcome in either place and looked after by others who care about there welfare as much as you do.

Byron looks over at Amara.

You look like you had something else to say a few minutes ago?

Roen saw his friends come out of the tavern and said his good-byes to the Priests of Tymora. With a smile on his face, he rejoined the group. Going up to Byron, he spoke so only Byron could hear

"We should probably keep a guard tonight at our rest spot. I'm pretty sure I ruffled some feathers at Lord Centauri's house this evening."

"I was thinking of training with Rufus. I liked helping the farmers and building up the defenses near the forest. He was also giving me some really good advice to help me use my bow better. But, I was thinking of having my sisters stay in Soubar so they could keep going to school. I think they would like that more than staying with my older sister. Jeesh...I can't stand her."

Instead of staying at the local Tavern/Inn, the party travels out of town again to the spot they stayed at last night. The spot is still open as you pass by a rider on a horse who's going to town. You set up camp and you set your guard. You all have your suspicions about the town and what could happen.

Standard shifts? You having a campfire?

That's fine, and you can train with the sword with Myarra and me when we are there practicing.  We will need to find a way to get them to Soubar safely then.  If that is what they want to do.  We aren't going to force them to go anywhere they don't want to.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Sun 15 Sept 2019.

Kali listens to the ideas, and couldn't help but smile at Byron's offer of his family. The druid walks over and kisses him on the cheek. "Your sweetness can suprise me sometimes tin man."

She looks at Lorrik with a smile. "Your sisters in Soulbar is a good idea...if what Amara has said, your youngest sister may have some skills, and she will get better opertunities there. I think that you locating to Daak is a good idea...with the destruction it has seen, someone as hard working bas you can find a place and make a home easily. I know how the people can pull together and help others, they did for me when i was young. If and when your sisters are ready to come, you will have a nice place for them to stay and people that will be your family."

The druid crosses her arms and smiles at him with a warm smile. "Who knows, one may want to follow nature and learn about the trees. I am no ranger, but our kind have helped train rangers, herbalists and other druids."

Twiggy looks at Roen once they get out of town "What did you do to Lord Centari? I was thinking of going to scout the house tonight."

"I have been dealing with all sorts of different people my whole life. I'm a good judge of character. When Lorrik and I were there trying to pay off his loan and it failed, I thought it odd that Centauri never offered Lorrik another piece of property. A man with his kind of wealth would surely have something, but he didn't offer anything. Then, I went around town and found people who had money issues and helped them with their debts. Four random businesses in town owed money to Centauri, so I led them to his place and two farmers that Lorrik shared his money with came out of the house, extremely happy. When we entered his office, he wasn't happy at all and tried to hide it. When I paid all of their debts, I could see it in his eyes. He was very upset, but he kept his composure. Someone like that is dangerous. And dangerous men with power are a bad combination. So, your plan of trying to sneak around near his home might not be a good thing to do.

What I did and my project we're going to complete, are not against the law. Don't give him any reason to point any fingers at us."

"You should consider you and your sisters staying together. They are afraid to be on their own - and that suggests that they might not flourish without you near them," Amara said.

Amara, I think with the right people helping to look after their welfare they will flourish.  I know my parents complain about things they have to do to help me my and my siblings as we grew up, and in the case of my younger sisters, growing up.  I also know they love it and have been encouraging as possible to each of us.  If Lorrik's younger sister expressed an interest in learning magic, or sword fighting or any other "adventuring" talent I believe they would do their best to encourage her and help her.  Lorrik's younger than I am and I know I didn't enjoy looking after my siblings at times when told to, I know it is even harder to do so, and so lovingly when forced to do so by circumstances outside of one's control.

Byron looks to Lorrik for an answer.

Before we do anything with regards to your sisters, you need to find out what they want to do, and what you and them can agree is in their best interests to do.

Byron looks over at Kali.

I'm not being sweet.  I'm being practical, based on my experiences.  If you think I'm being sweet I'll take it as a compliment.

Byron nods in agreement with Roen about dangerous men and power being a bad combination.

I agree with you, Roen.  Certainly it appears that everything Centauri has done is lawful.  But lawful and good are not the same thing and can at times be mutually exclusive.  Something is going on around here and it bothers me that we can't fix it right now with our other commitments.

Twiggy nods to Roen but frowns at Centari getting frustraited when he was paid "I am more curious as to why the lord of a town would want to own all of the land that he is already lording over. And Roen you are way to trusting, fingers will be pointed at us tonight regardless of what we do. I have a very bad feeling that we are going to have visitors tonight or going to get framed in town. Byron's babies mamma keeps bugging me as a prelude of what is to come. Our best bet would be to go grab Lorrick's sisters and get out of here.

Byron doesn't even glare at Twiggy over the babies mama comment.  He just talks in calm thoughtful voice that should scare everyone for it's rightful insight.

Twiggy is right.  We are going to get blamed one way or the other even though we have done nothing wrong, yet.  Anyone know how close the nearest way stone is?  I wonder if Culver took advantage of them while Nolan brought the Golems to deal with the Demon Tree when we got into serious trouble.

"I will ask them what they wish to do after we are finished at the tower. That will give me plenty of time to think about it. But, I'm really liking the idea of staying in Daak."

Everyone thinks about Byron's Waystone question and agree the nearest one they KNOW of is probably in Daak.

The party sets up their shifts and begins guard duty, not trusting anyone with the way things went today in town. Except for riders coming and going to town in the middle of the night, it's an uneventful night for you all. You fully expected something to happen, but it didn't.

The next day arrives and it's getting warm already and it's only 5:30am-ish. You pack up your gear, you study/pray for your spells, feed your horses/riding dog and head back into town to meet up with Jameson and his family.

By the time you get there, the town is starting to wake up. Jameson and his wife are busy closing up their home and hitching up the horse to the wagon full of supplies. They are ready to leave by 6am.

If there is anything you wish to do in town, speak up now. This will be your last chance for awhile.

Jameson and his wife drive the wagon with his sons walking. He claims they need to lose some weight anyways and the long walk will do them some good. Jameson is a haughty type of man, but when his wife says something, he listens and obeys. The old road leading to the forest used to be a nice, well taken care of road, but now it's more of a wagon trail. Jameson tells you he's traveled up and down this road for a long time getting timber for his work. Those of you on horseback surround the wagon as you travel up the old road and past the farms near Lorrik's old farm. Lorrik's face is pretty stern when you ride by, but he settles down a bit once you all are up the road a ways.

"We'll stop for the day at an old abandoned farm up the road. It's about an hour from the forest. It has a pond where we can water all the horses. My wife will make us some nice stew or something."

The party thinks they know of the old abandoned farm. When you all traveled to the forest from the road before, you cut across the field and found the old farm house with the pond. This is probably the same place. You also remember the tracks from the wandering Orc party you found as well. Myarra remembers flying high up in the air to see if she could spot them.

Twiggy is relieved that nothing happened in the night, that they know of. Once they were away from town the halfling visibly relaxed. Twiggy let Fritz go at his own pace, running for a bit and then walking. It was a better ride than a horde or pony.  When talking about the farmhouse "Should one of us scout ahead to make sure that farmhouse isn't occupied by unwanted creatures."

"That might be a good idea." Jameson said "Don't want any surprises. Orcs have been rumored to be in the area."

Twiggy looks to Myarra "I'll take the ground looking for tracks if you want to do a fly over. We can meet at the farmhouse unless you spot some large group." If there are no objections Twiggy and Fritz take off. The halfling leads fritz at a decent pace as he heeps alternating looking at the ground for tracks and at his surroundings for any signs of scouts or trouble all the while listening but only hearing the crushing of leaves under Fritz feet.

05:14, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 28 (nat 20),31 using 1d20+8,1d20+15.  Spot, search
05:16, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 13 using 1d20+10.  Liste

.

Roen speaks with Byron in the back of the party when Twiggy runs off with his dog mount, also looking around to see if he could spot anything unusual.

05:40, Today: Roenthelm rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Spot check.

Sister Aliana also checked for tracks

OOC:.
08:53, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 20 using 1d20+14.  Tracking

After speaking with Roen while walking rear guard Byron tries to get Amara's attention with being obvious about it.

Lorrik is quiet, but he's paying attention to his surroundings as well. Lots of memories flood back into his head about the forest and the only good one was meeting his new friends.

Amara still thought they should get Lorrik's sisters today. She just had a bad feeling something was going to happen to them, like being sold off as brides - or worse. But she had no real evidence, and making any such suggestion... well, she didn't want to get Lorrik too concerned about what might not be anything. She glanced around, and noticed Byron. She turned her horse to walk back to where Byron and Roen were, at the rear, and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Twiggy and Fritz run up ahead to see if they could spot anything at the farmhouse when they got near the place as Aliana tried to look for tracks. She finds a wagon track with 2 horses, perhaps 2 days old at the max. They are headed on the same path as the party. Myarra flies up into the air again to see if she could spot anything and this surprises Jameson and his family. They just assume that Myarra has magics or powers at her disposal and it kind of reassures them that they are traveling with a group of adventurers that are experienced. She's 100 feet in the air, but she doesn't spot anything unusual.

20 minutes later, you catch up to Twiggy at the old farm house. He declares the place abandoned.

Main Game Map Updated

Byron speaks to Amara and Roen about his concerns before they get to the abandoned farm.

Amara, do remember when we questioned the orcs we captured at the archway in the garden on our way to where we fought the demon?  Roen reminded me that they mentioned something about a silver mine.  Right now I'm confused as to where this mine would be in relationship to Lorrik's and his other friends farms.  However, something else Roen and Twiggy have said about Centuari has me wondering if he's not up to something with this "silver mine."  I've been raised to put the interest of my family and friends before mine for almost everything, and as such I sort of don't have the ability to think in selfish or evil ways.

Byron speaks softly to Amara so only her and Roen can hear me.

I'm not trying to suggest you are evil, only that because of your background you might understand that line of thinking better than mine.  Hopefully, to shed some light on what's going on so we can help Lorrik and the others.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:42, Thu 19 Sept 2019.

"And remember when Lennox followed one Orc south? That was at the cross roads where we went north into the swampy marsh area." Roen added "If Orcs are mining silver, where are they spending the money? I've never found an orc town before where they all hang out. They were Dragon Cult members and human members can easily blend into society without anyone ever knowing."

"No offense taken," Amara replied, just as quietly. "Yes, I remember about the mines.

Quite frankly, I do not believe that we know enough. For all we know, the orcs could be mining silver to pay a green dragon to do something for them - or to leave them alone. They could be mining it to make a huge silver statue of their god in the hopes that he will decide to animate it and lead them into war. Or almost anything else.

I also am not quite sure where the mine is in relationship to the area.

I agree that the Lord is up to something, but if we wanted to figure it out, we would need to spend more time there, both scouting and asking questions. And whatever it is that he was planning on, for now you, Roen, have delayed his plans. Either he will need to do something overt - which it does not seem he has interest in doing - or he will need to bide his time for a good while longer."

Well, if you guys think of anything else please let me know.  If I think of anything else or remember anything else I will do the same.  The better informed we all are, the better our chances of making sure the right things happen for the right people, including us.

Byron says as he continues to talk in a low whisper so his voice doesn't carry as it normally does.

I wish Lennox was still with us.  I'm sure he could give us some more insight into the situation, especially regarding the cult.

The party makes it to the abandoned farm with no problems. It's the same one you all spent the night in a few weeks ago when you first were traveling to the forest. Aliana informs the party of the wagon tracks and she could see that who ever drove the wagon, also stayed at the broken house. As before, there are a couple crates that are filled with food, just in case you needed to flee the forest. Jameson informs the party that the food is probably from adventurers,

"Adventurers who arrive in Triel seeking treasures in the forest come by this place, no doubt. I've spent many nights here for years. Surely adventurers put emergency supplies here, just in case they need to flee the woods. It would be bad luck to take somebody's only chance of survival if we take from here."

Kali looks at the supplies and can't help wonder at the waste of the food. The woman was a druid....used to living off the land, even for food, and seeing such a supply, though it made sense to someone who was unable to hunt or forage, concerned her.

changing her train of thought, she matched up with Byron's reasoning. "We all wish Lennox was here byron...he is missed, but we can do little about it."

She looked at Raieylan, who stayed by her side. The two seemed to share some silent conversation, when the panther snorted and went to the treeline, to keep watch and hunt.

"Raie will scout the outskirts...i will join him later. But for now i will stay" she couldn't help but look at Byron and smile, despite his serious look and train of thought.

Byron smiles at Kali as he watches her look at the supplies stocked by others at the abandoned farm and guesses her thoughts.

Many farmers keep keep their own stock of food and some other supplies throughout the year on their own farm.  Usually as a way to prepare for a bad harvest, as they do happen occasionally.  Sometimes it just happens to one family farm due to accident, injury or illness.  Other times to whole areas from the weather, or large raids by orcs, or other creatures.  My family does that.  I'm sure Lorrik's family has a small stock of supplies for their farm just in case.

Byron continues thoughtfully about Lennox.

We've lost a good man and friend.  He seemed obsessed about a couple of things, but for all of that he was a good fighter and to me a good friend once I took the time to talk to him and look past what I saw as his obsessed behavior as I got to know him better.

Twiggy scouted the immediate area and the house before the others came. He saw the food but mainly was looking for newly tilled groun where they whould have buried some loot or other items.

Once the others get there he doesn't say anything as some talk low. When Kali came up he told her "I will make rounds with Raie. I want to make sure no scouts are in the area watching the place. Twiggy then goes out through the woods looking for lookout spots, trails, or any signs of travelors in the area. He stays out to dusk before coming back in.

10:09, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 32 using 1d20+15.  Search.

Raieylan wanders off when the party sets up camp at the abandoned farmhouse. Twiggy already searched the area, but came up empty. There is still a pile of firewood in the yard if the party wanted to start a small campfire, which Jameson's wife wishes to do to make everyone dinner. The three sons take all the horses to the pond to water them while the party stretches and relaxes before their guard shifts.

Jameson's wife make a pot of onion and carrot soup, with bread. At first, you all wonder what you got yourselves into...well, except for Kalliyan. She's probably excited about it and when the sons hear about the soup, they're happy as well. And it turns out to be probably the best soup you've ever eaten. The Mrs. is a very good cook, but you can't make an honest opinion yet with only one meal. Jameson and his sons dig right into it, though.

It's pushing 7pm-ish now.

Anything special the party want to do before guard shift time?

Roen wandered around the broken farm house, looking at the hills, the sky and the forest off in the distance, thinking about saving the ghost trapped in the ruined tower. He knew the job was going to be dirty and most likely very sad, pulling out bodies that the Gargoyles put there. But, hopefully things will go well for everyone. Walking around the building, Roen ate some of the onion soup, but he wasn't sure if he liked it or not because he rarely eats anymore.

Byron enjoys the soup.  Mostly because it reminds him of his mother's cooking and the love she put into each meal.

After dinner Byron works on some sword work with Lorrik and, if she is willing,  Myarra.

Byron also helps replenish the wood we used in cooking dinner tonight.

Kali was pleased at the dinner choice...it wasn't often humans favoured vegetables and fruit over meat, so the druid had the soup...even a second helping! The druid rarely had hot food, and the soup was warming. She thanked the farmers wife and complimented her on her meal.

When Byron went to train with Lorik, the druid drew her scimitar, and went through some basic moves with it, feeling the balance of the blade in her hand. The sward was new to her...she favoured the spear in the past, but such a weapon was made for a druid, and she vowed to honour that. Her movements were fluid, like a slow dance, the sword weaving slowly through the air

Aliana enjoyed the soup immensely, loving home cooked (even homeish) food.  She did what she could to help out around the camp

Lorrik is still a beginner, but he listens and does the best he can. He looks over at Jameson's sons, who aren't even remotely interested in learning how to use a sword. They are busy gambling with dice. Lorrik looks to Byron,

"How come they don't want to learn how to fight? What happens if there are more Gargoyles, or Orcs wander in while we're working on the tower?"

I don't know why they don't want to learn how to defend themselves.  They are going to depend on us to help them.  For a beginner you have the good sense to listen and follow instructions.  It took me a lot longer to learn that lesson from Amos when I was first learning.  I suspect that part of your eagerness and willingness to learn the sword comes from your first experience here with the gargoyles.

Byron looks over at Kali as she goes through her routine with the scimitar.

Even Kali has enough good sense to work out with her new weapon to learn the balance and feel of it so she can use it both safely and skillfully in combat if it comes to that.

Byron looks back at Jameson's sons.

Our safety depends on us keeping a good watch on our surroundings and looking out for each other as we make our way to the tower and while we are working on Roen's project.  I hope things go as smoothly as Roen wants for this to be done as quickly as possible.  I don't like the idea of your younger sisters staying with your older sister from what Kali and Amara told us.

Another part of your learning to be an adventurer revolves around other skills besides the bow and sword.  You need to spend some time with both Twiggy and Aliana learning how to spot tracks and such things.  They are way better at those things than I am.  You will need to ask them to teach you those things when we have time.

Myarra drinks her soup and thanks the cook for providing it.  But, without meat, it will never be in her top 10 foods.

Once Byron begins sparring practice she joins with unrestrained pleasure.   She spends a few minutes warming up while Byron and Lorrik talk, then approaches the pair, her eyes on Byron as she stalks the man, not totally unlike Raie.

"The problem with picking up a sword, Lorrik, is that once you're carrying it, everyone expects you to be able to use it.  Every situation becomes one in which violence may be the answer.  And while you have to win every single battle you fight it, your opponent only needs to win one.  That's why the vast majority of people don't have any interest in learning.  The benefits frequently don't come anywhere near the risks.  In civilized areas, most people won't draw a sword on someone that's unarmed. Not to mention decent weapons are expensive.  So there's little incentive, and lots of good reasons not to.

Therefore, folks like the Jamesons dedicate themselves to tasks which they are good at, and which doesn't require much risk, and leave the dangerous stuff to the likes of us."

She gives her sword an extremely theatrical flourish and quickly sidesteps to Byron's off-side.

"So, Twiggy tells me you're an old married man," she tells Byron with a smirk.  "What does the new missus think of the old.  Are you trading up, you old dog?"

If Byron falters at all, he's going to get the side of a blade ringing off his heavily armored backside.

To the best of my knowledge I have not, was not, and have never been married.

Byron replies coolly at first.  His voice rising in passion as we continues to speak.

I did know a girl who lived near Triel.  When I first started adventuring.  She left our group after about 6 months.  I have not seen her, heard from her, or even heard anything else about her since then, and that was 2 1/2 years ago.  The girl's name was Amber and her mother's name was Ruby.  I suspect that once she left our group they either moved to a bigger town further away from Triel, or something else has happened to them.  It might not surprise me to find out Centauri, and/or his sons had something to do with the something else.

Byron turns and faces Myarra with his long sword in a solid defensive position.

"You see, Lorrik.  If you can get your opponent upset, that's as good as getting him to drop his shield.  Byron is upset, but he's not letting it interfere with his defense.  Lots of less experienced ones can't keep their emotions in check.  A few words can be just as effective as an arrow if you know which ones to use.

I'd normally agree, Byron," Myarra replies to the warrior.  "Centauri is certainly up to something, not that it's really any of our business unless he makes it our business.  We really should get our job done here, let Lorrik's sisters have the option of coming with us, and just report Centauri and his dirty dealings once we're in Soubar.  Then let the authorities deal with him."

She pauses to send several exploratory blows whistling in, but pulling back at the last second to probe his defense.

"But do you really think hiring some old woman to pretend to be your wife and embarrass you in public is Centauri's style?  What would be the point?  And Amara said she mentioned the rift.  How would Centauri know about that?  Hans said that rift would be trouble."

The next blow isn't exploratory at all and rings with a solid clang off Byron's sword.

Byron speaks clearly and coolly as he continues to spar with Myarra.

The best way to win a battle is to keep your emotions in check.  However, there are times when you can use your emotions, or your opponents emotions to your advantage.  Learning when to do so is much much harder than it sounds.  So your best option is to keep your emotions in check.

Byron strikes back Myarra to let her know he is in control of emotions and can attack as well as defend even with the long sword Byron is working with to teach Lorrik.

As to the Rift, I have no idea.  I'm hoping Hanns does the next time we get a chance to talk with him.

Lorrik doesn't say a word as he watches and learns, mimicking what Byron does against Myarra. He really likes the new sword he got from Amos, but he doesn't like the weight of the Chain shirt he has on. He told himself that when he got back to town that he'd trade it in for some studded leather or something.

Myarra deftly dodges out of the way, or deflects Byron's blows.  It's not terribly hard given that Byron isn't actually trying to kill her, a courtesy that you can't usually count on in an opponent.

"When an opponent insults you, it's just another weapon.  As Byron says, despite being an iron-clad nincompoop with the bathing habits of a leprous Chultean lemur, insults are just words, without meaning unless you let them affect you.

And while he's good with a blade, his repartee, or ability to throw a party a second time, is sadly lacking.  You won't have any trouble becoming his superior in that regard.  Just make sure you stock enough grapes.  People always skimp on the grapes.

Seriously though, Byron, remember Hans said he knew me because I went through the rift and back in time.  But this time I didn't go through the rift, and didn't go back in time.  I have no idea what that means.  Did what I do in the past still happen?  Will Hans remember me?

Come on Lorrik, join us.  You need some practice working with an experienced partner.  Although, in this case, Byron will have to do.  When fighting in tandem, try to get your ally on the far side of your opponent.  In most species, eyes only point in one direction.  If you can flank, your opponent becomes at a significant disadvantage."

Amara consider the soup good, and complimented the chef, though suggested adding a few mushrooms. Root and leaf vegetables didn't require as much sun as fruits, and so along with mushrooms, insects, and raid victims, made up the majority of the diet of the drow.

"There is something else you should consider, Lorrik," Amara says as she watches the lad. She was not a swordfighter, but she had watched many. Including many dancing with swords naked in the night - one of the traditional manners to worship Eilistrae. "If you are an adventurer, you need to come to terms with the fact that you may die at any hour, at any time. You should build a good relationship with your god or gods. Choose them wisely, and be faithful.

Some worship one. Some a pantheon. I worship two.

Mystra, the Lady of Magic, and Eilistrae, the Dancing Goddess of the Under-races who have seen the light of the moon and choose to live in it. I believe that they, for whatever reason, worked together. Without Mystra gifting me with magic, I likely would never have felt alienated from my culture and come to realize its depravity. Without Eilistrae, I would not have thought that a Drow could successfully find another path."

True Myarra,  I do not take time to throw insults in combat.  I've found over time that my sword work speaks for itself.  Along with this.

A split second before Byron says "Along with this." He rushes Myarra to try and catch her off guard and use his superior weight to knock her back further than she thought she would be.

Lorrik always remember that size and/or weight can be used by an opponent against you, just as you can use those things against an opponent who thinks they have the advantage because of their size and/or weight.

Both Myarra and Lorrik can tell that Byron in enjoying himself in the physical exertion and also that he taking care so that none of the three get injured in the session.

Kali watched on the lessons that Myarra and Byron were teaching the warrior, and chuckled at Byron's attempt at catching Myarra off balance with sheer size and weight. She decided to give Byron a taste of his own medicine, as well as teach Lorik a lesson

The druid walked over beside Lorik and knelt down, her hand palm down on the grass, looking at the warrior. Her smile bordered on diabolical as the grass around the area began to lengthen and catch at the warrior, holding him in place. The grass lengthened into vines and wrapped the warrior up

<Casts Entangle>

But while size and weight can be an advantage, this is only true if it can be used. the greatest weapon for any person, warrior or otherise is their mind. Smart warriors know when to attack and how. Brave, stupd warriors who rush in live very short lives."

She walks upto the entangled Warrior, hands behind her back, got on her tip toes and kissed the warrior on the cheek. "You silly human..." she says with a almost flirtatious smile.

She turns around and walks back, winking at Myarra. She looks back and the vines slowly decend.

Myarra dodges Byron's rush.  It's not that hard when dealing with people entirely encased in an iron can.  Still, she does have to drop her attack to get out of the way without opening herself up to another attack.  If Byron had had an ally, that would have been an excellent time to press.

"And that's why you're missing out on half the fun!" Myarra says with a laugh.  "Combat without banter ... or at least some good old fashion battle opera is drab and boring."

She pauses for a second as Kalli begins casting her spell.  She trusts the druid, but combat is combat and she isn't 100% convinced that whatever spell is being cast won't affect her as well.  She sighs with a bit of relief as Byron alone ends up tied in vines.

"Oh, and one last thing, Lorrik.  Bryon may be a very silly human, but he's our very silly human.  Banter in combat is fine, but outside of combat, nobody picks on an ally.

Unless she's dating him.  That outweighs everything else."

Twiggy got back right at dusk and was glad he did not find anything or anyone. The halfling took his time enjoying the soup letting his hard bisquits soften up fully before eating them. Twiggy takes out his decanter of endless water and uses it to help clean the dishes as the others practice swords, though you see Twiggy wince when they talk about Byron's wife. He souldn't pick on the human about that but it is just to much fun.

Finishing washing and wiping his hands dry as Kali entangles Byron, Twiggy chuckles "It is also always good to remember that the ladies are always right. Teamwork is good when you are in a group. Just imagine if ten orcs were circling Byron, that entangle spell would have caught a bunch of them to allow Byron to dispatch the others. Learn you allies strengths and weaknesses then help where you can.

Amara did not usually get involved with melee combat. It was simply not her forte.

But she decided to join in, suddenly rushing Myarra, swinging her ebony quarterstaff. At the last moment, she changed the angle of her attack, swiping at the warrioress. "Learning to control your strikes so that others defend elsewhere can distract even the best warrior," She said as she tucked her body to tumble away, but caught a foot in the entangling vines and fell to the ground after her attack.


19:27, Today: Amara rolled 24 using 1d20+19.  bluff feint. (Move action for Amara)
To feint, make a Bluff check opposed by a Sense Motive check by your target. The target may add his base attack bonus to this Sense Motive check. If your Bluff check result exceeds your target’s Sense Motive check result, the next melee attack you make against the target does not allow him to use his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).
19:29, Today: Amara rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  attack.
19:29, Today: Amara rolled 13 using 1d20+12.  tumble. (Really? Really? Oh well... at least it's just for sparring...)

Byron smiles at his friends and everyone can tell that Byron does love Kali from his look and voice.

You know my love, it isn't exactly fair to tie the one you love up at the wrong time.

Byron's tone changes as he continues to talk to teach Lorrik things he will need to know.

Yes, we are having some fun, but even in our fun here there are many aspects of combat to learn about and learn from.  First, never over estimate your abilities and never under estimate the abilities of your opponent(s).  That is surest way to find yourself in deep trouble where you will most likely be killed.  Secong, surprise has value in combat.  The unexpected can help you or hurt you.  Speaking of which, always expect the unexpected when in combat.  Kali's spell was unexpected, and I never kept that thought in the back of my mind just now.  You saw what happened.  I got trapped by her spell.  Had this been the real thing I'd be lucky to be taken prisoner, at worst I would be dead.  Third, even those you don't think to be a physical threat can be.  Amara's use of her staff, is not to be taken lightly or mocked.  I've seen her practice some moves with it that I know Myarra and I can't duplicate unless we spent a lot of time working with her to learn those moves.  Fourth, skill with one weapon does not translate into skill with another.  Even similar weapons are different.  Kali's scimitar is similar to a short sword in length and stuff, but using them requires a different way of thinking with each of them.

Myarra spins quickly as Amara suddenly attacks her, her muscles moving automatically from long years of practice when dealing with the unexpected.  She's hardly even aware that she's doing it, and this time there's no banter at all, just a sudden twist to the side to avoid the blow, her blade spinning off to give her counter-balance, then spinning back, ready to lash out at her enemy.  But as quickly as she moves, her brain also manages to send the follow-up message that there's no real danger.  Unfortunately, it doesn't keep her hearts from pounding, charging her body with adrenaline.

Then Amara trips and falls while trying to tumble away.  Staying in her crouch for a second longer, Myarra taps the drow on the backside with the flat of her blade, a favorite "teaching method" her father had used when she was the novice.  Although in this case, it's truly just a feather-light tap, not the stinging, welt-inducing lesson she'd experience.

"And most importantly of all, you will screw-up.  It doesn't matter how long you practice, or how naturally skilled you are.  One day you'll swing your sword and it will fly off and stick in a tree.  Or you'll trip on a vine.  Or any one of a thousand other embarrassing and potentially life threatening things.  It will happen.  Always have a Plan B for what to do.  Have a second weapon.  Duck behind an ally.  Run for your life.  It's up to you, but make sure you have a plan.

And, for the record, it took me five minutes to get my sword out of the tree."

OOC: 21:46, Today: Myarra rolled 27 using 1d20+9.  Sense Motive.

Lorrik just stares on...his brain has over-loaded...

Byron sees the look on Lorrik's face and chuckles softly.

Don't worry Lorrik.  You will understand in time as you keep working with us.  We practice and train hard because our lives depend on it.  We work with and against each other because that helps us train to react automatically to familiar situations.

Byron walks over to Amara and offers his hand to help her up.

Thank you my friend for trying to demonstrate that even someone who doesn't appear to be a threat to anyone can be a threat to everyone.

Byron smiles at Kali and Myarra.

You two can make fun of me and my armor all you want.  I'll take the ribbing in good stride, because I know this armor has saved my life a couple of times, just as your skills with nature and sword have saved my life previously, and will do so again.

Amara takes Byron's hand to help her up, but puts almost no pressure on it as she gets up, "Thank you."

She's not embarrassed about missing the hit - she knows she is far from the best warrior. Yes, because she relied on misdirection, she often was able to place a hit, but certainly not always. She is, however, embarrassed to have fallen while trying to tumble.

"And know sometimes your secondary strategy won't work, and you won't get just the tap Myarra gave me. So try to have a healing potion or other healing item on hand, or keep a priest nearby."

Twiggy sits back watching then takes out his pipe and beef jerky. He takes of a few strips then sits down resting on Fitz as he munches. Using a stick from the fire he lights his pipe and takes a few puffs then asks Lorrick "I know this is alot but how do you feel with the weapon and armor you are using? I like light weapons and lighter armor so I can use my agility to strike deadly blows, and patience. We need to try out your other skills too. A brute fighter may not be your best path but instead something like a striker who hits hard and fast but then gets out of fray. How is your woodland knowledge, even more what have you learned about the enemies you have seen and fought?" Twiggy sees that Lorrick is overwhelmed with the practice but wonders about his other skills.

"I think I would feel better in something lighter, like studded leather." Lorrik said as he shook his chain shirt "I like my sword and all, but I'm much better with my bow, even though it's old. If we run into orcs again, I'm going to use their own arrows against them that we collected."

Lorrik then looks on the ground as he crouches,

"I'm beginning to pick up on tracks and how old they are and I must say that I feel better being out here than in town. The most I've learned so far was against the orcs. I don't like them at all. They attacked our farm a few years back and my sisters and I ran to town."

After your practice, you rest a bit before going on your guard shifts for the night. Wondering if you were going to be ambushed by thieves, you're extra vigilant on your watches. Jameson and his family sleep under the wagon and trust you all to take care of them. The night sky is absolutely beautiful and beyond the snoring of the sons, you can hear animals in the surrounding areas that come out at night. The shifts go by without incident. The Jameson's family wakes early and it seems this is a habit of theirs. It's perhaps 5am-ish. They try and be as quiet as they can to those who are still asleep, but morning breakfast is what starts to wake you all up. The smell of bacon, eggs and potatoes can be smelled and heard cooking on the nearby cook fire.

You all wake up in various orders and pack your gear, pray/memorize your spells and eat breakfast before leaving.

Twiggy nods already guessing what Lorrick hasn't figured out yet, but he will continue to let the young man grow into his own. "Try sparring without armor and see if you are talented enough to weild two weapons, maybe a sword and a dagger. Once we reach the tower I will help you be a bit more stealthy and I am sure Kali will help you learn more woodland stuff if you want to. You are good with the bow so we can help you get better in other areas."

In the morning Byron talks to Lorrik about learning and practicing other skills besides the sword.

Aliana is much better with a bow than I am.  On the other hand I am much better with the crossbow than the others.  Amara is much better with the staff than Myarra or I am.  We can use those weapons, but it better to master 1 or 2 before learning other weapons.

Byron smiles as he looks in the direction of Jameson's family preparing breakfast.

There are many other skills to learn, and even knowledge of things to help those with you as you go adventuring.  Local knowledge and history, Riding a horse, Keeping a sharp eye to spot things as you casually search and when you are deliberately searching a given area.  Twiggy, has skills involving locks, and other things that I have very little knowledge of.

Aliana, enjoying the fresh breeze and not really listening, blinked in surprise at hearing her name.  She smiled at Lorrik and shrugged in a self deprecating way.
"I'm reasonably good with a bow, though I'm more a scholar than a warrior.  I'm also trained in longsword, and might be able to give you more pointers as a beginner than the more skilled among us.  Also, if you're interested in learning other things like Tracking or Mapmaking."

Roen waited for everyone to get their fill and munched on what was left. He didn't eat much since he was trapped in the mirror for so many years, but he thanked Jameson's wife anyways. She was going to make a lot of people happy in the coming days, for Roen knew cleaning out the tower wasn't going to be nice.

"I don't know how far you've been into the forest, but the last time my friends and I were here, we spent the night in an old abandoned building that was still standing. Lorrik and his friends built crude doors and window shutters. Hopefully they're still there."

Kali rested to the side of the group, the panther asleep at her side snoring lightly. At one point in the night, Raieylan woke, and stretched, getting up from beside the druid. Kali opened an eye and couldn't help but smile as the panther went to byron's side and, snorting, flopped on the ground and snored in his ear.

The druid slept with a smile.

When morning broke, Kali was one of the first up (Besides the farmers). She silently greeted them and walked away a little to watch the sunrise as was her usual morning ritual. The only thing different was Raie was still asleep beside Byron.

Kali returned to the group as the rest roused, except Raie and Byron....where the panther rolled over flopping a heavy paw over the warrior with a thud.

Byron smiles at the big cat and rubs his head lightly between his ears if he lets me.

I guess I'm your good side for the moment?  Well, that's what I think since you decided to use me as a pillow.

Byron smiles at Kali.

I must have done something right for him to use me as a pillow and snore in my ear.

Jameson knew of the ruined building.

"Aye, that's our turning point when me sons and I go into the forest for wood. Never been past there before, so this should be interesting. While traveling down the trail, we'll be lookin' for fallen trees. Best not upset the spirits of the forest by choppin' down trees unless they be sick."

Kali walked over and stood over them both. "Better he snore in your ear than mine....and i think he wasned something to lean on."

almost as if to answer her comment, the panther rose it's head, snorting at the druid. It stood up and streched, and before byron could get up, promptly flopped down on him

Kali couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the huge panther using Byron as a matress.

Byron chuckles at the big cat lying on top of him.

Ok big guy, we get the message.  Now, we need to get up and get to work.

OOC:  If you don't find the big cat and Byron's interactions funny, you must have left your sense of humor in bed this morning.

After breakfast, the party heads on up the road with Byron and Aliana in the lead. Less than 15 minutes later, a wagon with 2 horses is seen coming your way. Jameson recognizes the man as Connor, one of his competitors. He has a wagon full of cut trees that he's taking back to town. When he sees you in the distance, he waves and you all stop for a few minutes to talk.

"Hey Jameson, you got a job?"

"Morning Connor. I'm working for these adventurers. They needed my skills."

"Oh yeah, what are you doing?"

"Building a scaffold. What are you doing?"

"Brenton Black hired me to rebuild his barn. It's taking more wood than I expected."

"Anything up the road to worry about?"

"Nah. You good."

Looking at Lorrik's face, you can tell that he's not "Good" right now, though...

Byron recognizes the trouble and takes Lorrik aside and whispers quietly to him.

Easy Lorrik.  No need to invite more trouble yet.  There's a time and a place for it.  We will decide when that time and place are, and when we do, we will kick some serious back side.

Byron walks up the guy heading back into town.  Talking about the barn even as he takes a quick look at the wood being hauled for both quality and quantity.

Why's it taking so much wood?

Twiggy chuckles at the panthers antics as he readies everything to leave. The halfling then plays fetch with Fitz for a bit and feeds him before buckling on the saddle.

Seeing the other logger come down the road and mentions Black's name Twiggy waits for the wood amount answer.

Connor seemed pretty happy to brag a bit about his new job and told Byron the details,

"The barn was burned up pretty good, but Brenton's Father wanted it all fixed up and extended a bit. I wasn't going to argue with a paying customer. I have to keep up with Jameson and his boys." Connor chuckled

Roen smiled at the friendly competition. It was common among the working class. He looked over the wood and saw that it was chopped from trees, but Roen couldn't tell if the trees were sick or not; Jameson was the expert. Remembering that Lorrik was trying to learn tracks, Roen waved him over to look at the fresh wagon tracks.

As much as Byron wants to pry into the reason for the expansion of the barn, Byron decides discretion is the better part of valor and doesn't comment further.

Be careful on the way back.  We didn't encounter anything, but who knows what happens over night in these parts.

Kali walked silently beside Raieylan, knowing all too well that normal folk are (At best) intimidated by the big cat. Seeing a sligfht girl with red hair beside the panther seems to cause no panic, though some looks.

...Something the druid is amused by.

She catches up to Byron. "Seems the old man has taken a liking to you....he never sleeps on something unless he intends to eat it."

The panther beside her snorts, but his eyes stay ahead on the road.

Byron smiles at both Raieylan and Kali.

I don't think he will eat me, unless one of two things happen first.  One, you tell him to eat me, or two, he sees me hurting you.

Kali smirks at Byron and his comments.


 "Don't hurt me and I won't tell him to eat you."

The party parts ways with Connor and you go on your way. 45 minutes later, you make it to the entrance of the forest. You remember the steps that led up to the road that you took before. The wagon is a tight fit as you slowly take it up the stairs, but with all the muscle you have, you make it.

Game Map 2 has been updated for reminders.

"Ok folks. Now we need to start searching for sick trees and those that have already fallen. That will be our lumber to build your scaffold. Once we find something, we can tie ropes to it and drag it to the road, cut it up to fit the wagon and take it with us."

Kalliyan admires Jameson's respect for nature and can easily find sick trees that need to come down, but it'll take spot checks to find trees that have already fallen.

Spot Check DC 15 per mile traveled

Each tree that has already fallen will take 30 minutes to drag and cut to fit in the wagon. Sick trees that need to be cut down, branches cut off and dragged to road to be loaded will take 2 hours.

Please refer to Game Map 0. It's about 5 miles to Homebase where you found Lorrik.

After helping push the cart up the steps and slowly under the entryway of the ruined stairway, Roen smiled at the companionship of his friends as they walked down the road and looked for trees like Jameson suggested.

12:30, Today: Roenthelm rolled 15,10,26,14,17 using 1d20+6,1d20+6,1d20+6,1d20+6,1d20+6.  Spot Check to find trees.

Despite her study in outdoor survival and tracking, it took the ex librarian city girl a bit to get the trick of spotting the correct kind of trees


OOC: 15:22, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 19 using 1d20+4.  Spot.
15:21, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 22 using 1d20+4.  Spot.
15:21, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Spot.
15:21, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 11 using 1d20+4.  Spot.
15:21, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 9 using 1d20+4.  Spot

Kali helped with the cart all she could....she wasn't physically strong, but did what she could. When it came time for choosing trees, the druid bowed and spoke in the musical language, then started looking for sick trees.

<OOC:Kalliyan rolled 13 using 1d20+5. Spot
Kalliyan rolled 23 using 1d20+5. Spot
Kalliyan rolled 19 using 1d20+5. Spot
Kalliyan rolled 8 using 1d20+5. Spot
Kalliyan rolled 24 using 1d20+5.  Spot.>

Lorrik payed attention to what Aliana was looking for. The only tree he might be able to tell was sick was perhaps one that was burnt in a fire or had bugs crawling out of it, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

Byron spends more time worrying about the Gargoyles and other creatures than actually looking for sick trees.

OOC: 21:01, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  Spot Check.
21:01, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 8 using 1d20+5.
21:01, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 6 using 1d20+5.
21:01, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 13 using 1d20+5.
21:01, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 16 using 1d20+5.

Twiggy rides Fitz all around the forest spending more time dodging trees than looking for them.

20:06, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 26,11,14,12,15 using 1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8.  Spot checks

Some of you look for wood and some of you keep an eye out for trouble as you slowly travel down the road. During the 1st mile, Byron and Aliana spot a tree that fell over across the road. Jameson and his boys go to work cleaning it up and getting it loaded onto the wagon. While that was happening, Roen and Twiggy both spot another down tree off the trail a bit. Jameson and his sons clean that one too and Byron pulls it to the road with Charger. The second mile Kalliyan spots a sick tree that needs to come down and while Jameson and his sons are doing this, Aliana finds a downed tree. That too is cleaned up and loaded. Mile 3, Kalliyan and Roen spot the same sick tree and that's cut down and cleaned up by the boys. Then you stop for a lunch break. During that time Aliana finds another downed tree and after lunch, the boys clean that up and load it onto the wagon. Traveling through the forest, you don't find any suitable lumber during mile 4, but during mile 5, Twiggy and Roen each find a downed tree, which the boys take care of. And lastly, Kalliyan spots a sick tree near the ruined building you plan on staying the night in.

Upon reaching the the ruined building where you originally found Lorrik, you find orc bodies all over the place. It appears there was a fight here and judging by the smell, at least 3 days ago. On the ground outside, you count 26 orcs that have died from various weapon wounds. All are still dressed in their armor and there are weapons all over the place.

Spot checks please.

Sister Aliana gasped aloud at the carnage before them, her wide eyes scanning the area even as she winced in horror

OOC:19:24, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Spot

On reaching the area and seeing the mess.  Byron starts looking around.

OOC: 00:59, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 23 using 1d20+5.  Spot Check.

After spoting something amongst the mess, Byron starts searching more carefully.

00:59, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 29 using 1d20+10.  Search.

Something or someone sure made some short work of those Orcs.

Kali looks on the onslaught with what looks like a detachment, but you realise she is in shock at the sheer destruction and death. A single tear rolls down her cheek as she looks at the death.

<OOC: Kalliyan rolled 9 using 1d20+5 >

Byron spots the symbol of the Cult on a helmet on one of the orcs, then gets down off Charger to do a thorough search. Lorrik gets down and pulls out his sword to assist Byron and to learn what Byron is doing. Aliana notes that the front "door" to the ruins is broken down and spots a body in the doorway, so she's probably guessing there's more bodies inside.

Jameson tells his sons to stay put and grab their axes as the rest of the party scans the area for danger.

"I've seen this before here, a couple years ago. This is a good spot to sleep. Orcs wander the forest and so do adventurers. Search the bodies for money. If the money is gone, then adventurers did this."

Jameson turns to his boys,

"Once the coast is clear, you know what to do. You've done this before."

Byron does a thorough search outside and notes that these orcs are Cultists. He also searches the bodies and notes that these bodies have appeared to have been searched through as well. No money pouches are found. He thinks it over and Jameson might be correct in his assumptions because the Orc weapons are poor quality and not worth an adventurer's time to pick up to salvage in town.

Roen shook his head in disappointment. Such waste of life. Even though they were orcs, Roen considered them living beings and they still needed to be respected. He went around and checked for signs of life.

Take 10 Heal Check

Twiggy is on edge. He passes by the bodies and looks around but sees little, more concerned about what killed them. Even more so, the halfling wonders why the cult is at the spot they was going to.

Sister Aliana examined the battle site tracks to try to determine anything definite about the people who killed the orcs, other than the obvious, though it was difficult on the muddled ground.


OOC:


19:11, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 16 using 1d20+14.  tracking.

Amara frowned slightly at the sight - or perhaps the smell - but doesn't appear to really care. The Underdark is full of death, and while it does not please her, neither does it affect her much if they weren't people that she cared about.

But she was wary. Whatever had done this could still be in the area. She chanted a short spell and carefully circled around the littered corpses, primarily looking toward the outside rather than at the orc bodies.

Myarra is far too use to death, especially violent death to be bothered by the carnage.  But she knows it bothers Aliana, and she doesn't like seeing her clerical friend upset.

"Well, we can't do a pyre in the forest, and I'm not digging a hole big enough for this lot." she tells the others.  "Let's just pile them up out in the woods.  The carrion eaters can do their work just as well there as here.  And if there's plenty of food available, they'll have no reason to come sniffing around the tower."

Taking the body nearest the tree line, if it's already been checked by Roen, she grabs it by the legs and begins hauling it away.  It's going to take a while, but she's not afraid of hard work.  And twenty or thirty feet should be safe enough.  Maybe somebody else will clean up the mess in the tower while she's busy.

She's still got her adventurer's disguise up and running ... so as not to spook the civilians ... so she's not likely to get jumped by the gang that killed these orcs.

Still, there are an awful lot of orcs.  Whomever did this was not a band of newbies.

Well it is certain that someone else doesn't like the cultists.

Byron says to Lorrik as they search the area carefully.  Byron points to the signs he sees that say a party of adventures or something the equivalent of did to the orcs.

Who ever, or what ever it was, knows the value of money.  The weapons and stuff left behind might be, at best, useless scrap metal.  Your first sword was better than this junk.

Byron pauses to look around the area where he and Lorrik are discussing the sword.  Byron then continues speaking and passing along a lesson about a standing watch.

I think whoever did this is gone for the time being.  However, we will need to keep watch tonight, and I think we should for the rest of the day.  A good watch party during the night is very important for survival when you are in unfamiliar or possibly enemy territory.  We take it seriously, and if you continue down your path to be an adventurer you should too.  To be an adventurer you have to be brave, bold and crazy regardless of being a druid, monk, fighter, sorcerer or anything else.  To be a successful one, you must also be a cautious one who knows when to not take risks and/or when to run away to live another day.

Byron and Lorrik work their way back around to the rest of the group and help with the cleanup of the dead bodies.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:23, Thu 03 Oct 2019.

Roen starts to check bodies for signs of life, but so far, finds none. Myarra and Byron start moving them out of the way and when Jameson and his sons see this, their father gives them the OK. They go to a body that Roen has already checked and decapitates the bodies before carrying them well away from the area. They also start piling up the junk weapons. The value might not be much to an adventurer, but to a commoner, a couple gold is a lot. Amara casts a spell and looks around, while the rest of the party works or keeps watch.

Twiggy knows he can't move the bodies like the other can so he took Fitz on patrol around the area. While out he used Fitz asa mule and strapped firewood to him promising him some of the good cooking to come.

Kali spent her time on the outskirts of the camp, raid at her side, avoiding the carnage that was the orcs. Kali was no stranger to death, but this was a slaughter...and despite the woman being a worldly druid, she was still young, and the sight of that much death affected her as much as she hated to admit.

Raie walked by her side, no indication of the death, his eyes and ears focused on the task at hand, other than the ocasional nudge to the druid, who absently scratched his ear. When she was done with the ircuit, she sat near the edge of camp, back to the bodies and the death, looking into te forest.

While his sons were doing their thing, Jameson spoke up to the party,

"When were you going to check inside the place? I'd like to spend the night indoors, if at all possible."

Finishing her scouting for tracks and other battle clues, Aliana nodded to Jameson and headed towards the structure to look around

Once the clean up of the bodies is done, Byron walks over to Kali.  Standing beside her, he asks quietly.

What do you see and sense out there?

Kali smiles at the warmth of Byron. "I don't see much....perhaps because my mind is elsewhere. "

She looked behind herself at the pile, then back ahead. "While the death of an orc doesn't upset me in theory, what happened here was a slaughter, and while it was orcs, it was still life." She sighed at the thought, and looked at Byron with a smile. "Silly, I know....but Druids favour life."

Byron smiles at Kali.

It isn't silly.  Balance and life are what druids favor. At least those that I know do.  That back there was a slaughter.  What I don't know and need to know is who did the slaughter.  The Orcs were part of the cult of dragons.  So whoever did this to them is either our friend or enemy if this was revenge for us letting those two orcs go from the fight at the gate.

Twiggy made a round on the peremiter and brought back his load of wood. Going to the house Twiggy goes inside to see if there is a chimney or if they will cook outside. He also pokes around to make sure tere is no other animals or unexpected items waiting on them.

It takes close to an hour to clear the bodies outside the ruined building. Jameson loads the "Junk" weapons onto the wagon. That's free money to him. Aliana and Twiggy walk towards the ruins of the building, Twiggy searching around the back while Aliana goes through the front. The front door was kicked in and there are more Orc bodies inside as well, but not as many as outside. From the placement of the bodies, it looks like the Orcs attacked somebody inside the building, but there are no bodies of anyone else, just Orcs. You carefully search the inside and 6 more Orc bodies are found stripped of coin, if they had any, but it appears they were searched. Whoever was staying here is no longer here.

Game Map 1 and 2 have been re-added.

Once all the outside bodies are removed, Myarra begins hauling out those that were inside.  It's a long an tedious job, but it's only going to be over once it's over.

She does take a few minutes to search the upstairs as well to see if there are more bodies stashed away up there.   She doesn't think there will be any on the roof, but she'll check that last anyway, since that's where she's going to be spending the night.  While she's pretty good now at using the circlet, her disguise can slip while she's sleeping, and she'd rather the Jameson's not get any unfortunate surprises.

Aliana cleaned the area as best she could to make it habitable, at least for the night

Kali walked the campsite, keeping guard, her mood a little subdued as she looked out into the wild. The words from Byron in her mind, she wondered if the orcs enemy was their ally, or just another enemy.

Roen was genuinely sad to see such carnage and said a prayer for the dead Orcs. He helped move what he could, but wished they could be buried or burned, but knew that wasn't possible. He needed to make it safe for the workers he hired.

Once the work is completed Byron looks for some sticks that would be close to the equivalent of the quarterstaff.  While Byron perfers his sword, he intends to practice with this and help Lorrick learn that Swords and Bows aren't the only weapons that can be deadly in the hands of someone skilled in their use.  Byron walks over to Amara with the sticks in question.

Amara, would you like to practice some with us tonight?

Jameson's wife is none too happy about all the bodies around, but she keeps it to herself. Her sons just make sure all the bodies are headless while collecting their weapons. They figure they probably have at least 10 gold worth of weapons they could hand in to the Blacksmith when they get back to town.

After the building has been deemed safe again, Jameson and his sons go around to try and make it secure again, fixing the doors or other barriers that need fixing, while his wife walks into the place carrying food supplies.

It's around 4pm-ish...

"No, thank you. Tonight is the night of the full moon. That is sacred to Eilistrae. I will spend part of the night out worshipping her," Amara responded. "Anyone who worships her is, of course, welcome to join me."

Byron nods in understanding.

Another evening then.  There is much to learn about different weapons and those who use them in ways that differ from my training.  I feel that you might be able to teach me some new things about the staff and the way in which you have trained to use it.

Amara can tell that Byron is very sincere in both his offer and his inclination to learn from Amara what he can about martial arts from her even in her limit experience of them.

"Yes, another evening. I would be happy to show you what I know, but I am more than confident that you could show me even more about the use of a sword." She paused for a moment. She preferred to stay out of physical combat, but "I should learn to use one someday. It is considered Eilistrae's sacred weapon, and what is typically used in worshipping her on nights of the full moon. But, of course, I did not grow up worshipping - nor even knowing - her."

Is there a specific sword type that is her sacred weapon?  The reason for my question is that there are several different types of swords and if you want to learn to use the one sacred to her that would be the one I suggest we work with first.  As each type of sword has a style unique to it.  Myarra, Aliana, and I all use the Great Sword and we each have a slightly different style with it, but for the most part the our styles are similar for attack and defense.

Byron is slightly surprised by Amara's interest in learning about swords, and Amara can hear it in his voice.  However, he would be pleased to help his friend learn something new.

"I'll come with you, Amara," Myarra tells the drow woman.  Which might be a bit surprising until she adds, "Not to worship, of course, but I'll keep an eye out for orcs, cultists, or anything else that might endanger you while you're busy.  You can't do proper honor to your lady and keep an ear open for branches snapping at the same time.  If we hadn't just piled up a dozen dead orcs, I wouldn't be worried, but I think a little extra precaution would be a good idea under the circumstances."

Kali, walking up beside my area, nods at her logic. "she has a point and I think I'll tag along too...help Myarra and keep an eye on Byron."

She looks at Myarra. "...If you don't mind the company."

Aliana nodded
"I'm always interested in seeing other religious ceremonies.    May i watch as well?"

Twiggy drops the firewood by the door, letting them make a fire where they may. He then gets a four foot stick that is slim before walking over to Lorrick. "You care to play a game? The person with the stick will be blindfolded. The other person is to try and sneak up on the other person without being heard. if you touch the person before they hit you or you slap someone with the switch then you swap places. You get to practice your listening and stealth skills."

"As Eilistrae is illegitimate from the perspective of the dark Seldarine, her favored weapon is the bastard sword," Amara smiled at Byron with a shrug. "But really, any bladed weapon works. She cares more about the heart than about they physical."

Amara most certainly didn't mind if someone joined her or wanted to keep watch, but she was skeptical of having an entire entourage. And was surprised when Kalliyan suggested Byron was coming, as she did not gather than from the warrior himself. "It is no show; it is a sacred dance and song. It would be preferable if no more than two accompanied, in addition to anyone who wishes to join the worship, of course."

In reply to Amara (msg # 313):

Aliana blushed a little, nodding in disappointment
"I understand completely.   My apologies."

Byron replies with total sincerity in his voice.  No trace of disappointment or even expectation.

I had no intention of accompanying you tonight, unless you specifically asked me to.  To do otherwise would be rude and presumptuous of me.  So, I'm going to sleep when I'm not on watch, and stand watch on my usual shift.

Byron takes a closer look at Amara.  Not from the standpoint of any physical relationship, but more as a warrior studying one who wants to learn more about martial weapons.  The lightheartedness in Byron's eyes when he looks at Kali is not there as he studies Amara for a couple of moments.

I believe that you could in time handle a bastard sword in a very deadly manner.  I will consider it a great accomplishment for you and for myself to make you into a skilled warrior with it.

Amara smiles at Byron, "I will be content if I only learn enough to dance with it without harming myself or others. I suspect it will never be my primary weapon - and that I will never be a true warrior. Thank you, Byron."

Byron continues to look at Amara as he speaks.  Making a mental note to notice how she moves both when using magic and her staff.

I promise you will be proficient enough to do that.  I know that you will never be the true warrior type that Myarra and I are.  However, I will make sure that you are skilled enough to use it in combat without fear of hurting yourself or us if you are ever forced into such a situation.

"Yes, I would like to do that and those are the skills I would like to practice at." Lorrik said with some enthusiasm "Who goes first?"

Twiggy hands him the switch and a cloth for a blindfold "You start with the switch. We will start in the grass so you don't hit as much but we will go to a crisp leaf area as you get better. Here put the blindfold on."

Once Lorrick places the blindfild on Twiggy tells him Listen to your ears but also your body, sometimes you can just feel the presence of people. Let's start." Twiggy eases around the back of Lorrick and eases up behind him. If Lorrick doesn't hit him with the switch the halfling deftly unhooks his coinbag and tosses it in front of Lorrick to throw the young man off before tapping him during his swing (if he swings)

11:37, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 23 using 1d20+7.  Sleight of hand.
11:37, Today: Twiggy Flinch rolled 22 using 1d20+15.  Move silently.

This message was last edited by the player at 16:49, Thu 10 Oct 2019.

Kali stands back, letting the others talk, considering her next action. Raieylan brushes up against her leg, and she absently pats him on the flank as he walks past. Both Kali and Raie look at the group, but the two linger their gaze on Byron...though both with different looks....kali a look that was soft, and Raie a more judgemental stare.

Roen helped Jameson and his family with anything he could do. Roen was responsible for them and didn't want to see them get hurt in any way. He felt sorry for the Orcs, but another part of him said that he couldn't help everyone in the world. It was impossible. All that senseless slaughter of so many orcs worried Roen and he hoped that whoever killed them didn't come back.

Byron in a strange moment senses that both Kali and Raieylan are looking at him.  Turns to see their looks.  The lighthearted teasing in Byron's voice as he speaks to the big cat.

What are you judging me for big guy?  Dinner or a midnight snack?

Myarra was also a bit bemused by the onslaught of volunteers to watch Amara.  She was about to point out that they also needed people to guard the civilians in the tower, but luckily Amara took care of the situation with her normal graciousness.

"I'm not one for worship of any kind.  And luckily Mystra is understanding in that regard, but I do know how important it is to others.  Unless there's danger approaching, I'll try to make sure you don't even know I'm out there."

Those who helped move the bodies are tired now. You've had a busy day. The horses are unhitched and brought into the building for their safety. You still don't have any clue who killed all these Orcs and have no clue if they might return. Jameson's wife starts cooking in what used to be the kitchen and is happy for the fresh water in the old well outside. Jameson's sons water all the horses and make sure they're fed...if you wish them to take care of your horse, that is.

By the time your "camp" is set up inside the building like you did last time you were here, you can smell food being cooked. It smells good. While waiting for dinner to be done, you go outside for some fresh air and that's when Twiggy and Lorrik do their practicing. Lorrik is really bad. Twiggy easily sneaks up on him over and over, even swiping his coin bag and tossing it in front of him. While Twiggy is blindfolded, he easily hears Lorrik coming a mile away. Lorrik even takes his chain shirt off and he thought his chances were much better, but to Twiggy's Listening skills, he still wasn't close. But, Twiggy was in total shock that a switch did hit his butt when he felt something fly by him as he heard a giggle fly away.

That's when the Mrs. calls out to everyone that dinner is ready and to go wash up. You can smell it from out here and it smells good.

Beef stew with veggies...Carrots, onion, celery and potatoes. Fresh baked bread with apple butter. Those of you who don't eat meat still enjoy the veggies. She's a really good cook but you better get your fill or her sons will get it all, she claims.

Anything special you want to do before 1st watch? Amara and Kalliyan are 1st watch, then Amara would go do her Full Moon Worship after her shift is over.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:49, Sat 12 Oct 2019.

Sister Aliana explored the house as best she could, making sure there were no other surprises.   Then settled down to a homecooked meal, which she enjoyed thoroughly.
After thanking the wonderful cook, she settled down to take first watch.

Amara enjoyed the stew and thanked the cook appropriately. She polished her knives - she always kept them in working order, but she didn't normally take the time to really make them shine.

Nothing else before watch

Kali sat and enjoyed the vegetables and bread the woman had made....again a warm meal was welcome by the druid who often foraged for nuts and fruit. When she was done she went outside and assumed the first watch, the panther at her side. She drew the scimitar from the sheath, and resting on her knee, wiped it with a clean cloth, humming a soft tune unknown to everyone else.

The Panther, though at her side, was ever alert

After dinner Byron finds a comfortable spot outside near the building to sleep after he does his evening practice.

His mind distracted by some different things from the recent past.

The night comes and the guard shifts start. Jameson and his family are sound asleep by 7:30pm-ish. The horses are inside and away from danger. Now you wait, watch and listen, fully expecting something to happen with all those dead bodies maybe 100 yards from the building. And something does happen during the first watch. Amara and Kalliyan hear animals off in the distance growling and fighting over the bodies of the orcs near the end of their shift. Probably wolves. Kalliyan thinks at least a dozen, which doesn't bother Amara any, figuring she could levitate into the air if they become bothersome during her Ceremony.

2nd shift consists of Twiggy, Fritz, Roenthelm and Lorrik. Lorrik is a bit worried about the wolves, but is thankful for the building as cover. He has his bow out, ready to shoot anything that comes by. Also during the 2nd shift, Amara has her Ceremony in the opposite direction of the feasting wolves and those of you who haven't been to one of Eilistrae's ceremonies before are in for a shock as her ritual has her barely wearing anything. Those of you who observed the Ceremony smile to yourselves, knowing that Nolan would be agitated, knowing that he missed this. But, nothing happens during the 2nd shift or during the ceremony.

3rd shift arrives and are told of the wolves, but nothing happens during their shift, either. The sun starts to come up around 5:15-ish and that's when the Jameson family starts to wake up. The Mrs. makes eggs and bacon for breakfast with fruit and you all do your daily routines to prepare yourself for the day.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 20:16, Sun 13 Oct 2019.

Lorrik is up early and enjoys his breakfast, but he's really interested in finding out what the wolves did to the dead orc bodies. He has his bow out and is ready to sneak through the forest to spy....

Roen ate an apple for breakfast, as he wasn't really hungry. He smiled as the rest of the group ate their fill, though. He didn't know how to thank them enough for going on this journey to clean out the tower and hopefully save a ghost he couldn't see. He figured there would be lots of bones found and wondered how to give them their final rest.

"Any idea on how we should bury the bones we'll find? I don't want to upset anyone's beliefs, but I think we're going to find bones we might not be able to identify."

Byron enjoys the homecooked breakfast even more than the beef & veggie stew from last night.  He complements the cook on her excellent talent.  Then he turns to the more serious matters of the day.

Roen, I would say we have to bury them.  The big question will be how big of a hole do we have to dig to so safely.

As they go to find a place with some privacy where the light of the full moon filters through the leaves of the forest, Amara tells those accompanying her, "Eilistrae expects her worship to be from the heart, and to shine with purity and beauty while bathing in the sacred light of the full moon. It is never exactly the same from one to the other, as one must leave room for inspiration. But as one does not bath in clothing, nor does one worship in clothing."
Once they find a suitable place, a little glade with view of the moon but mostly under the canopy of trees, Amara chirps to her hummingbird familiar, who flies out from the special pouch in her dress-like robe, finding a perch nearby. Amara walks around the little glade, at first with slow, gliding steps, then with steps that have a bit of spring and stomp in each step. "Yes, this will do." She then pauses for a moment, squatting down, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees. She is silent for a long moment, perhaps giving those who came with a chance to find a spot to watch, perhaps praying silently for inspiration.
Then she begins to move, finding some rhythm in her head or perhaps in the surrounding nature, twisting and curving - and acting as if she is completely oblivious to those with her. At first it is taking off her clothes, slowly, piece by piece, as alluring as a strip dance, but with none of the tease. Instead, Amara thought of some earthly care or action that could have been better or inaction that should have been an action, tossing it aside with a piece of clothing, a literal representation of the shedding of her regrets, until the was not a stitch of fabric on her, but only two bare daggers clutched in her hands and her ankle-length hair flowing around her ebony body where the gentle breeze took it. The dance seemed to come into its own then, and her hummingbird familiar joined her, flitting around. The tempo and style of the dance ebbed and flowed, now most similar to a graceful ballet, then an energetic flamenco clacking the blades of the daggers together, moving between styles with no apparent reason, but her hummingbird seems to be dancing to the same song. She moves her entire body, like a belly-dancer, not focusing so heavily on only footwork as many dances do. She dances for about an hour before she triggers her natural-born ability to levitate, continuing to dance as she raises to just above the canopy, where the moon's rays can briefly touch all of her body, glistening with sweat from the exertion, before she descends again, arms outstretched to the sky, head tilted back.
Her dance ends with her retaking the pose at the beginning but with her daggers planted in the ground, where, breathing heavily for a couple of minutes.
When she stands back up, she moves first to her waterskin, taking several long swigs from it. Then she pours the rest over her body, cleansing it from the majority of the sweat. She then reaches and gets the vial of honey that she feeds to Flicka when there are not enough flowers or time, and the hummingbird drinks thirstily. Amara then stands for a long moment, letting the gentle breeze mostly dry her before reaching for her clothes. She puts them on gracefully, but without the rhythm of a song. "Perhaps next time you will hear her song too, and decide to join the dance," she says simply to whomever has accompanied her as she finally sheathes her daggers. "Let us return"

***

In the morning, she eats more heartily than usual, but otherwise shows no signs of her late night worship. "You will not offend me, Roenthelm, however the bones are handled. Once the body is dead, it needs them no longer, and the gods look at souls, not bodies. There is no need, in my opinion, to do anything special." Of course, she had grown up as typical for her race, and had seen sentient being butchered and body parts discarded or used for magical purposes without any sort of respect or ceremony, so her attitude might not be common among the surface-dwellers. She had come to learn that some felt differently, but she found that odd.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Mon 14 Oct 2019.

Myarra accompanies Amara out into the woods, but as promised, disappears into the trees, leaving the lady to her worship in peace.  Fortunately the time passes uneventfully, at least for Myarra, and finally her circuit around the area reveals Amara preparing to return to camp.

She makes her camp up on the roof of the tower, rising a little later than normal, trusting the others to guard the tower, and the Jameson's to provide a hearty breakfast.

"After all this time, and given the circumstances, we're not going to be able to divide the bones up into individual bodies, nor give names to the ones we find.  Well just have to bury the remains and say some general prayers.

We're not actually dealing with people any more, just the bones left behind.  Their spirits flew away long ago to meet their fates at the Fugue Wall.  It's far too late for anything we do to affect their afterlives now.  We're just tidying up for the sake of who they once were. If they take any notice at all, I think they'll appreciate that even today, somebody cares."