"We thank you for your kindness."

Suidan offers a bow in the some manner as Tamar before addressing the others. "It seems as if we have our work cut out for us. Are we prepared to pursue this now or does anyone need time to equip themselves? I'm certain we'll have time to get better acquainted on the road."

"We have camp, food, weapons. Maerk is ready for the hunt."

17 Arodus, 4719 AR 12:25:57 PM

The crowd begins to disperse including the city council...

The city hall is left to burn to the ground...it is forfeit.

An agreement has been made.

The group of heroes have sustained significant wounds and must consider that before proceeding to the citadel.

Tamar 11/17 hp
Suidan 5/11 hp
Arisa 10/14/hp
Maerk 14/20 hp
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:39, Sat 26 Oct 2019.

Now that the excitement has died down and the adrenaline has dissipated, Arisa can feel the affects of the fire and the fight. Her face and clothes are covered in soot and they all smell like the inside of a chimney. As the others express their desire to get going, she begins to check out her burns, wincing as she tentatively probes them with her fingers.

”Before we head off on this little ... adventure,” she says, biting her lower lip as she finishes examining herself, ”it might be a good idea for us all to dress our wounds, clean up, and get a night of rest in a comfortable bed. Some of these burns are still a little raw and tender even after your generous healing. Maybe there is an apothecary in this little town that sells healing potions?”.

Suddenly, realizing that most of them have never met or been introduced, she reaches a hand out to the woman that healed her in the town hall, ”my name is Arisa by the way,” she says with a firm handshake, ”I guess you could call me a troubleshooter or maybe a bounty hunter or treasure seeker. People come to me when they have lost something valuable and need it found or retrieved. The big man behind me is Maerk, he is a hired sword I guess. Thank you very much for healing me in there, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it out”.

Maerk shrugged at Arisa's suggestion. Now that they'd been given the commission to investigate the strange happenings, the tall warrior was quick to mentally note that they'd been given no deadline. An evening of rest certainly wouldn't be out of order, nor would it - likely - change the scenario up the Hill much either.

"Meats. We eat many meats and sleep by fire-side-stones. We rest. Then we hunt. This suits Maerk too."

The big warrior seemed indifferent to the other two. In his mind they were probably magic chanters and prayer mumblers... handy for building fires and mending scrapes, but dangerous or even helpless in heated battle. As long as they stayed out of the swing-path of Maerk's sword, they'd get along with him just fine. Sieges, muddy campaigns and occasional head trauma, would do that to a man who sells his sword for hire.

17 Arodus, 4719 AR 12:28:01 PM

This message was deleted by the player at 21:03, Thu 31 Oct 2019.

Arisa waited a few moments to give the other two heroes a chance to express an opinion after Maerk spoke up but they seemed to be looking for some guidance. She had hoped that the other woman would formally introduce herself but that did not seem to be forthcoming and she lowered her offered hand. The woman had said earlier that she was a Priestess of Sarenrae but Arisa hadn’t heard her say her name.

”Ok,” she said, stepping back toward Maerk, having the big man behind her definitely made her feel safer, ”I have a room at the Wizard’s Grace that I will extend for one more night. In the meantime, I think I’ll visit one of the temples in town to get the rest of these burns tended to. I will also be taking dinner at the tavern this evening if anyone would like to join me. Otherwise, let’s plan on meeting in the Common Room of the inn one hour after dawn and we’ll get on our way”.

After that, she waited for another moment or two to see if anyone would join her. If not, then Arisa heads off to find a healer for her burns and then makes her way back to the Wizard’s Grace to get cleaned up for dinner and arrives in the tavern just after sunset.

Suidan began to reply only to remind himself that his voice was still damaged from the fire. "I'll join you at the temple. I'll be happy to join you for dinner; it will be a good opportunity to get to know each other better as before we head out."

One of the few dedicated temples in Breachill, the Great Dreamhouse is a monastery-like establishment dedicated to the goddess Desna.

About 30 priests and acolytes call the place home, living, working, studying, and praying in the temple’s peaceful lounges and verdant indoor gardens.

Kellen Carondil, Elf greets you in the lobby.

"Please come in and rest. You appear to have earned it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:59, Sat 02 Nov 2019.

Maerk grunted and joined the entourage in visiting the Temple of Desna. He seemed eager to be on the road, but was grateful for his minor wounds to be attended to.

"Arisa-friend welcomes Maerk to her meal. Maerk accepts. We will eat much meats before hunting..."

When it was time to eat, the tall warrior showed up, taking up more than his portion of a bench.

~~~

Later in the evening, Maerk would carefully look over his armor and gear and finally, his weapons. He would mend anything that wasn't merely aesthetic, which certainly wasn't much. He applied oil and honing-stone to whatever needed it. When the fire in the hearth of the common room began to burn low, the warrior curled up like a puppy before the warm stones and drifted off to sleep, visions of fighting techniques filled his dreams.

07:02, Today: Smiles, on behalf of Arisa Whisperwood, rolled 13 using 2d8 with rolls of 6,7.  Damage Recovered.

07:00, Today: Smiles, for the NPC Cleric, rolled 23 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 19.  Treat Wounds Arisa.

For the mere cost of 1 cp Arisa is healed to full..

Maerk pays 1 cp, but recovers no hit points on the first attempt. Will he continue to for another round of healing?

07:06, Today: Smiles, for the NPC Cleric, rolled 6 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 2.  Treat Wounds on Maerk.

Suiadan pays 1 cp, and recovers from all his damage!

07:12, Today: Smiles, on behalf of Suiadan Sivlei, rolled 9 using 2d8 with rolls of 8,1.  Suiadan Recovers Hit Points.

07:11, Today: Smiles, for the NPC Cleric, rolled 15 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 11.  Treat Wounds on Suiadan.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:15, Sat 02 Nov 2019.

Current Hit Points:

Arisa 14/14
Maerk 14/20
Suiadan 11/11
Tamar 11/17

Lodging will cost 3 cp for the night
A decent meal will cost another 3cp for the night.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:20, Sat 02 Nov 2019.

Anymore healing activities?
Or go with that?

After the clerics have done their work, Suiadan sees that Maerk and Tamar are still wounded and frowns.

"Here; I can tend to the remainder of your wounds, if you'll allow it." He then makes a hand over his heart and say in Elven: "Shelter the mind; the body will follow." First to Tamar, then to Maerk unless he's discouraged from doing so.'

+7 damage healed to Tamar, + 10 damage healed to Maerk
This message was last edited by the player at 14:06, Sun 03 Nov 2019.

18 Arodus, 4719 AR 06:19:00 AM
The remaining wounds close nicely thanks to Suiadan's dabbling in the occult arts...

Everyone meets downstairs in the lobby as suggested by Aria at 6 AM the next morning.  Presumably everyone woke up at 5 am to engage in their daily preparations.

The walk to the hillock is peaceful, and the morning air feels cool and comfortable on your faces.

Warbal Bumblebrasher meets you outside of town, and leads you to a hillock near the Citadel.
​Rising from the hilltop above is a looming structure of crumbling stone and still-imposing battlements, though verdant nature is reclaiming the site. Plumes of red smoke-which ambassador Warbal believes to be distress signals from the Bumblebrashers goblins - rise from the roof of the keep's central tower. This place can only be Citadel Altaerein, the infamous former home of the Order of the Nail Hellknights, now fallen into ruin. The gate-like doors in the center of the keep hang ajar-not surprising, since no one has maintained this facility in years.​

Everyone roll an trained or untrained Crafting or Architecture Lore check!​
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:57, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

Maerk adjusted the straps on his shield, and drew his sword from its worn scabbard. He was ready to lead the way into the belly of the keep. He gave a cursory glance at the structure, but his attention was deeper in, beyond the broken doors, listening, sniffing.

"Maerk leads, best for defend." He said in a quiet voice that seemed to be all business and much less jovial - if that were ever a thing - than he'd been before they arrived.


Crafting (Untrained) Check: Maerk rolled 9
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

The morning was quiet.

This was unusual for Suiadan, as whatever power blessed him with the ability of magic also taunted or tormented him in some way or another on a regular basis. He was grateful for the reprieve.

When he joined the others in the morning he briefly reintroduced himself, but remained quiet and attentive beyond that. Unlike Maerk, who seemed to have some experience in battle, this would be Suiadan's first time operating on his own with unwknown adventurers, barring the trouble the day before. While he was confident in his abilities, he also knew enough that the perspective of his new companions would be vital to his survival.

While the Citadel was a sight to behold, knowledge of it's construction and history were beyond Suiadan, despite hips extensive education.


06:51, Today: Suiadan Sivlei rolled 5 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 3.  Untrained Crafting Check.

Arisa came down for breakfast bright-eyed and dressed for the adventure ahead. Her movements are graceful and almost silent as she moves through the sleeping bodies in the common room and makes her way to the tables for breakfast where she engages in polite conversation. She smiles when the group steps outside and the sun hits her face, pausing for a moment to breathe in the cool, crisp morning air the faint smell of wood smoke wafting down from the chimney of the inn.

Her armor looks freshly cleaned, any smudges of residual soot having been carefully removed the night before. It is made of a dark, soft leather that fits snug to her lithe form and is obviously designed more for ease of movement than pure protection although the small, metal studs, evenly spaced around her torso, seem to aid in this area. Her soft boots are laced up tight to her knees and look fairly new. The hard leather bracer that covers most of her right forearm down to the fingerless glove on her hand are both absent on her bare left arm which shows that she is practiced with the Shortbow slung across her back and she is left-handed. At her waist is a well-made but not particularly valuable looking rapier on the right side and a dirk on her left. She is wearing a soft leather half-cloak about her shoulders that only comes down to her slim waist but has a voluminous hood currently pushed back to reveal her cornsilk, blond hair pulled up into a tight ponytail.

Picking up a small pack, Arisa slings it over her shoulders as she comes down from the porch. She is engaging on their way to the hillock without being annoying and isn’t afraid to answer questions about herself or her past. She also asks questions of the others in return, trying to learn as much as she can about this new crew of people she has joined. Being fairly, socially adept she senses when a subject becomes too personal or painful and doesn’t try to push any farther. It’s important that they become at least a little invested in each other because their lives may depend on it.

Between the evening meal and drinks and the journey to Hellknight Hill, the others learn that Arisa hails from Kyonin, the homeland of the local Elves. Her family owns a tavern on the shores of Lake Encarthan but evidently she fell in with the wrong sort of people who taught her a certain set of skills and then tricked her into stealing something very valuable before skipping town and leaving her to take all of the blame. Feeling remorseful for her actions, she tracked down her previous cohorts and retrieved the item in question although she never identifies what that item was it must have been very important. Now she travels all around the area tracking down lost items and people for gold. She says she is a bit of a bounty hunter and treasure seeker and hasn’t really found a place to call home yet.

She is more than happy to let the big warrior take the lead and feels he would definitely offer them the best protection in a fight but, he probably isn’t as practiced at spotting traps so, she stops and, as she scans the crumbling edifice, she says, ”why don’t we enter together my friend. By the looks of this place, we may encounter some traps and my Elven eyes might come in handy in the darkened corridors while you watch for ambushes”.



OOC:
07:42, Today: Arisa Whisperwood rolled 11 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 5.  Trained crafting check.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:50, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

18 Arodus, 4719 AR 06:19:30 AM

When you arrive at the hillock in question, Warbal Bumblebrasher hits the ground running!

She begins setting up a grand base of operations.  The first thing she does is set up first of five small tents made from deer hide.  While hammering a stake into the ground she says

"You venturers run along now...Warbal has this covered...Me Bumblebrashers are in danger...! I just know it!"

While you finish up your roleplay at base camp, review the "Description of Citadel Altaerein Thread"  Once you tell me you are walking up the hill to the citadel, Ill post a map
 and describe the available entrances.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:23, Tue 05 Nov 2019.

In reply to Smiles (msg # 126):

Tamar was so quiet she seemed to barely be there.

She ate breakfast, prayed and let the others take the lead. She mumbled small prayers and if anyone looked closely, they would notice a slight tremble hands.

She was frightened, and excited and a little bit sad. She knew whatever was going on up on the hill,
There would be pain and suffering to endure

As they broke camp she fell behind the slender elf and the hulking warrior. She was ready to fight, to give aid, to do what was needed in the name of the Goddess.

When everyone was finally ready, Maerk assented to Arisa's suggestion and made his way up the hill, allowing her to peer and spy the path before them. To him, the best approach was the direct one, through the front door and right to the action, though this was based more on actual assaults on actively defended castles, not reconnoitering a goblin-infested warren of a keep.

"We go front elf-girl?" he asked.

NOTES:

This thread is closed.
Proceed to:

CHAPTER 2 - THE RUINED CITADEL - GROUP 1
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:00, Wed 06 Nov 2019.