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Looks good!

After a restless night, Urvan Kron is pulled out of slumber by Iwo Behyd calling "Wake up!  Wake up!  The day is upon us and wasting away."

After checking that the hallway is empty, Iwo leads the lad down to the garderobe at the end of the hall, where there are two seats that Urvan can see are just openings down through the castle wall, perhaps six inches square.  He can see, and smell, fecal matter smeared on the walls of these openings and he immediately intuits what they are for.  Their business complete, Iwo leads him back to his room, where he explains his plan.

"I'm going to sneak you out of the palace, and you'll have to find a friend of mine who will bring you back, announcing that you are Urvan of Tamecia, which is a county in Laconia, just north of Sparta.  You are the son of Count Aravecho Brogovan and you are here to become a page in the palace.  I'll make sure you are accepted, and you'll be housed with the other pages.  The Spartans are very warlike, and tend to a large size, so the other pages will not want to challenge your story too much.  The other nobles won't care, and there are none from Laconia in the palace at the moment.  This should keep you safe from Erastoo, at least for a while."  He walks Urvan through the story, talks a little about what Laconia is like, and then tests his knowledge on the story again.

After they have some coffee and the last of the chicken and potatoes from the previous night, Iwo shows Urvan how to open the secret door out of his room.  Reaching behind the cask of wine to a latch behind the bookcase, it snicks open and the bookcase slides easily open, revealing a passage behind.  He walks the boy through several passages, pointing out a locked gate that he says leads to the royal quarters.  "Do not go that way unless invited.  I won't be able to protect you if you do."

Several of the passages requiring climbing up and scrambling on his belly over a ceiling, some are so thin that he must creep along sideways, and there is one narrow passage straight down where there are barely fingerholds, but it is so tight that Urvan can hold himself in place by bracing his a foot behind him and the knee on the wall ahead.  There are additional secret doors, inside the secret passages, which Iwo explains are to limit what is revealed if someone stumbles on one of the entrances, or spots someone using one.

Finally they reach a room large enough that they both can stand up, where muffled voices and some banging can be heard just beyond.  Urvan sees several bottles of some sort of liquor in the room, and a cask of wine like the one that Iwo has.  There are some dirty mugs on the cask, and the whole room has an illicit feel and smell to it.  Iwo silently closes the door behind them, and it seems to disappear.  He very quietly shows Urvan how to open the door by inserting a knife in the right crease in the wall panels and pushing down.  It's tricky to get right, and they practice it several times before returning to Iwo's room.  Urvan leads the way and makes only a few wrong turns, Iwo gently pointing out the secret doors he missed.

"That room was just outside the pages' dormitory.  You'll have to figure out how to get into it, but it is not that hard.  It's a small panel in the closet where the spare bedding is stored, and it slides up.  It's considered a big secret among the pages who know it, and they go there to drink, smoke, and hide from their masters.  Of course, all the masters know about it, too, but they pretend not to.  None of the pages know of the second door, and they had better not learn it from you.  Make sure you are alone when you open it, and close it again quickly and silently when you do.

"Once you are settled in as a page, perhaps after you've been here a week or so, come through the passages to find me.  I'll have an assignment for you, just a little thing to hone your skills."

Finally, he leads Urvan down to the kitchen, out a door in the rear of the building.  The smell of rotten food coming off the kitchen dump pile is pervasive.  On the way, Iwo gives Urvan a letter and instructs him to bring it to Rosco the wheelwright.  A pony wagon pulls up with a delivery of flour in heavy sacks, and Iwo pushes the boy to help unload while he talks to the wagon's driver.  The cart empty, Iwo instruct Urvan to climb beside the driver, and the two ride out of the palace gates without even being challenged.

The sheer preponderance of new experiences threatens to overwhelm young Urvan at first.

There are the things he is well accustomed to like getting up early and attending silently and without unnecessary "backtalk". His father had always been laconic.

There were the the things that are not difficult in themselves, but require attention and focus to retain. All the new and different names, the myriad passage ways and how to access them as well as the names of these various castle positions. The details of his assumed name and background.

Then of course the things that he finds surprising and difficult to accept at first. Defecating off the edge of a wall instead of burying it well off into the woods. The rank and sour odors of the surrounding cityscape, the middens and the kitchen. The shock of the city itself, the vaguely unhealthy looking populace, their teeth and strange dress, the sheer size of the Capitol and its various structures that constantly draw his eye and threaten to overwhelm him.

Before he knows it he is seated on the wagon next to the driver with his fingers covered in flower, with another stranger, clutching a letter protectively as the conveyance rolls along to the sound of hooves on cobblestone and the clatter of the wheels echoing in the various protected alcoves and defensive spaces.  Everywhere there are people and everywhere their attention is elsewhere, even the very driver seated next to him does not seem to spare him a second glance. Nobody knows him, nobody cares, nobody except Iwo it seems, and he would not be seen for a week at least.

Anxiety creeps into the boys heart again. He has no idea what a Page does, he knows so little about who he is supposed to be. The only thing he feels he can latch onto is that he is supposed to be from Tamecia, Laconia, Sparta. He has heard of these places, but could not honestly pick them out on a map. A boy solider, something like that, is his closest approximation.

He suddenly feels very, very alone despite being surrounded by more people than he has seen in his entire life up to that point.

He needs to find Rosco the Wheelwright, but how? how among these endless twisting streets and towering structures? Among the frantic throngs of people? Among the stink, and the wretched looking dogs and scavenging birds in their filth encrusted perches?

How is he going to do this?

He tries to get a handle on himself, to still these self doubts and growing worries.

He would do it because he has nowhere else to go. There is no retreat here, no home to run back to, and if he fails and Iwo finds him useless, if he is turned out, he would be be completely lost, hopeless. He knows he needs to do everything to avoid such a fate, and so he steels himself, his lips drawing into a tight line. He could find this Rosco. He would find him.

After a time Urvan begins the speak to the man next to him, thinking that it would be logical enough that as a man who works with wagons that this very one might need repairs from time to time.

The man does not know Rosco himself, but the wagon was purchased just a few years ago from a merchant named Burle, who is one of the larger dealers in wagons and tack for the working class people of Olympia. Unfortunately his shop and warehouse are on the outskirts of the city, he can give directions, but it's far out of his way.

The sun is significantly higher in the sky by the time Urvan finds Burle, a leathery former caravaneer with a wide brimmed hat and a ponderous gut. A very direct man, without the use for a lot of niceties. Knowing the lad does not have the kind of coin to be worth his time, he gives a very direct answer to the child's question.

Rosco works on "higher end" conveyances mostly, coaches and the like, and is of course nearer to the castle and the more prestigious communities where his customers dwell. At least the brusque fat man is very precise. There is a famous bakery that faces the square, brightly colored and heavily decorated, it's a few minute walk towards the Castle from there.

Back across town, another hour of walking at least, but Urvan eventually finds himself at the Bakery where the sweet scents within cause his mouth to water. He checks with the very young, costumed girl standing outside greeting the higher class clientele, and she knows of the place, pointing it out to kindly enough.

Sure enough, the placard outside bears the shape of a wheel, and Urvan knocks on the door with his letter in hand.

06:38, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 20 using 1d20.  Diplomacy Check, Gather Information.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

After a few minutes, the door snaps open, and a broad man with a thick, bushy moustache stands there.  "What?  What are you wanting?  I have no work for you.  Go away."  He shuts the door.

Urvan stands there, a little shocked at the rudeness, then knocks again.  The man starts with, "I told you ..." but Urvan holds up the letter.  It has no name on it, but the man seems to recognize the stationery, or maybe he just is curious about a sealed package.  He snatches the letter and shuts the door.  A minute later, the door opens again, and the man is smiling, or maybe it's a leer, or just gas pains that he is unsuccessfully trying to hide.  "He'll owe me a favor, then.  Good.  Gooooood."  Roscoe waves Urvan into the workshop and shuts and bolts the door behind him.

The man looks the boy up and down.  "So, you're to be the son of a count from Laconia.  You'll be needing better clothes, maybe some armor, and probably a weapon.  You won't have the accent, but none of these yokels can tell a goose from a nightingale, anyway.  If the clothes look right, they'll believe it."  He turns to a boy who has been hammering on the iron band around a huge wheel, "Boy, go get your mother.  Tell her to be bringing some of Cherin's old clothes.  The nicer stuff.  Go."

Eventually, a shapely young woman appears, carrying a woven basket heaping with clothes.  The man explains what they are trying to do, and the two discuss the different articles of clothing without ever consulting Urvan.  Finally, they choose a pair of black pants, a light blue silken shirt, a dark blue jerkin, some hose, and a pair of soft boots.  Urvan is embarrassed to remove his homespun trousers, and he turns away.  Roscoe stops him as he starts, then digs through the basket to pull out a pair of shorts.  "These are smallclothes," he explains.  "Wear them under your pants."  he waves the boy around a carriage where he has a little privacy to change.  All the clothes are a little loose, except the boots which are snug, but nothing is terribly wrong.

As Urvan comes out from behind the carriage, Roscoe emerges from a small side room carrying a belt and scabbard containing a long sword.  He buckles the belt on, ties the scabbard around Urvan's upper thigh, and declares, "Well, now you are being a proper young lord.

(I'll pause here to give you a chance to react.  He will put a team to a fancy carriage and bring you to the palace, where you will be met and accepted as a page.  You can write that up, if you like.)

It would be unfair to say that Urvan was destitute, although it was true that he had no money. With his modest "inheritance", everything he was able to carry away from what remained of his families property, he was probably better off than most children his age, albeit at the cost of his family and their lawfully owned land.

But he is unused to luxury, that much is certainly true.

The clothes that are set out for him are finer than anything he had ever touched, and indeed his fingers are so rough and calloused that they snag on the silk of the blue shirt when he goes to feel it.

He suspects that it would take a whole seasons earnings to just buy any one of these articles, and that was before he sees the sword.

At the urging of Roscoe and his family Urvan discovers small clothes, clothes you wear under your clothes, and soon he has a blade worthy of a young scion of a notable family girded about his waist. He feels...very different.

He washes with a provided basin, and a small hunk of soap, and the lovely young woman combs out his tangled hair like one would with a horse's mane, little ivory colored knots tearing free now and then.

Within a short time he finds himself standing there trying to act natural when all over the strange sensations presented themselves. The feeling of tailored boots on his feet instead of loose low shoes, silk on his skin instead of homespun, the way his belt tugs with the weight of the weapon.

Despite the assurances that he looks the part, he feels very strange to be dressed so nicely.

He thanks then all, despite everything having been arranged with Iwo, and gingerly steps up into the carriage that had been hitched to a team of fine looking horses. There are cushions in there, and places for luggage, remarkably clear glass and some sort of suspension that gives a little as he eases himself down. He finds that his heart is beating fast, the strangeness of it all assaulting his senses at every turn.

The coachman, courteously disinterested, gently flicks his whip and the coach eases into steady motion, the graceful wheels spinning, people hurrying out of the way at the mere sight of the stately vehicle.

It seems like it was just a few hours ago he was dodging filth in the gutters during his hike through the city streets, now he watches it all from remarkable comfort, feeling surreal, feeling false, thinking of what his parents would say if they could have seen him now.

It is a short ride to the Palace, and although he can barely see anything ahead, he recognizes a few guards coming to attention with their halberds clinking as the coach rolls easily into some sort of courtyard and circles around into a spacious area in front of a grand flight of stairs.

A man is already waiting to open the door for him, not meeting his eyes but sort of staring off into space.

There are others, waiting for him. A little reception befitting the son of a Count. Roscoe must have sent a runner or a rider.

"The young master Urvan, son of Count Brogovan, of Tamecia" the voice comes from somewhere off the to the side, and Urvan, his face drawn tight with the strain of the act, steps down from the coach with all the confidence he can muster under the circumstance.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:47, Tue 08 Mar 2022.

As Urvan steps out of the carriage, he suddenly realizes how hungry he is.  The sun is setting, and he hasn't had anything to eat or drink since early morning.  He puts the thought aside as he is brought through a series of meetings.  First the gate guard to the palace, who hands him off to Zaan, the steward's assistant.  Zaan brings him the steward himself, whose name Urvan never catches.  The steward calls for one of the pages, a small boy wearing a toga, and tells him to bring Urvan to Acutus.  On the way, the page introduces himself as Gerroldivus and he chats amiably, describing the duties, "carrying messages; leading guests around the castle, cleaning armor, weapons, trophies; occasionally helping to carry trays of food to the great hall, but never serving the food.  Oh, no.  We're not servants."

Finally the pair arrive at the pages' dormitory and meet Acutus.  The young man sniffs, "It's not like we need another page," and he shrugs extravagantly, as if accepting what his superiors decide is his hard lot in life.  "You're what, 14, maybe 15?" he asks, but doesn't wait for an answer.  "Well, there's no beds in the older boys' room, anyway.  Gerro, put him in kids' room.  Get him a blanket for the bed, and a toga to wear.  He can't be wearing this fancy stuff as a page.  And NO SWORD.  You'll have to turn that over for safe-keeping."  He reaches down to touch the scabbard and gives a tight-lipped nod of appreciation.

Urvan changes into the toga, getting a little help from Gerroldivus tying it so that it doesn't just fall off.  It feels ridiculously loose, but Gerro explains that it is a tradition in the palace that all pages wear togas.  "The knights all used to, too, when they weren't armored, but hardly any do it anymore."

They bring all of Urvan's things back to Acutus, who carefully writes a list and ties them all into a bundle.  He makes a big show of drawing out a key on a chain around his neck, then unlocking a cabinet to put the bundle inside.  Urvan can see similar bundles with personal items, though none have a sword.  Acutus locks the cabinet again, dramatically drops the key inside the front of his toga, and taps his chest with a show of importance.  "Your things will be safe here, under MY care."

Four days pass with not very much to do.  Urvan sticks with his practice of calisthenics every morning.  Gerro seems very curious about the exercises and wants to join in.  The smaller boy seems very eager to help, showing Urvan where to get food (not that good, but plentiful), where the toilets are, where to wash, etc.

Acutus shows Urvan were the page stations are, explaining that if he isn't busy, to go find one and wait there for someone to make a request.  Urvan runs several errands for people in the palace, getting lost and having to ask directions several times, but no one seems to be surprised nor to mind.  He is surprised to be handed a silver or a few coppers now and then, which he collects because he has literally no where to spend them.  Gerro promises that they will have a chance to go into town and buy sweets, or some new sandals, or even to see a puppet show.

On the fifth morning, Gerro wakes up excited, "the knights are sparring today.  We'll have to clean their stuff when they are done, but it's worth it to get to watch them."  He leads Urvan through a back door into the courtyard, where some of the knights are already suiting up.  The two stand ready for hours, fetching practice weapons and shields, or water, or ointments.  Gerro knows all the names of the knights and he chatters on about their skills, the strengths and weaknesses of the weapons, which maidens they have wooed, monsters they have slain, and an endless series of anecdotes with varying levels of believability.  Afterwards, they spend two hours cleaning the sweaty, dirty gear, but then they are told to take a few hours off.

Finally, Urvan has a bit of time alone, a chance to look for the secret passage.  He finds it with little difficulty, closes the first door, and finally makes his way through the passages to Iwo Behyd's room.  He is listening at the door before opening it, as instructed, when it pops open.  "Secret passages are no good," Iwo explains with a wry grin, "if you're going to tromp around in them like an elephant."  Urvan has no idea what an elephant is, but figures that it isn't good to sound like one.

Over cups of tea, Iwo catches up on all that Urvan has been through.  Finally he announces, "I've got your first assignment.  This is to train and test you.  You won't be in serious danger, unless you are foolish, but you will want to make every effort to succeed -- it will be worth it.

"You are to find a way into the kennel where the Apollo Dogs are kept and I want you to befriend the largest bitch; her name is Leila.  You'll know you've succeeded if she allows you to hold her pups, which are due in a little over two weeks.  These are fighting dogs and can be fearsome if they feel threatened, so be careful not to lose a finger, or a hand."

Iwo continues, "I am quite sure that Lady Stilwell, the Master of Hounds, will not be pleased to find you anywhere near her kennel, so you'll have to avoid her.  If she catches you once, it will mean a stern lecture; a second time will be a problem; but a third time will be probably a beating and you will have failed the trial.  How you avoid her is up to you, but, obviously, don't kill anyone, don't harm any animals."  Iwo waves off any questions with "You'll figure it out," and eventually ushers Urvan out of his room, just the normal way, not through the passages.  "Since you're here, you can deliver a message for me to the kitchens:  I'd like a good meal for two brought to my room this evening, along with a bottle of good wine."  He hands the boy three silvers, saying, "Give two to the cook, keep one for yourself."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:03, Tue 08 Mar 2022.

The days pass.

Urvan is just beginning to find his feet in the Castle, finding much as when he had first arrived that there were tasks he seemed well suited to, tasked he endured without complaint, and the tasks which he found particularly difficult.

Iwo had selected the boys new identity with care and foresight. Although a few comment on his quiet demeanor few seemed surprised, especially when they realize where he is supposedly from. Urvan does not disabuse them of their assumptions, about his age and other things, feeling that the more he opens his mouth the more trouble he may invite upon himself.

As a page he is an industrious sort. With a strong back and almost no ego he tackles the manual labor aspects of his role diligently. He watches the Knights and soon learns their names, the names of each piece of armor and equipment, the terminology of the fight and both the official and unofficial rules of a sparring bout. He excels in his calisthenics, but finds no need to show that he finds them easy, yet.

But he generally underperforms in other areas. The Castle is a living, churning place with its own politics and allegiances. In his ignorance he passes up opportunities to network and to make introductions, he fails to befriend Acutus and remains at arms length, and although he is polite and cooperative with the other boys he fails to make any particular friends. Perhaps it is his anxiety about being discovered, or his parents failure to properly socialize him in their remote mountain retreat. Either way, his courtly skills progress slowly.

He considers himself extremely fortunate in his first task however, and is immediately excited about the prospect of trying to befriend Leila. His family had a dog when he was very young, to ward off bears, and he remembers it fondly.

As he delivers his messages and lingers to ensure that the request is promptly handled, he turns his mind to how he might go about it. It occurs to him that Lady Stilwell likely has both extensive experience with these particular animals, as well as the possibility of owning books on the topic. However he does no know her, and has little reason to trouble her.

His instincts, rightly or wrongly, are to simply throw himself at the task directly. It is certain to be the fastest way, but likely the most dangerous, and he was on a clock. Two weeks does not seem like a lot of time.

He starts with simple observation, trying to see when people are there, what they do and how they do it, in order to try to pick out his most promising window of interacting with the Leila himself.

14:24, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 7,25 using 1d20+6,1d20+6.  Stealth Check, Perception Check, Observe Kennel Habits.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:33, Wed 09 Mar 2022.

BTW, you're in the palace, not the castle; the castle is where the Rheam faction lives.  I realize that the two words are the synonyms, but keeping them separate it helps to keep it straight in my mind.

Oh!  I just looked up the words, and they are different.  A palace is not fortified.  Well, this one certainly is, so I guess castle is more appropriate anyway.  Let's just say that this is referred to as The Palace for historical reasons which are no longer true, but the name stuck.

---

I'm assuming that you haven't entered the kennel area yet, just observing from the outside, so that natural 1 is not going to cost against you, much.
16:52, Today: Zag rolled 14,2 using d20+8,d20.  Lady Stilwell perception.  Urvan luck.  Ooo, that's not good.

Urvan recalls hearing a number of dogs barking when he first arrived at the palace, when Iwo dropped off the horse at the stables.  Since it makes sense that the kennels would be near the stables, he heads over to where he thinks it was, though it was such a whirlwind he might have it completely confused.  He heads out of the palace proper and turns right, and soon enough his nose leads him to the stables.  Not far from there is a fenced area where several dogs are running and playing, attached to a low building with a flat roof.

The boy decides to stand and observe, leaning against the wall of the stable.  He waits almost an hour.  When the sun is close to setting, he spots a woman coming out of a building not far away, one that he had thought was a barracks.  She is tall and very lean, and wears a crisp, dark outfit with a Lexagenol tabard -- yellow with red trim.   The woman heads directly towards where he is loitering, and she looks directly at him.  "You, boy, what are you doing just standing around?  Make yourself useful and clean that up," she says as she points to a pile of road apples.  She has the air of one who expects to be obeyed, and she turns to head into the kennel without waiting to see his response.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:27, Wed 09 Mar 2022.

As Urvan dips his head to the woman and hustles of to grab a rake in order to clean up the piles of horse droppings, the boy tells himself that this was why he had not rushed in. Perhaps he is just trying to keep his own spirits up, but he has accomplished something at least. He knows where the Kennel is, he knows what Lady Stilwell looks like, and he knows more or less what time she had arrived.

But she now knows his face, which is not ideal, even if he has just been spotted nearby.

If he is to look on the bright side, he now has a reason to linger in the area while Lady Stilwell, and whoever else may be around, does their work. He knows that he cannot stay too long without arousing suspicion, but he keeps alert and tries to position himself in such as a way as to learn what he can while he is there.

Urvan heads into the stables to grab a rake.  He spots one, along with a flat shovel lying across the handles of a wooden wheelbarrow that already contains a decent pile of horse droppings.  He cheerfully wheels the barrow out and cleans up the poop.  Urvan starts to walk around the stables looking for more, while keeping a surreptitious eye on the kennel.  A boy about Urvan's own age comes out of a door that opens into the run and starts to whistle for the hounds.  Two come running over, but the third one is stubborn and obviously wants to stay outside.  After disappearing with the first two for a minute, the boy returns and spends several minutes chasing the last dog before he manages to get it into the building as well.

Urvan hears barking increase within the kennel for several seconds, then suddenly stop. It's not clear what caused the sudden silence, but it reminds him to get back to pretending to clean the area.  By walking all the way around the paddock, he is able to get a good look at most of the kennel.  The run covers only about half the front and all of the side towards the stables, but none of the back.  Behind the kennel is the outer wall of the compound, with only about 7 or 8 feet of space.  The kennel is about half way between two towers, and the archers' walkway of the crenellated wall is not quite 10 feet above the roof of the kennel.

Urvan is not able to see the back of the kennel (the part close to the outer wall) without leaving the paddock area, which might be suspicious.

Urvan learns a remarkable amount of information for a few minutes work. It was true he had been spotted, but being able to capitalize upon the mistake means that he will not walk away empty handed. He is able to work nearby and in the open, for a few minutes at least and reflects upon what he has seen.

Lasy Stilwell herself and the boy, that they arrived at the location at this particular time and that the hounds expected to be fed, or so he assumes.

The three dogs, all larger than himself, and that one seems less obedient than the others.

The physical layout of the kennels themselves, along with a few avenues he may be able to take advantage of in the near future.

The kennels prove an impressive sight that leaves quite the impression, the huge dogs the size of large men, any one of which more than capable of killing trespassers if they had a mind to.

Urvan does not press his luck, and after he has learned these things he puts the tools back and retreats, the beginnings of a plan brewing in his mind.

The first phase of this plan is to determine what the dogs are being fed, the boy believing that the pack was quieted by their meal. It also stands to reason that the boy either receives or restocks this food from the Palace kitchens.

Finding out where the boy resides may also give Urvan some clue as to what others habits the kennel helper has, , and if it came down to it, how Urvan might steal some of the boys clothes to mask his own scent from the huge wardogs.

Summary: Urvan hopes to follow the boy the following day to see where he gets food for the kennels, what sort he gets, and where he lives.

I was waiting to respond to this, because I thought you have basically a good idea and want to let the others catch up a little.  But now that I've read it more carefully, I realize that I have to push back a bit, because I don't know the parameters of what you are  doing.  You say you want to follow the boy, but how, when, and where are you going to wait for him?  Will you be hiding somewhere? It was just before sunset when Lady Stillwell came to the kennels.  You can still do something tonight if you like.

Make whatever roll seems most appropriate:  If you are hiding and following, tell me where you are hiding and make a stealth roll.  Or you could contact him, which would be either diplomacy or intimidation.  (... or a Sense Motive, and then deciding whether diplomacy or intimidation seems more likely to succeed.)

I had assumed that you spent about 20 minutes pushing the wheelbarrow around and finding, or pretending to find, piles to pick up, which is about the maximum you could drag out that task.  In that time, you did not see anyone leave the kennel.  It's not out of the question that someone left while you were at the farthest point you dared to go around the paddock, but probably not; you could still see the area in front of the kennel for most of it.

By the way, I wasn't clear before, but the barking you heard was clearly more than three dogs.  If you had to guess, you'd say something north of 10, but probably not 30.  Also, while the dogs are bigger than you, they are not significantly bigger than a grown man; they run about 200 pounds, so definitely terrifying if they are snarling.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/besti...es/dog/breeds/apollo

Nice.

Yeah, I think this is where the challenges of Urvan's rural background are going to start coming into play. Monk's get Sense Motive as a Class Skill, but I couldn't justify it in my own mind because of his isolation. They don't get Diplomacy or Bluff, etc. I knew this would be part of the challenge, and part of the fun coming in.

As such he is likely to rely on his robust physicality a little more, or to try and employ it where he can.

He is going to back off for the first day and try to spend the rest of his time perusing the library if he has access, trying to find academic resources on Apollo dogs and on working with hounds in general. But he does not want to risk getting "burned" twice in the same day.

The next day he will try to find a good spot near to kitchens to see where the boy is coming from, when he comes and hopefully what he takes away to feed to Apollos.

06:47, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 9 using 1d20.  Day 1, Knowledge: History check, peruse library.

06:46, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 21 using 1d20+6.  Stealth Check, Hide Near Kitchen, day 2.

According to Pathfinder, Knowledge skills are "trained only," so you can't use one if you haven't applied at least a point in it.  On the other hand, the roll would be for a specific fact, to see if you already know it.  For the purposes of just finding something in a library (assuming it's there at all), I would just use a general Intelligence check.  For these sorts of checks, I generally double the bonus, because I feel that the difference between an 18 intelligence and a 10 intelligence should be more than +4 on a 1-20 roll.  Unfortunately, your roll of 9 is not going to be enough, but I'm going to give you a Diplomacy roll, too.

13:54, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 20 using 1d20  Diplomacy
Well, that should work.

Urvan enters the library with a little trepidation.  His mother had a fairly big library, with 80-odd books spread over several bookshelves, but the library in the palace is daunting.  There are hundreds, maybe a thousand or more books, in all shapes and sizes.  He starts looking through the shelves wondering if they have grouped together all the books about animal care together, maybe, or just about dogs, or what, but he doesn't find anything useful.  His hopes rise when he sees one book titled "Greatest Canines," but it turns out to be about Cerberus, Sirius, and other famous animals of the gods.

An older woman enters the library and peers at Urvan.  He recognizes her as someone he delivered a message to the day before.  It was ... he racks his brain ... oh, a letter from an older man who was staying in the visitors' wing, and it included a package of plump, perfect figs.  He remembered that the man has warned him not to eat any himself, and that the woman was happy to receive the package and gave him three coppers as a tip.  "Greetings, Madam Sevempto," Urvan starts.  He sees no sign of recognition on her face.  "It is an honor to see you twice in two days.  I do hope you enjoyed the figs that I delivered to you yesterday."  Finally her face brightens as she realizes who he is.

"It is good to see a young page looking to improve his mind," she says, but then her look darkens, "or are you just here on an errand?"

"I'm just here for my own learning," he chimes in, it being clear that this is what she was hoping to hear.  "I was hoping to learn more about the palace dogs, they are such handsome animals."

She smiles and shakes her head, muttering, "boys."  She turns towards the corner of the room, the far left from the door and looks through the books for a minute before pulling one out.  "Here you are.  This should fill your head with all the tales of hunting and fighting that you could want."  She hands him a book titled "Our Gift from Apollo," and it is written by "Lexagenol, Markus II."

After thanking her profusely, Urvan sits down to read.  The book tells of the year Markus II's several greats-grandfather, Caitlenner I, won every single event at the Olympic Games one year.  Impressed, Apollo himself manifested and gave to him a dog and two bitches of fine war hounds.  The book includes many fanciful tales of the dogs' prowess in war, including when they helped to turn back the Persians, and in hunting, including a tale about Saxton III's famous pursuit of the Hadhayosh.

While the tales were entertaining, the second half of the book includes much more of what the boy was looking for: extensive information on the care and training of the Apollo Dogs.  There is a section on appropriate housing and bedding for the animals; a section on training techniques for different purposes; a section on physical care of the animals, including preventative care as well as treatment of wounds; and a section on feeding them, including recipes for different stages of their lives.

Having studied this, you now have a free trait:  +1 bonus in Animal Handling when applied to dogs, and Animal Handling is always a class skill for you.

I'll let you react to this, and perhaps elaborate, before we go on to your plan to track the boy who works at the kennel.

It seems almost serendipity that their resident librarian, Madam Sevempto, would take an immediate liking to the quiet and somewhat introverted Urvan. Perhaps she recognizes his earnest desire to learn, or perhaps she does not get many visitors, especially young ones, but she is friendly and helpful, while Urvan remains modest and grateful. They seem to get along well together right from the start.

The boy takes the valuable tome carefully to a nearby table, well within easy observation distance of its caretaker and begins to plod through it at a steady unremarkable speed.

It proves entertaining, more entertaining than most of his mothers books had been, and Urvan is fascinated by the tale of Caitlenner the First. Too young or too naïve to suspect embellishment on the part of the author, he treats to tale as at least plausible and semi-historical and marvels at the sort of man who was not only of noble blood, but who was able to master each of the different games. It made a certain amount of sense to him, as there would surely be a great amount of "overlap" in the strength, skill and endurance needed to excel at the various contests. For the first time, aside from his own father, he has something of a heroic image to carry around in his mind.

The Champion Caitlenner himself with his god given hounds.

In time he moves on to the more practical lessons. Some of these are understandably difficult for a young boy to grasp, notably the material on breeding and veterinary matters, but Urvan's retention of what he does understand would be considered above average. He pays especially attention to the matter of pregnancy, the changes in the dogs behaviors and in the manner in which they are trained for their work.

Suspecting that he will have to prove proficiency to Iwo by interacting with Leila and her puppies in his presence, he of course reads and rereads these sections carefully.

When he feels that has gleaned what he can, and after noting the color and size of the book should he need to find it again in the near future, he returns it with sincere thanks to Madam Sevempto.

He walks away feeling far more confident than he had about completing this task to Iwo's satisfaction, and in not getting mauled by the great hounds in the coming days.

Excellant, great stuff. I added that information under a third bonus Trait I have named "Canine Studies" for now.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:20, Sat 12 Mar 2022.

Urvan looks up from his book when the candle he was using for light sputters and goes out.  He realizes that he is alone in the library and at least four hours have passed while he consumed all the information he could cram into his brain.  He suddenly realizes that he has a job which he's been neglecting.  I hope Acutus hasn't been looking for me.  He puts the book away and runs out to find an unoccupied page's station that he might credibly have been waiting at for four hours.

Urvan heads towards the guest quarters, since that area usually the biggest call for pages when he runs into Gerroldivus holding part of his toga to his face.  Urvan can see that there is a significant amount of blood staining the toga already.  "Gerro, what happened?" he asks.

"Nothing.  It's nothing," the smaller boy replies.  "I don't want to talk about it."  As he walks past, Urvan can see that Gerro's left eye is swollen nearly shut.

Urvan follows Gerro, obviously concerned, and glances  around to ensure that they were not being followed in turn before he speaks up again. "Come on, let's get that blood out before it sets." He encourages the younger boy. It was a phrase his mother had used on occasion. Cold water, soap and lots of scrubbing.

Gerro turns away from Urvan, but then turns and walks along with him.  The two head into their dorm room where Urvan gets a towel for Gerro to hold to his nose.  As the smaller boy climbs into his own bed, Urvan takes his toga to the wash basin.  However, the amount of blood in the fabric quickly overwhelms the little pitcher of water that the boys have.  "I'm going to have to go ..."

where?

There is a nice shade tree near the center of the palace grounds, on the south end, that was near one of the wells. Urvan figures it was as good a place as any to be able to talk candidly and it was outside in the fresh air.

"Let's do it right, I'll draw you a bucket." He takes the pitcher as well, for convenience, and urges young Gerro in that direction. "You don't look too bad, I think you'll heal alright." Urvan tries to calm the boy, or at least make him feel a little better about his predicament. "Is it just your eye and your nose? He asks, trying to ease him into the story.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:01, Sun 13 Mar 2022.

By the time Urvan has gotten another toga for Gerroldivus and the boy has managed to put it on, hampered by holding the towel to his nose, the bleeding seems to have stopped.  His nose and eye look even more swollen than before, but he grins and says that he is fine.

The pair walk out through the kitchens to the well near the delivery zone.  (The wells are actually on the map, though not labeled or anything.)  The well gets plenty of use, so it smooth and easy to operate, and there is enough kitchen garbage that no one will even notice a light blood stain on the grass.

After Urvan draws a third bucket of water and helps to scrub the fabric, Gerro opens up.  "I got caught somewhere I shouldn't.  It's my fault, really.  That priest of Hera that stays permanently in the guest wing?  I was bringing him a package from outside, dropped at the front gate.  I got to his room and I heard someone moaning, like they were really sick, and a little bit of a scream.  So I opened the door -- you know, those locks don't work very well, you just kind of push a knife in and...  Anyway, no one was sick.  He was, you know, doing it.  ... with one of the chambermaids.  He was holding his hand over her mouth.  When he saw me, he told me to get out, and punched me.  Really hard."

He looks ready to cry.  "But don't say anything.  He told me if I told anyone he'd get me thrown out in disgrace.  I can't go back home, not yet.  I want to be a knight, and my Da won't ..."  He trails off again, obviously realizing he's said too much, but then can't help himself, "You're from Sparta, you know about fighting and everything.  If I get sent back home, I'll have to be a priest, probably Demeter or some other boring god."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:50, Mon 14 Mar 2022.

Urvan expects to hear that one of the older boys had punched Gerro, that perhaps something had gone wrong in town, But his alarm grows throughout the telling of the story when he comes to realize that the situation is far, far more serious.

In that hazy an incomplete way that children know of adult things, Urvan recognizes why Gerro had been hit. Where he had come from, between rural people, people could get killed over a man forcing himself on a woman.

But he has little idea of how it works here. Everything seems so different.

He remembers himself and is a little slow to come up with an appropriate reaction for his "character", but he is quite satisfied with the way it sounds. "There is no dishonor in it" he tries to say soothingly. "The Priest is a grown man, and we are children. If you continue with your training and you work hard, you will be able to return the blow some day, with interest, and no Priest will dare to strike you then" he assures his fellow Page.

Inwardly however, he suspects that this is the sort of thing Iwo should be informed of.

That the crime was committed by a Priest of Hera in particular is not lost upon young Urvan, who already owes such a debt of pain, loss and suffering to that particular clergy. Part of his mind even flirts with the idea of killing the Priest, in revenge for his parents and the chamber maid.

But it is a boys fantasy for now, half formed thoughts of blood and cunning ambush.

No, he resolves to tell Iwo, to who he owes so much, when he has an opportunity.

He carefully scrubs the blood from the face of Gerroldivus, and as he does so he decides to try to learn a little more about the boy who is slowly becoming a friend. "Who is your father that he would be so upset? Is he a Knight as well?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:16, Mon 14 Mar 2022.

Gerro smiles sheepishly.  "No, he wouldn't be that upset.  I mean, he called in some favors to get me here, but he wouldn't be that upset if I got sent home.  My da is a Baron of a nice village in southwest Thessaly.  He just doesn't believe in housing knights; he says we're too small.  When the Duke calls to us for support, Da just sends money, or shipments of grain.  He says it is cheaper in the long run.  But I want to be a Knight!  So I have to start as a page, then I will become a squire for one of the knights of the palace, and then I will perform some heroic deed and be awarded a knighthood."

Urvan feels that he has a better idea of the younger boys situation by the time they head back to their accommodations. Being the first of his family to embark upon the road to Knighthood, and having a Father who seemed more inclined to political or mercantile pursuits would probably make Gerro's path more difficult, but he is still nobility, and still very young.

Getting involved in all this, and being injured, will not help.

After Urvans see's Gerro back to the Page's quarters, and when he finds a good time to slip away, Urvan goes to inform Iwo of what he has learned keeping in mind all the while that he will have to be up early to be at the kitchens, then back in time to do his morning exercises and chores.

I was about to say that it is early afternoon, since I was thinking that you went to the library early on the day after you saw Stilwell.  However, you did say above that you would do so that evening.  Everything else works on that timeline, but it does mean that it is fairly late now, almost midnight.  Also, it means that the pages' quarters will be bustling for another hour or so.  If you're going to slip into the secret passage, you will have to wait until they are all asleep. 

With Gerro settled, Urvan wants to go visit Iwo, but the pages' quarters has too much activity for him to slip into the secret passage.  He lies down and pretends to sleep; he appreciates the meditation discipline he learned from his father because he would truly fall asleep if he hadn't learned it.  Finally it seems quiet enough and he slips into the first secret chamber.  After waiting a few minutes, in case he was observed, he opens the door into the passages and slips through, trying to remember to walk as silently as he can.

Iwo opens the door into his rooms within a second of Urvan tapping on it.  He must have been awake, but he is dressed in a rather ridiculous looking sleeping gown.  It is extremely faded; the boy can barely make out that it originally had a yellow and gray checkerboard pattern.  "What is it?" the spymaster asks, a note of concern in his voice.  He waves Urvan to the table and makes two mugs of tea from a pot that had been sitting at the edge of his fireplace.

Urvan tells Iwo about the priest who assaulted and threatened Gerroldivus.  Iwo nods, but he doesn't look surprised.  "I've know that Gratham was not exactly the most devout priest of Hera, goddess of marriage, but I didn't think he had gone that far, so this is valuable information.  Did Gerro know the girl?  I can get her moved to a different area of the palace.  See if you can find out."

He thinks for a minute.  "I don't suppose you know how to pick a lock?  No?  You said that Gerro picked it, maybe he can do it for you.  What I'd like is for you to make some problem in his room, something that makes him request a move.  You see, I don't have eyes into his room, so if we can get him into a different one, I'll make sure he is somewhere I can keep a watch on him.  How's this?  You and Gerro catch a bunch of rats and let them go in his room.  Leave a little food for them so they don't just run away.  They like grain and sweets, especially.  Don't tell Gerro why you are doing it, just let him assume that the rats are fitting punishment; he'll like that.  And don't get caught!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:41, Mon 14 Mar 2022.

As Urvan silently retreats from the chambers of his mentor, he reflects upon the fact that he has inadvertently brought even more work upon himself.

He is expected to be a Page, with all that role entails on the busy Palace grounds. It is true that so far the role has been less physically demanding than his life in the country, but it is all still so new, and is considered an occupation in and of itself.

Then there is his first task from Iwo, which seems to have consumed most of his day, although he feels he has made good progress. Although he does look forward to learning more about combat and in learning more from the Knights training there at the Palace, the thought of working with the huge Apollo dogs is still the most exciting prospect for him at the moment.

And then on top of all that, he now has this newest task of trying to evict the Priest Gratham from his current quarters. His head spins with the prospect of tackling them all at the same time, but he has little choice, and they are all worthy pursuits.

As the boy climbs into bed, absolutely exhausted and with maybe four or so hours before dawn, he knows it will be a very short rest before he will need to be up and away to the kitchens to see what he can learn about the boy from is serving in the Kennels, and what sorts of food they may prepare for the menacing animals.

He is practically asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

It's a nice chapter ending if this were a book, but in the game the next post is still yours.  Do you talk to Gerro about the plan before heading to the kitchen?  You've already made a successful stealth roll for your kitchen caper, so go ahead and assume that worked and say a little of what you plan to do there.  Let's assume that the boy from the kennel comes to the kitchen, but he has to wait until the cook is done with the breakfast rush before the food for the dogs is prepared, so he is sitting at a small table there eating biscuits and bacon.  You could approach him or just observe, as you like.

Morning, and as predicted, it feels to Urvan like he has barely closed his eyes before the other boys are up and shuffling around in the dim light getting ready for the day.

Bleary eyed and sluggish at first, Urvan tries to catch Gerro as they are all heading out for the day. "I could barely sleep because of that damned rat...we should try to catch him and move him to that Priests room." he suggested with a wry smile. "Or three or four for good measure, the Gods know we have enough of them around here."

-

Later, in the area of the Kitchens, Urvan finally notes his mark, the Boy from the Kennels and which direction he has come from. A glance to the lightening windows gives him a rough time of his arrival.

Urvan opts for subtlety and remain apart from the boy, watching and waiting from an unfrequented passage with a view to the eating area. After the setback the day before he was not keen on his face becoming well known to either of the Boy or Lady Stilwill yet. In his mind frequency seems to count as much as context, and he see's no reason to expose himself more than is needed just yet. He still wants to find out where the boy sleeps after all.

Urvan hopes to find out just what they feed these dogs, believing after all that he had read the day before that scents with be paramount in  earning the trust of Leila in the coming days.

The kitchen is bustling, getting breakfasts out to all the nobles, including, if the buzz among the pages is to be believed, an important group visiting from Crete who arrived just yesterday.  Urvan sees the kennel boy waiting patiently, with one large bucket and a medium one sitting on the table in front of him.  Finally, the cook turns to the boy and says, "OK, I can make your precious food for your precious dogs."  He adds, muttering, "they eat better than most people do."

He disappears behind a door and comes back with three very large steaks in one hand and a balance scale in the other.  He sets the balance on the table, where the boy puts the weights on one side while the cook expertly chops up the steaks.  Bringing the whole cutting board to the table, he carefully measures out some meat until the scale balances, putting that portion into the smaller bucket and the rest of the meat into the larger one.  He brings over what is left of the morning's porridge and goes through the same process, carefully balancing a portion to the weight that the boy sets on the balance, that portion going into the small bucket and the rest in the large.  The process repeats with some cooked green beans, some chopped up carrots, and finally what is left of the fried potatoes.  The small bucket also gets a measured amount of cheese from the big wheel, and three eggs cracked into it.

The boy thanks the cook and heads out the door.  Urvan follows him a few seconds later, in plenty of time to see the boy head into the kennel.  In an odd circumstance, as Urvan slips silently past the door and around the corner, he startles a rat that runs over his foot and into the pile of kitchen garbage whose odor permeates this entire part of the grounds.

Those dogs eat better than I do Urvan thinks to himself as he sees the generous portions of excellent food being doled out. He imagines that the Apollo's must be very valuable, or very useful to justify such a huge expenditure, and he notes the time, contents and where each item is retrieved from.

That is one major task done for the day. He knows what the Hounds ate, and roughly when, which he figures will prove very valuable as his plan comes together.

He is about the follow the boy out when by happenstance the rat crosses his path. He does not fit jd it particularly odd that a rat would be interested in the Kitchens, or the garbage, but he does take the opportunity to try to find something he can trap it in, and does to set about cornering it so that he can begin the collection of ones meant to be released into the Priests chambers.

Making a snare is a Survival roll that is "trained only."  However, if you make a DC 15 Survival roll, where 'aid another' is available if Gerro is helping (this represents cornering one), followed immediately by a successful attack against AC 15, that's one rat caught.  You can do this for as long as you like, so eventually you'll get as many as you like.  However, the longer it takes, the more likely somebody notices and starts asking questions.  Oh yeah, plus the rats get to attack back, but they only do d2-1 of damage, without the normal minimum of 1, so 0 or 1 points of damage.

Urvan realizes that he has no clue how to make a trap, but supposes that these rats are so fat and slow that he and Gerro should be able to catch a few.

It was chaos for a time.

Two young boys, with all the excitement of the hunt and all the vigor of youth bent towards capturing the rats for their own somewhat juvenile revenge plot. Or what would seem like one to most casual observers.

Rats are fast, and nimble and they have very sharp teeth. And the earthenware jug that had been set aside for refill, a vessel that smelled strongly of wine dregs, had a somewhat narrow mouth.

But the boys had the advantage of coordination, and of the unyielding stone walls that they could use to eventually corner their prey.

Urvan was bit twice, the wounds to his forefinger and the web of his hand bleeding freely before he grew wise enough to use a thick rag as a primitive glove.

But the little colony, for there was never a shortage of rats in the city provided five total before they were interupted by a broad shouldered and somewhat plump woman who looked with dismay on the mess they had made. "Hades boy! What are you about? She demanded, before Gerto also slunk out from where he had been off to the side.

"Sorry mum" Urvan exclaimed, his mind racing to come up with an explanation. "We'll clean up the mess, right away, it's just that we needed bait."

He shot a glance to Gerro. "For the falcons. We're after eggs you see. If you tie up a rat in the field with a bit of bright ribbon, you can follow them back to their nests. Why Brennan said that hawks eggs are worth their weight in silver, so they can be trained up by the huntsmen, or any who fancy them as pets." He explained as he clutched the jug that vibrates somewhat with the movements of the angry rats.

Urvan had actually been thinking about the Apollo's and the various training methods he had read about the day before, but mentioning them seemed too conspicuous. Hawks eggs seemed more plausible to his mind.

Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 15 using 1d20.  Diplomacy.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

I think that was more of a Bluff check than a Diplomacy one, and it is well done.  I'd give you +2 for the description, but you didn't need it.

"You lads and your schemes.  If I had a silver for every crazy plan to get rich that I've heard from 12-year-old boys, I'd be sipping tea with the Duchess.  You get that garbage cleaned up or I'll have words with Zaan, and your hides will be tanned for sure.  I see you there, Gerroldivus, and I know you're the new boy.  What's your name?"  After he responds, she continues, "You get that cleaned up, I want no garbage past this line, and there will be no problems."  Her tone softens a bit, "I know you're good lads.  Just don't make me regret it.  And you two are going to need clean togas before you get to work.  You stink!"  She walks away, chuckling.

Urvan asks Gerro who that woman is.  He replies, "That's Missus Whaite, head of the chambermaids.  Do you think we have enough?  We'd better get this clean."

Thanks! Great stuff.

Urvan nods eagerly and hops to it at Missus Whaite's request, and when she is gone turns to Gerro with a slight smile of satisfaction that it seems they had remained unsuspected.

"I do." Urvan replies somewhat laconically as he turns and gets to work scrubbing.

Five would be enough he felt, without making it too obvious that someone had planted them. The trash also offered ample bits of food that could be used to keep the rats attention for the next week or so. He was already smeared with the stuff...

"Do you know when his next service is?" He asks Gerro very quietly. "He'll be sure to be out then, and if you can get us back into the room..." He leaves it at that with a knowing expression.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:13, Sun 20 Mar 2022.

Gerro shrugs, "I don't think he does services -- he's only in the guest wing, though he's been there forever.  I don't know when he'd be out.  Maybe the chambermaids would, though.  But this is gonna be good, he's gonna flip when he has all these rats all over his fancy clothes, the jerk."

Urvan finds it very odd that there is a Priest who does not preach, a Priest who lives perpetually in the guest wing, a priest who is theoretically retained with room and board because...

Well that is a good question.

Earthenware jug in hand with the rats scurrying inside, Urvan realizes that in their haste they have neglected to really learn anything about the Priests habits, and that they will need at least five to ten minutes to place the rats and their meals in unobtrusive locations within the room.

The Chambermaids are a good idea however, and there was one in particular that was unlikely to turn them in.

"Do you think you would recognize the girl from before if you saw her again?" He asks Gerro.

"Oh, sure, that was Veronique.  I see her at dinner all the time."  Urvan is impressed with the resiliency of the lad, who seems perfectly cheerful in spite of the still ugly-looking bruise on his face.  "We'd better get to work, though.  I don't want Acutus getting on me, again.  Do you think these rats are going to be ok for a few hours in this jug?  Maybe they need some water.  After we've made at least a show of work, maybe we can meet back at lunch.  I'll keep an eye out for Veronique and let her know what's up."  He strips down to his smallclothes and washes up in the basin, then he slips on a new toga and heads out.

"Perfect, we may not be able to finish him one on one, but this will hopefully be the next best thing." He replies with some eagerness as he also began to clean himself up, noticing that Gerro's beating had not slowed his down very much. He could respect that.

"Oh I think so" Urvan says regarding the rats, not really knowing but guessing that rats were resilient little things.

"You're right about Acurus too...I just got here after all. Want to make a good impression." Urvan finds a good spot to hide the jug for now washes and changes, then follows Gerro is hustling off to attend to his Page duties.

Urvan hides the earthenware jug behind his bed, with the dirty togas draped on it so no one will want to look.  The two go out to put on a show of doing their job, making sure that Acutus sees them scurrying around.  Clearly, Gerro is no stranger to getting away with taking a little unscheduled time off and getting away with it.  It does occur to Urvan that there were never any repercussions for his disappearing into the library for several hours yesterday.  In the course of his work, Urvan gets a few odd looks, and he realizes that maybe he didn't wash up as successfully as he had hoped, but there's nothing to do for it now.

A little after midday, Urvan is returning from carrying a cask of ale up from the cellar when Gerro finds him.  "Come meet Veronique," he calls.  Leading him back towards the kitchen, there is a young woman, 15 or 16 years old, sitting at the staff table eating some bread and cheese.  "Veronique, this is Urvan.  He has the greatest idea for getting back at ..."

Urvan cuts him off with a shush.  "Let's not shout it out to everybody, eh?"  The two boys sit down and each grab a hunk of bread and some cheese, too.  It doesn't seem that they can be overheard, here, as long as they keep their voices down.

Urvan is just reaching the point where he is starting to feel vaguely uncomfortable around pretty girls, but he has not reached a place where he saw the poor Veronique as anything more than the victim of an evil man.

As they enjoy their repast, and he reminds the younger Gerro that this is all strictly secret, he turns to Veronique, his posture hunched over, his voice conspiratorial.

"Rats..." he begins. "We want to put rats in Priest Gratham's room." he lays it out simply, making a point as to not elaborate on why. "But we don't know when he is there, and when he is gone..." he lets that hang in the air and looks at the girl, hoping that she proves willing to expand upon the topic.

"Oh," she growls, "Priest Grantham."  Her eyes acquire a wicked glare as her voice drops a register.  "He's usually out by late afternoon on, so he is.  He only comes back to change if there be somethin' going on, like a fancy supper or somesuch.  T'night be the big dinner with those fancy folk from Crete, so he might be coming back.  I can't be sayin'.  But if you can wait till after the supper starts, I can let you in to his room.  He will be gone then, to be sure."

"Perfect" Urvan replies with conviction. "That should work out just fine then."

He considers that this will limit the time the rats are confined together, and the rotting of the food he had set aside for them. What's more it would hopefully clear his schedule quickly, giving him more time to focus on his Page duties and Iwo's task concerning the hound Leila.

It was not that he did not not also want vengeance for Veronique, and in some small way for his parents, he did. But he was also trying to juggle so much that having one less thing on his plate would be a relief.

"We will try to be around our room then, come dinner time." He adds. It would be risky, and if they were caught they would have hell to pay, but Urvan is excited about the prospect of striking back at Hera's clergy and giving the poor girl some small satisfaction.

Once things are agreed upon, he moves on to spend his afternoon doing his page duties, hoping to get them resolved to free up his time for planting the rats, and potentially seeing if the boy who worked at the stables would be in around the kitchens for dinner. Being able to follow him to his own quarters would cross our one more task on his mental list.

Soon after Urvan gets back to work, he is asked by a member of the Queen's guard to deliver a message to the delegation from Crete.  After a few stumbles, he learns that they are in Guest Suite #3, which is directly above the kitchen.  The suite is large enough that it has its own page station, currently unoccupied, and Urvan realizes that the station is close enough to a window to have a view out over the kennels.

After running the Viscount's reply back to the Queen's guard, leaves a note for Acutus to let the head know where he will be working and returns to the suite.  Although the delegation seems quite popular and has several notes to send, Urvan still manages to spend quite a bit of time observing the kennels and the area around it.

The bustle increases in the suite while the visitors prepare for a supper in their honor.  Urvan has just spotted his prey leaving the kennel and heading east when one of the young women in the group calls out, "Oh boy.  Page boy."  Urvan ignores her at first, eager to see where the boy is headed when she calls out more emphatically.  He walks to her and gives her a polite nod.  "I just can't find any ribbon for my hair that is the color I want.  Do you see this dress?  I'm looking for a yellow that matches this fringe right here.  Surely you could find someone in the palace with ribbon of the color I seek."

I'm going to try to remember to write the time of day at the end of all my notes, because I keep forgetting for the different threads and I have to read back to remember.

Tuesday (Ares' Day):  late afternoon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:38, Wed 23 Mar 2022.

Urvan is, in truth, a little irritated by the request. He had found such a good vantage point, and his timing had been so fortunate, and now he was being bothered about a ribbon of a particular color.

However, he is ostensibly a Page, and Pages certainly run errands such as this, especially for young women.

Once again, and not for the last time, Urvan's farm borne work ethic and natural humility urges him to simply keep his head down and to do the task asked of him.

"Right away" he dips his head and scampers off, heading after the boy who had walked off to the East to start with, the ribbon having to wait a few minutes if he can manage it.

Will see if he can glimpse where the boy walks off to, and after or failing that, will try to track down that color ribbon with Veronique.

Urvan races out the suite, down the stairs, and through the kitchen.  He spot the boy just as he is stepping into a door at the far end of the nearest of the long barracks-looking buildings.  (At AG-37 http://zag.net/Pathfinder/Ellada/palace.png)

Satisfied that he knows where the boy lives, Urvan turns his attention to the ribbon.  He thought that maybe Veronique could help, but he has no idea where to find her.  Spotting one of the older pages at a page station, he asks advice for the quest.  "Seamstress, I would guess.  She has her own room in the servants' quarters, second one on the right.  But she's probably in the family wing right now, doing adjustments."

Urvan heads to the family wing, where, of course, he is stopped by the guard.  In the past, when he had deliveries to this wing, he just gave the note or package to the guard and has never been allowed inside.

Urvan is quite gratified to have some idea of where the boy from the Kennels lives. It has only been two days and he feels that he is making good progress towards his goal.

But this means that his mind is also scattered, caught up in so many different tasks, and so when confronted with the guard unexpectedly he finds himself scrambling to come up with a gratifying answer.

"I...uh" he begins, his mind fumbling over itself. "I was send for some ribbon sir, the color of butter, from one of the girls from the ah..." what was the word he was looking for? He gestured a little as he puzzles it out. "The Cretans." he finally gets out. "A butter colored ribbon for one of the Cretan girls, she sent me."

It is not his most inspired moment.

18:01, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 3 using 1d20.  Diplomacy, Convince Guard.

The guard laughs, "And you thought the queen might give it to you?"  Go on, boy, get out of here."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:22, Fri 25 Mar 2022.

Urvan is struck a little dumb at the news that he had been on his way to barge in on
Queen Shenea herself! The embarrassment shows on his face as he recovers himself.

Nodding rapidly, Urvan retreats under the genial eyes of the guard and scampers off.

Leaving him without the ribbon...

But where else can he find one on such short notice?

He has not been at the Palace very long at all and the lost of people he knows personally is rather short.

He racks his brain as he moves off back towards where the Cretan girl had directed him, contemplating reporting his failure.

Urvan is on his way back to report his failure when he begins to consider the situation. If the Palace Seamstress is attending to the Queen, that would mean that she was not in her normal working area.

It is certainly worth checking on his way back, he decides, perhaps she has left a door unlocked or a window unbarred, and she would surely not miss a bit of ribbon...

Urvan reaches the servants' quarters, heads to the second door on the right, and knocks politely.  There is no answer.  Of course, the door is locked.

You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?  :-)  If this little side-task is simply annoying, just drop it.  It won't matter.

Urvan again considers just giving up, but decides to check for the possibility of a window before he goes, just in case.

Urvan looks around, trying to map out this section in his mind in order to figure out if this servant's quarters is one of the few that has an outside window.  It is only on the second floor, so he could probably climb up to it if it does have one.  Suddenly, Gerro comes around the corner, "Hey!  There you are!  I've been looking for you all over.  I saw Gratham headed up to that lounge above the main hall, where a lot of the knights gather for drinking.  He was already dressed for the big party, so I don't think he's going to back to his room.  Let's go send those rats in there."

At this news Urvan completely forgets about the ribbon. "Truly? Let's get to it then, I'll meet you there."

Heading back to their quarters with urgency, Urvan retrieved the clay vessel and the bits of food wrapped in cheese cloth and lugged it as discreetly as he could manage towards Priest Grahams quarters. He could feel the rodents scurrying around within the vessel, and the excitement of some small vengeance and a Iwo's task successfully completed lent a spring to his step as he hurried along.

When the two reach Gratham's room, Gerro pulls a small piece of metal out of a fold in his toga, pushes it into the lock, and fiddles with it for a few seconds when there is a click and the door swings open.  Urvan suddenly recalls that Gerro had told him that he had picked this lock before, and he probably could pick the seamstress's lock, as well.

Let me know if there is anything special you plan to do with the food or the rats as you release them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:32, Tue 29 Mar 2022.

Finally gaining access to the chambers of Priest Graham with Gerro at his side, Urvan felt a thrill as they entered the private space, vessel in hand.

The need to work quickly and quietly is obvious, and as the door closes behind them Urvan gets to work. Although he is but a boy, even children understand that rodents prefer dark crevices and protected area in which to shelter. He certainly does not want to make it too obvious, but at the same time he sort of assumes that the rats themselves will be clever enough to seek out good hiding places of their own.

They just need a reason to stay.

Unwrapping the rag with the food scraps, Urvan gets to work obsscuring them in hard to reach spaces. In the straw of the mattress, behind a stout chest, in the crook of a rafter beam among others.

He keeps an eye out for anything interesting, but unless anything comes up, he releases the rats once the food is sequestered away and prepares to leave, hoping that they have played their part well enough that the unsavory Priest of Hera will be requesting new quarters sooner than later.

Gerro joins in the fun of concealing food items for the rats.  To get up to the highest point in the room, Urvan stands on the heavy chest, then hoists the smaller boy up on to his shoulders.  The priest has only a few books:  Ceremonies and Blessings for All Family Occasions, Grantham Geneology, and two books of poetry.  If he has any valuables, they are locked in the chest.

When the boys release the rats, they are nearly overwhelmed at the smell of rat urine.  The poor animals have been climbing all over each other and relieving themselves.  The last rat to leave the jug is moving rather slowly and leaves a damp trail behind him, but he, too, eventually finds his way into a hiding spot.

As the boys leave Gratham's quarters, they notice an increase in the traffic around the palace.  People are dressed in their finest and starting to head to the main hall.  Knowing that they might be expected to carry trays of food, the boys head down towards the kitchen, and they wait only half an hour before being pressed into service.  (Mention what you did with the jug that the rats were in.)

When carrying out the tray for Table Prime, the front most of the guest tables, Urvan spots the young woman who had asked for a yellow ribbon.  He avoids eye contact, but it seems she is not concerned about the item anymore.  She is happily chatting with the other women around her, and does not even seem to notice him, never mind recognize him.

Their duties fulfilled, Urvan and Gerro return to the kitchen where an excellent meal awaits all the workers.  Every dish that was a tiny bit over or under done, or just did not come out looking correctly is available for the staff to eat.  Since the actual servers are still working, the cooks and the pages get first choice.  The cook slaps at Gerro when he takes two desserts, but it is more of a good-natured slap than a serious one.  Gerro takes his booty and tells Urvan that he is headed back to the pages' quarters.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:40, Fri 01 Apr 2022.

It turns out that heading towards the kitchen is not a bad plan in the least, as it allows Urvan to put the jug back where he had found it, rinsed once with well water for good measure and ready to be sent back out to whoever provided the wine.

Trying to stay focused with so many amazing scents around is difficult of course, but he is eventually rewarded with a meal of his own and some sweets to top things off.

Their errand complete after what seems like hours, he hustles off with Gerro feeling full to bursting and a little sick from all the desert.

While on the way back to the pages quarters Urvan finds himself hoping that their little stunt will be enough to force the Priest to move, and he reminds himself that he will need to tell Iwo sooner than later that the rats have been released and are doing their work.

The two arrive back at the pages' quarters uneventfully.

Tuesday (Ares' Day):  mid-evening

Despite all the running around throughout the day, Urvan finds himself restless as they return to the Pages quarters and lays himself upon his bed.

Staring up at the ceiling he is both gratified that they were able to strike a blow to the Priest, and eager to report his early successes to Iwo. However when he thinks of the older man his thought turn and slip into a sort of agitated melancholy. The reason why he is here at the Palace rears its terrible head and he falls to thinking about the murder of his parents and the home he used to know.

Unable to get comfortable, unable to relax, Urvan gets up and gets dressed once more before he makes his way out under the open night sky, the stars practically invisible behind the hazy of city light, smoke and cloud.

Following his feet towards the perimeter wall, he walks for maybe five or ten minutes before he feels the urge to run. His body still sore and protests a little from the morning exercises, but he pushes onward and is soon moving along at a jogging pace along the interior of the perimeter wall, hoping to burn out his energy before bed, and to kill some time to allow the others to sleep before he reports to Iwo.

Sorry, I need details of where you are running.  http://zag.net/Pathfinder/Ellada/palace.png  Where do you reach the perimeter and do you head clockwise or counter-clockwise?

I would say the nearest route to the wall, then counter clockwise.

Oh.  So you're going to make ME figure out where the pages' quarters are located.  :-)  All right, I assume they would be fairly central, so let's say you're on the third floor around S1.  The quickest way out is through a door at S-3.  From there you head west past the barracks to the wall.

Urvan heads towards the guest wing, down two flights of stairs, and out a little-used door in the back of the palace building.  As he passes between the first two barracks buildings he looks left and sees several soldiers sitting around a small fire, sharing a bottle.  One of them calls out to him, "Oy!  'Oo are ye?"

Another voice says, "Pipe down, Auri.  'E's juss a pazhe boy.  Lad, come 'n' 'ave a snootful."

Urvan is as surprised as anyone to see a pack of soldiers drinking around the fire, he had not really considered what the guards would be doing during the feast with the Cretan guests, although now he has his answer.

His own father was no teetotaler, the reek of his families spilled pale ale was a memory that would haunt him for the rest of his life, but Urvan had never seen his father drunk in life. He had also not had much experience with alcohol himself.

Urvan approaches the small band and manages something approaching a nervous smile. "Didn't mean to bother sir..." He says to the first man, but approaches the second, curious and interested like many boys were in how adults conducted themselves in these more unrestrained situations.

He figures he might even learn something interesting or valuable while he is at it.

Approaching the fire, where the crackling flames illuminate his pale features, he stands there in his page uniform and holds his hands out to the fire for a few moments before the second man offers him the bottle.

Urvan takes it curiously, gives a somewhat uncertain look around the circle, then takes a mouthful, trying to maintain his composure among the rough and tumble men at arms.

10:16, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  Fort save

Urvan takes a swig of the alcohol and immediately starts to choke.  The spray of liquid hits the small fire and bursts into flame, and all the men start laughing uproariously.  One manages, through the guffaws, "Ho, laddie.  That's a good pull ye tried, but too much for a youngster."  The man who handed Urvan the flask takes it back before any spills.  It seems he was ready for this.  Several men slap Urvan on the back, and it isn't clear to him whether these slaps are meant to help him breath again, as a gesture of camaraderie, or an attempt to dislocate his shoulder blades.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:30, Sun 03 Apr 2022.

Gods that stuff is foul, it tastes like lamp oil and burns all the way up into his sinuses.

He sputters and his cheeks flushboth from the choking and the embarrassment, part of it running down his chin as he tried to compose himself amid the uproarious laughter and the jostling. He manages a weak grin as he wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Gods above, what is that stuff?" he asks somewhat abashed as he looks around at the faces, glossy eyes and red nosed from their revelry.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Mon 04 Apr 2022.

The man who originally invited Urvan over for a drink gives the answer, his words blurring even more than before, "Issh the GUUD schtuff, me cousin made i'.  Packsh a punsh, it duush."  He reaches for Urvan, as if to clap him on the shoulder, but misses by about 3 feet, staggers off to the left, and collapses in a heap.

You can use the distraction to slip away and start your jog, or you can hang around, perhaps check on the man.  I've been sort of looking for an opportunity to get you into a fight in which you could win, lose, or run away without any of those options really affecting your mission.  If you hang around, there will be some conjured insult that will turn into a fight, but it's sort of a friendly thing and all will be pals later (assuming you stick to non-lethal damage).  If you don't want to bother, you can just take off now.

If you do, then go ahead and invent the reason and start it.  The first attack will be a big, telegraphed swing that you easily avoid, so essentially you win initiative.  I should point out that these are professional soldiers:  I do not expect you to win unless you get pretty lucky, even using your adrenaline rush.

Tuesday (Ares' Day):  mid-late-evening
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:41, Mon 04 Apr 2022.

Caiaphas was a diligent soldier, but also a life long alcoholic. The sort of man who could show up for formation with a belly full of grain alcohol and still work all day without most people being any the wiser.

His wife had left him and had taken their savings some time ago, and ever since the man had just sort of been scraping along. He had pitched in for his share of the bottle, and had been looking forward to getting blind drunk all week, only to have some kid stumble out of the dark and spill half of it into the fire. The others find it hilarious, but Caiaphas felt a flush of belligerent anger well up within his breast at the waste of it, his baser nature close to the surface with the spirits in his blood.

"No! Why? You clumsy little shit" he exclaims as the first man keels over, some men still laughing, others oblivious in their drunkenness. In his anger Caiaphas turns and levels an unrestrained back hand at Urvan.

Urvan, caught unawares, scrambles back and lashes out with a haphazard off handed jab, and then follows up in the ensuing chaos with a far stiffer right that catches the man just under the ribs.

7:20, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 5 using 1d6+4.  Unarmed Damage.

17:19, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 23 using 1d20+5.  Flurry of Blows.

17:17, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 11 using 1d20+5.  Unarmed attack, non lethal.

Ahh.  NOW I see one of the big differences between unchained monk and normal.  :-)
And Yikes!  That was minimum damage.  Maybe I spoke too soon that you would have trouble with these.
19:39, Today: Zag, for the NPC Caiaphas, rolled 12,4 using d20+5,d3+2.

Urvan realizes that punching a man wearing leather armor can hurt!  But he is satisfied as the big man makes an audible Ooof! and steps back a bit.

The man sneers, "you fuckin' brat.  Time for you to run home to mommy."  He swings at Urvan but the boy barely dodges out of the way.

Last Fall, The Kron Family Compound
The Hellas Mountains

"And this..." Ursul pointed, a pig was laid open upon a table in the covered area near the root celler. The animal had been opened from the throat to the groin and the flesh expertly peeled back. The swine had not been gutted, and was still just barely warm, Urvan glanced between the two hundred pound animal and his father.

"The...breast bone?" he hazarded. His father nodded "sternum" he corrected gently. "See how it protects the heart? and the lungs beneath, press on it...see how it's flexible? It needs to do that when it breaths, to make space for the lungs..."

---

The Present

Urvan's mind is reeling, trying to catch up. He is not sure how this all happened, why the man is so angry, but he feels a sudden hot flush in his face. His limbs, his feet feel as if they weigh nothing at all, his feet are wide, his upper body leaned forward.

He does not look angry, if anything he looks quite pale and scared, but he lash's out more purposefully now. The first jab a few inches short, the second colliding somewhat harmlessly against the hardened boiled leather with a slapping sound.

He does not notice the other men stopping to stare, he does not hear the muttering, or the crackling of the fire. He does not hear much of anything at all except the hammering of his own heart. He does not see anything except the glaring eyes of the man with the blotchy face, speaking hatefully, his teeth yellowed.

Adrenaline Rush round 1/5
Stunning Fist expended
AC now 17

17:52, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 12 using 1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 2.

17:52, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 1, Non Lethal, Stunning Fist, Adrenaline Rush.

20:44, Today: Zag, for the NPC Caiaphas, rolled 23,4 using d20+5,d3+2

The man with the flask calls out, "Caiaphas!  What're you doing?  'E's just a kid," but to no avail.  The big man, his anger ruling him, continues to move on Urvan.

The lad suddenly realizes that a real fight is very different from training.  He can see from the man's body and stance that he has not the strength, grace, or skill that the boy's father had.  However, unlike when he would spar with his father, this man is striking with his full force, trying to knock his block off.  Caiaphas connects with a solid right to the chin that Urvan thought was just a feint, and now the boy's ears are ringing.  He staggers back and shakes his head, but the surge through his body prevents him from feeling any pain.

I have you at 7/13 hit points; 4 of the 6 points are non-lethal.
Caiaphas has taken 5 non-lethal damage.

Although he could not hear it, the blow is enough to snap Urvan's teeth together hard and to turn his head sharply. He would feel it dearly in the morning and it would undoubtedly leave a mark, but with the potent cocktail of chemicals surging through his blood it is just a sort of dull thud to his mind.

This blood sings now, a deep and primal song that urges the boy along.

A step, a circle, a lead with his left that the man draws away from, but too slowly to avoid the right that follows.

Although his fist is smaller than the mans, Urvan drives it up in a brutal hook that connects just in front of the mans left ear.

The sound of bone on bone echoes against the perimeter wall in a sudden clack, and even through the adrenaline Urvan feels something in his hand that seems wrong, but the savage joy he experiences at the sensation floods all of the other dull emotions. It feels better than anything he has ever known, and he really, really wants to do it again...

HP: 7/13
AC: 17
Adrenaline Rush Round: 2/5

19:04, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 10 using 1d6+5.  Non Lethal Damage.

19:04, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 10,18 using 1d20+5,1d20+5.  Flurry of Blows 1&2, Non Lethal.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:17, Tue 05 Apr 2022.

21:45, Today: Zag, for the NPC Caiaphas, rolled 13,5 using d20+5,d3+2

The way Caiaphas rolls with the punishing blow that Urvan delivered makes the boy realize that he isn't dealing with a complete amateur.  His head snapped, but it wasn't the knock-out blow that Urvan was hoping.  The big man turns back and spits out some blood.  He looks surprised, but the blow doesn't seem to have dulled his anger at all.

He closes again with the boy, but perhaps his concern for the speed of the boy's fists has taken the edge off, because his punch meets only air.

BTW, he is AC 15:  Hide armor and one point of dex bonus.

7/13 hit points; 4 of the 6 points are non-lethal.
Caiaphas has taken 15 non-lethal damage.

As the moments wear on under the glossy eyes of the watching soldiers, the boys movements become more sure, his stance more consistent, his blows faster and stiffer.

It is a familiar stance in many ways and one that at least a few of the soldiers recognize from experience or the Games, Pankration, left arm nearly fully extended with the palm out, the right arm crooked, the left foot far forward and the vulnerable mid section sucked in to almost form a "C" shape.

Urvan's mind and muscles alike remembers as he fights, a hundred little subconscious corrections passed down over the years. The man is an adult, armored and tough, and Urvan is quickly disabused of any boyhood fantasies of knocking out a soldier with one blow.

But that does not mean he stops.

As the mans clenched fist passes a hairs breath from his head, Urvan steps in, his reach inferior, the height difference pronounced. The left, which has been ineffective up till now finally finds its range and Urvans fist smashes into the mans nose with a muffled pop at full extension. In an instant, as the man recoils the boy is on him with the right, catching the depression of the eye socket with an ugly sound.

At the full tide of his adrenaline rush, the boy is still moving eagerly, but how much longer can he realistically maintain such a feverish pace?

HP: 7/13
AC: 17
Adrenaline Rush Round: 3/5

20:04, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 7,9 using 1d6+5,1d6+5.  Non Lethal Damage.

20:03, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 15,16 using 1d20+6,1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 1&2, Non Lethal.

Urvan pops Caiaphas with a stinging left jab, then, as the big man staggers back, Urvan follows through with a devastating right and the soldier goes down.  Several of the other soldiers stand in awe at the speed and hammer strength of the boy's blows, especially those who have lost fights in the past to the hotheaded man.  A couple dart in, ready to stop Urvan from taking advantage of the man's defenseless state, but there is no need.  The boy does not move in for the kill; he only stands back, panting and looking around with an edge of wildness.

After a few moments of silence, the man who originally invited Urvan to "'ave a snootful" lets out a whoop and a cheer.  "Goo' on you, lad!  Yeh han'led 'im righ' and propeh.  Wash yer name, lad?"  The ice broken, several other man give a cheer and once again Urvan suffers the back patting which seems likely to loosen a rib or two.

As the congratulations subsides, someone pours a bucket of water on Caiaphas, who sits up and shakes his head a few times.  "By Ares, boy," he manages to stammer out, but then pauses for several seconds before continuing with a sardonic grin.  "I hope that'll learn ye not to waste good drink," which draws a laugh from the others.  He gets up slowly, moving gingerly to avoid jostling his head and holds his hand out to the boy for a handshake.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:36, Tue 05 Apr 2022.

Urvan, looking half feral for a few moments as his mind caught up with what had just happened, calms as his strength ebbs, the adrenaline burning out and leaving him feeling weak, shaky and a little sick.

Then, the cheering seems to start. Looking around Urvan is jostled and celebrated as the boy looks on a little surprised at everything that had just happened, a full throbbing ache begins to make itself known in his right hand as the first soldier asks his name.

"Urvan sir, I'm...the new Page" he answers a bit bewildered. "From Laconia" he added as a bit of explanation, remembering his cover but scrambling a bit for his assumed County.

Urvan finally manages to crack a smile at the joke, and he goes to shake Caiaphas's hand, wincing a little as something shifts painfully there as the man squeezes it. "I'll remember that sir." He assures him with a nod, breathing heavily, the smile faltering a little with the pain and adding to the general levity of the gathering.

As the minutes past and Urvan began to catch his breath, he eventually turns to one of the friendlier guards and asks. "What's it like? Being a Guard at the Palace? Have you ever met the Queen?" He asks somewhat innocently as he sits around the fire, the shadows of the flames flickering on his face.

"Hah!" the man snorts, "Do we loo' like 'mperial Guard to you?  No, lad, none o' this lot 'as ever met the Queen."  After a second, he looks around suddenly and adds, "Long may she reign."

As the man answers, Urvan is stunned at how incredibly hungry he is.  He has felt this before, where a sudden important physical stress has given him strength beyond his normal, but then he is exhausted and terribly hungry afterwards.  He feels that if he doesn't get some high-energy food into him soon, he might faint.  He's not sure that this is a normal thing, so he doesn't mention it, but he is eagerly looking around for a bite of anything, and is prepared to pay all his pocket change for it.  However, this little party seems to be for drinking only.

Urvan tries to focus, to remain upbeat, greatly enjoying the aftermath of the fight and of being able to socialize with the soldiers almost like an adult, like an equal, but the nausea is getting worse, and he is starting to feel more shaky.

"I'm starving." He admits "And I need to get up early, but, uh, thanks for the drink." He says, trying to mimic the others soldiers a bit. It sounds like something they would say, or so he thinks.

He gives one last look at the amused soldiers talking amongst themselves and discussing the fight, before he scampers back off in the direction of the kitchens.

As he moves away from the warmth of the fire and the excitement of it all, the pain starts to get worse in his jaw and hand, but he puts it aside for now, his hunger starting to become to most pressing sensation among the whole mix of exciting thoughts.

Urvan returns to the kitchen.  Although the dinner has been over for a while, the party is still going on in the Great Hall, which means that the kitchen is still being manned.  All that is left to go out are the foods that people nibble with their wine or their ale:  sweets for some, crackers and pickles for others.

Urvan asks politely for something to eat, and the assistant cook just shakes his head and laughs about growing boys.  He hands Urvan a turkey leg that it looks like someone has taken a few bites out of, a slightly burnt crust of bread, and a platter that once had mounds of cheese, olives, and pickles, and still has quite a few good pieces left.  The boy devours it all and feels much better.  He doesn't even notice the ache in his jaw and his one slightly loose tooth until he is scraping at the bone for any morsels he might have missed.

His benefactor holds out a bucket filled with garbage scraped off the incoming plates, and Urvan dutifully puts his cleaned turkey bone into it.  The cook then gestures the bucket towards him and eyes the door outside and the boy gets the message: he has to work for his extra supper.

Exhausted as he is, Urvan is in no mood for additional chores. However realizing that the cool very easily could have denied him outright he swallows his pride and his pain to begin taking out the evenings collection of garbage to the midden.

When the cook is satisfied, Urvan trudges back to his room to see if it is a good time to report in with Iwo, desiring little more than to climb in to bed and sleep after the evenings events.

You've actually perked up, now that you've eaten; in other words, you're back to normal stats.  It's still only mid-late-evening, say 9:00 - 9:30pm, if you want to go back to your earlier plans.  It's too early to visit Iwo via the secret passage, because there will be too much activity in the Pages' dorm.  You could manufacture a "message" that you need to carry to his room, but there's no guarantee he'll be there.  We can assume that you saw him at the dinner party when you carried food in there, and he very well might still be there.  OTOH, you're going to want some good, full nights' of sleep, since I'm sure you want to get those hit points back.

Urvan briefly considers trying to push himself into heading back out, but with everything that had gone on he decides to climb into bed early to catch up on some much needed rest.

He decides it will also not hurt his cover to be seen turning in early by the other Pages, given how much time he has spent on his own affairs over the last few days.

He decides that he will try to wake up early, or late rather in order to report in with Iwo if he can manage to avoid sleeping through the night.

I didn't know what to roll for the ability to wake up early intentionally, so I decided it was a survival roll.  It makes sense to me, anyway, and it's an under-used skill otherwise.  There's actually a trick to waking up early -- I guess I'll have Iwo tell you.
23:10, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 20 using 1d20+2.  Survival roll to wake up early.

Urvan drops into his bed and becomes completely unconscious, in a healing sleep, for about 6 hours.  When he awakes, his jaw, his head, and his muscles ache, but it is more the echo of the pain and not actually debilitating.  Only his fingers, where the rats bit him, still hurt.  They are turning red and are a little hot.

The boy slips out of bed and walks out into the central area between the two pages' dorms.  He slips into the closet and through the secret door, then waits to be sure he has not been observed.  Finally he makes his way to Iwo's room.  As usual, Iwo is at the door, ready, when he knocks lightly.

"Well, you've had a busy night," Iwo says, without any sort of greeting.  "I heard you came into the kitchen spitting blood, and with more blood on your knuckles."  He takes the boy's hands and inspects them.  "But I didn't hear about any fights among the pages.  I assume some of the soldiers outside?  By Mars, why were you fighting with them?"  He drags Urvan to a cupboard where he pulls out a salve to put on the rat bites.

After Urvan explains the circumstances, Iwo nods and smiles.  "Good, good.  This is how they make friends, and they are good friends to have.  Learn their names, bring them a bottle now and then, and they will be loyal and reliable.  You can take them stuff the winemaster is ready to throw away, they will love it.  Tell them you stole it, and they'll be even more grateful to you."

Urvan starts to report on his progress with the hounds, reading the book and learning so much, but Iwo waves him off.  "For this task, I do not want partial reports.  Let me know when you are ready."  The boy reports on the rats, and Iwo nods and murmurs something that sounds vaguely like, "good work."

Finally, Urvan proudly explains how to was able to wake himself up to come here in the middle of the night, but Iwo shakes his head.  "It worked this time, boy, but it is not reliable.  If you ever have to be sure to wake yourself up after a few hours sleep, drink a lot of water, as much as your belly will hold, before you lie down.  Your bladder will wake you up.  This works every time, as long as you aren't drunk.  If you're drunk, you'll just piss your bed."

Using this trick will get you +4 on the survival roll for that purpose only, AND it will allow you to take a 10, so it will be guaranteed unless you need quarter-hour precision.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:41, Thu 07 Apr 2022.

Urvan had come to Iwo nearly brimming over with pride at having bested a grown man, a solider, with his bare hands. His Father would have been proud, he knew it in his heart, but Iwo was nearly all he had now and he had hoped on some subconscious level for paternal approval.

But the older man almost seems to take it in stride, he had rolled right in on how to capitalize on the victory without pausing to mark the victory itself. This makes Urvan feel like he is missing something, like Iwo iss really several turns ahead in the chessboard of their life at the Palace.

These thoughts occupy his mind, and in doing so keep him from speaking very much in turn. He nods along and looks pensive as Iwo dresses his wounds, trying to absorb it all, trying to grasp the bigger picture.

The trick about waking up early though, that's a useful one...

"Really?" he asks, looking up at the man with a curious expression. "I don't think I ever would have thought of that."

His wounds dressed, his report delivered, Urvan thanks Iwo for looking after his bites and promises to report in when the task with Leila and the Appolo Hounds in done before he takes his leave.

Urvan plans to return to the Pages quarters and to get some sleep. He knows what the hounds eat and when they are fed, and he knows roughly which building the boy who works in the kennels lives in. The next phase of his plan is to find out which room in particular the boy resides, and then to steal some of his clothing to mask his own scent. With the boys clothing and some similar food from the kitchen, he feels that he would be ready to try out his first contact with getting into the kennels themselves to find Leila.

Urvan makes his way back to the dorm and sleeps the rest of the night.  The following morning, he and Gerro have matching bruised faces.  The younger boy keeps asking what happened, but Urvan ...  (Please fill in, here.)

After a couple hours of very visibly doing page duty, Urvan takes a break to investigate the building where he saw the dog boy enter.  The door is locked.  Moving around the building to the east, he sees a couple of windows that look like they have a fairly sheer curtain over them.  If he gets up close, he could probably peer through them.

Urvan simply shrugs when asked about his bruises, his laconic nature lending a certain consistency to the gesture in his own mind. He wonders if some of the pages will put two and two together if the soldier he had fought with the night before is still present on the Palace grounds, but he does not give it a lot of thought.

He checks the bites on his fingers a few times throughout the morning, worried perhaps that the infection might take hold.

Later in the day, after he has participated in the exercises, mucked the stables, cleaned saddles, tack and taken some damaged sparing equipment to the smithy, Urvan finds the time to sneak over to check on the presumed domicile of the Kennels boy.

Discreetly, he peeks in, trying to peer past the gauzy covering to get a look at what lay beyond.

21:04, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  Perception: See through window covering.

Well, here I am, up at 5:00 am on a Sunday because I've been coughing my lungs out.  I might as well check in on my game.
The roll I was looking for was stealth, not perception, but since you have the same ability in both, I'll just use that one.

I'm not sure how perception is supposed to work when you are sneaking up on multiple people.  I'm thinking that they each get a roll, but they also get a penalty because there are two of them so they hear each other and aren't really listening for anything outside.

05:20, Today: Zag, for the NPC Lady Stilwell, rolled 16,12 using d20+1,d20+3.  Lady Stilwell, Sir Stilwell, perception.

Urvan, moving silently along the side of the building, approaches the window and hears voices over the slight breeze that makes the curtains wave.  A woman says, "I'm going to head back over.  The bitch is showing nesting behavior already, which is a little early, I think.  I'm going to try to calm her down."

As the boy reaches the window, a man replies, "OK.  I'm fine here.  Send Radgel back if you don't need him.  Anyway, Carm will be by in a bit if I need anything."  Urvan peeks in and can see the man is sitting in a padded chair, a blanket over his lap.  There are crutches leaning against the chair where he could reach them.  The woman walks out the door that Urvan was standing beside only moments ago.  The man picks up some pipes and starts playing them.  The tune is barely recognizable, but he is not very good.

Urvan pulls back when it becomes evident that he would likely not see or hear anything more from the older man, and his mind goes to work mulling over what he has just learned.

He had two names now, Radgel and Carm. Are they all related? Do they all reside here together? Does the older crippled man ever leave? And if so how often?

Where do the younger ones sleep? And how often do they do their washing? All of these thoughts and others flit through his mind.

What he does know is that Carm is expected back soon, he can at least put a name to a face. Perhaps he might learn something more.

Urvan spots for a safer, more distant location to watch Carm's approach, content for now to simply identify who is who and to learn more about this building, the people that live within it and their habits.

14:27, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 5 using 1d20.  Luck roll.  You need an 18 for stupid luck
If it was 18+, you would have recognized the visitor from your adventure last night.

BTW, I meant to mention this before, but while cleaning tack is an appropriate task for you, at least tack of one of the knights, mucking out stalls is not.  There are stableboys for that, and they are not members of the nobility (as most pages are, and as you are pretending to be).  The fact that Lady Stilwell told you to clean up poop a couple of nights ago was intended to say something about her and her disdain for lads who seem to be loafing.

Urvan sets up one of the knight's tack on the trestle and pulls the trestle out into the sun, where he also will be able to watch the building.  After almost an hour, a soldier walks up to the door, knocks, and walks in.

The plot thickens as Urvan rubs a bit of soap onto the old and well worn leather, scrubbing at the saddle and occasionally glancing up to geta look at the soldier.

A white family then? Lady Stillwell, a husband or father that seems home bound, an older son and a younger son? It was his first guess, but the presence of a fit, armed man in the home had the potential to alter his plans.

Urvan notes the time with a glance to the sun and wonders if the soldier will leave before anybody else decides to come along. With only the crippled older man in the home, it could be an opportune chance to get in and out without anybody being the wiser.

After about half an hour, the soldier leaves again.  No one else has come by.

Just before noon on Hermes Day (Wednesday)

There comes a time when an actor must be bold.

Urvan could only learn so much by observation, and although he would not consider it himself his skillsets lent themselves more towards the physical than the social. He was just as likely to give himself away and to draw suspicion talking to people as he was to learn anything valuable.

Evening guaranteed than everybody would be together, sleeping, and would not help his goal, stealing clothing items to mask his scent.

So, with only the older man at home, Urvan decides to strike while the iron is hot and to try to enter the home for a very brief raid, to find some used clothing from the boy or Lady Stilwell, and to retire. Ideally less than a minute at risk.

Steeling himself, and leaving the saddle on its rack as an excuse should he be caught, Urvan endeavors to sneak into the home, casting a wary look around himself before approaching and trying the front door.

10:04, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  Stealth.

I guess I'm not sure what you're hoping will happen, here.  He is sitting in the room that the door opens into, so there will be a penalty of -10 stealth to get by him.  Also, I realize that I should have given you a better description of the room:  you would have seen that there is a door into another room.  So I'm just going to assume you went to look there.

Urvan walks up to the apartment where the dog family lives and considers his options.  Visualizing the quick glance he saw through the window, he remembers that there was a door to another room.  Perhaps that room also has a window.  Walking without a sound around the east end of the building, he glances in the window and sees the old man, who is sitting in his chair and fingering his pipes as if he were playing, but not playing them.

With a shrug, the lad continues to the next window to see closed shutters.  He briefly laments his lack of lock-picking skills like Gerro seems to have acquired.  After all, I'm supposed to be training in skullduggery.  I should learn this.  However, he realizes that the shutters are only closed with a simple latch to keep them from blowing in the wind.  Reaching up under them, he easily undoes the latch and quietly opens them to see a bedroom, incredibly neat, with the bed made perfectly and everything in its place.  Climbing in, he looks for any clothes of the boy's that he might take.



Besides the bed, which is designed to accommodate two people, there is a chest of drawers, a wicker basket with a wicker lid, a nightstand with a bowl and a ewer beside it, and a chamberpot under the bed.  On the wall is a display with military honors, including a major's insignia, and a sword rack holding a quality sabre.  Beside that is a rack with two towels that are hanging perfectly squared up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:28, Tue 12 Apr 2022.

Urvan is mildly surprised at the military display and honors, taking a very brief moment to appreciate the elegance of the arrangement before he is again moving, checking the wicker basket first and foremost for any sign of the worn garments he is after.

In the wicker basket is the outfit that Lady Stilwell was wearing the other night, plus some man's clothes and some smallclothes.  With little experience in them, he isn't sure how to tell men's smallclothes from women's.  He doesn't see anything that looks small enough to fit the boy.

Urvan, his heart racing at prospect of being caught, and the punishment that would surely follow, takes what he can while he can. Lady Stilwell's outfit is the real prize, but he takes a few of the small clothes as well, wraps them all in the largest article of clothing and closes the bin in a fashion that would hopefully not invite inspection.

From what he has read, Apollo's and dogs in general rely heavily upon scent. With the odors of their master, their "Alpha" in his possession, he dearly hoped that they would be more hesitant to challenge or even attack him. They were bred and trained for protection and war after all.

With his bundle he carefully tries leave the way he came, intending to close the window as he had found it and then to take his prize back over to the tack, where he could camouflage it in a  bucket to take back to his room.

With the clothing in hand, that would leave only the task of obtaining the specific food before he would feel comfortable attempting a first meeting.

Later that day...

Fearing that the scent of his purloined items would wear off before he could put them to use, Urvan resolves to begin gathering some of the food items he had seen the boy from the Kennels requisition the other day.

Thankfully he does not need such vast quantities, just enough to further distract and confused the Kennels residents.

And if he can lay his hands on a bottle of alcohol while he is at it, a present for the soldiers he had met before, all the better.

Urvan again makes a habit of hanging around the kitchens later in the day, trying to get an eye on what sort of security measures they keep in place to prevent people from pilfering the pantry at all hours of the day and night.

Pages have an odd status.  Officially they are "workers" in the palace, but most of them are really members of the noble class, so members of the servant class would be afraid to stand up to them unnecessarily.  Therefore, they do get some special privileges in the kitchen, as long as it isn't abused.  Also, you could always say that you were sent by some noble, but there's a risk that the kitchen will just deliver it themselves.  (... which they might do, if they suspect you are lying.)

21:49, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 20 using 1d20.  Luck for an unwatched bottle of alcohol.
Well, damn!

Urvan heads into the kitchen, where dinner preparations are just getting started.  The same assistant cook who gave the boy a late night snack the previous evening is in charge.  He gives Urvan a look, and asks, "hungry again?"  To the boy's nod, the man tips his head towards the nook where the kitchen staff usually eat.  "There's some of yesterday's bread, and a few sausages left from breakfast.  Help yourself.  Don't use any mustard, though, I'm running low."  He fixes a stare to show he is serious.

Urvan arrives at the indicated table to find two partial loaves of bread, three big sausages, some fried potatoes, and probably four eggs worth of cold, scrambled eggs.  In addition, lined up against the wall behind them are a dozen or so half-drunk bottles of wine, obviously left from the party the night before.

A little after noon on Hermes Day (Wednesday)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Thu 14 Apr 2022.

Urvan, feeling quite fortunate in finding the bottles from yesterday, helps himself to the food. He eats a little himself, but the majority he plans to save, wrapping the whole in some cheese cloth and coming away with the bottle of wine which he tucks discreetly under the bundle as he retreats towards his room.

Now what the clothing and the food, he feels ready to enter the Kennels themselves that evening, and begins to prepare for his late night venture.

Knowing that he will probably be out quite late, Urvan decides to use the rest of the afternoon to get ahead on his chores, worrying that he will being a sorry state in the morning, with his lack of sleep coupled with his blackening bruises from the night before.

Plan is to hide the food and wine, to get ahead on his chores, and then if he has any free time before bed to check in with Gerro to see how the younger Page is doing.

Late in the evening/early morning, he will take the wine to the soldier's if they are around, and then proceed to the Kennel with Lady Stillwell's clothing and the food to decide on a means of entry

It's a slow day for the pages.  Many people are sleeping off the previous night's partying, and few are sending gifts or messages.  Urvan runs into Gerro, who is hanging around the knights' practice room, and the younger page excitedly tells Urvan about Father Gratham's loud complaints of vermin in his room.  Two of the cleaning women were in there, scrubbing it down, with Missus Whaite standing watch over them the entire time.  He said that the mood among the chambermaids was joyous, in spite of all the yelling and blame.

Later that evening, Urvan collects his things and heads out first to the barracks area where he met the soldiers the previous night.  As before, there are a group of them standing around a small fire and drinking.  The night is warm, so there is no need for a fire other than the light and the camaraderie.  As he approaches, a few of them call out, "Whoa!  Look out, it's the killer page."  Several hold their hands up like a man pretending to be afraid of a boy, but a few others are just quiet and nod a greeting.

When Urvan pulls out the bottle of wine, the tone changes.  "Oh!  Wha'd'ya bring us, boyo?" and "Now that's a fine gift, lad."  Urvan receives at least one of the spine-crunching friendly slaps on the back.  It occurs to him that most of these men wear armor, so a slap on the back is probably a lot less painful for them.

I'll pause here, in case you want to do anything special giving it out.  Both Caiaphas and the man who invited you to come drink are there.  The latter is not (yet) as drunk as he was last night because it is earlier than you were out previously.

Evening on Hermes Day (Wednesday)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Sun 17 Apr 2022.

Urvan rocks on his feet a little with the blow and manages to hide his pained wince, mostly.

He hands the bottle to Caiaphas directly, a bit of the strange comradery that can come over men after they had been in a fight, and knowing that the man is probably even more sore than Urvan.

"Just a little something that was lying around." He plays off the gift casually.

The boy tries to blend in, obviously out of place given his age and current position in the Palace, but easy enough to understand as young boys often try to find a sort of belonging in the presence of older men, especially men at work.

Eventually a question comes to his mind. "Is it hard to stay up all night?" He asks the group in general. "Are there any tricks to not falling asleep?"

Caiaphas thanks the lad, and takes a pull that drains a good third of the bottle.  It is passed around and many of the men thank Urvan for the bottle and comment on how good it is.  "Foine wine like the fancy men drink," says one, which starts up a round of them imitating a noble accent and effete mannerisms.  Everyone laughs, including Urvan, and the boy is starting to understand the fellowship of such rough men.

When Urvan asks about staying awake through a watch, two different men show the stripes on their backs.  "You get a couple of these and it's easier to remember to stay awake."  Lots of men offer advice: tricks like holding your arm out straight, pacing back and forth, singing quietly, counting animals that you see, etc.

After some time (how much?) Urvan moves on, planning to head to the kennels.

What's your path there?  http://zag.net/Pathfinder/Ellada/palace.png  Are you going around the outside of the stables or not?  You're currently at R -10.  The doors to the kennels (that you know of) are in the two north-facing walls, one inside the fenced area, one outside.

Urvan spends about thirty minutes or so chatting with the soldiers before taking his leave and making his way around, taking the long way to avoid moving directly in that direction from the guards then following the perimeter wall in towards the fence.

As he nears he gets his food and clothing ready, hoping that the doors themselves should be unlocked. Urvan wonders at the sort of person that would voluntarily break in to a building housing Apollo hounds, and realizes to his chagrin that he is about to do just that.

It seems remarkably dangerous, but he is not about to let Iwo down on his very first mission.

10:19, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 13 using 1d20+6.  passive stealth.

The moon is about half, providing a fair bit of light, but Urvan walks around the paddock in the shadow of the outer wall and is not challenged.  As he approaches the kennel he sees, near the closest corner of the building, a knee-high mound which turns out to be a pile of dog waste.  Stepping carefully around it, he notices a small door into the kennel just beyond it.  The door is clearly latched or locked from the inside because there is nothing but a fixed handle on this side.

Urvan continues around the kennel.  Along the back are four windows, but all have bars over them.  Because of the nice weather, the shutters are all open, and Urvan can smell the warm and friendly odor of dog wafting out.  Inside, the dogs are in separate cages; most are sleeping and a few are licking themselves or just looking around.  There are 8 dogs that he can see from the first window, and probably more that he can't see.  None of them seem to have noticed him, yet.

The bars look like they are more designed to prevent dogs escaping than to prevent intruders entering, but they serve the same purpose.  Maybe with a tool he could break them, but then he'd have no way to fix them, so he continues around the building.  On the east side of the kennel are two more windows, with the same bars on them.  Counting the dogs from all angles, he is pretty sure that there are a total of 14 dogs.  Finally reaching the door, the lad finds it locked, with a locking mechanism similar to the ones on the rooms inside.

The wall around the dog run is 8 feet high, made with upright poles spaced only 3 inches apart, all nailed on to horizontal poles, one close the ground, one near the top, and two others evenly spaced.  You'd have to pry out three of them to squeeze through, and you'd be able to replace it well enough.  Or you could climb over with a climbing roll against DC14.  If you fail you might alarm the dogs.  They've been quiet so far.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:48, Wed 20 Apr 2022.

Urvan couldn't pick locks, and he was not going to try to rip the bars off the windows, which left climbing.

Urvan was actually pretty decent at tree climbing, but he had never climbed a wall before. He manages to get a foot hold and to haul himself up a little, but about a foot short of the top he overreaches and comes back a little hard, stumbling a few steps back without falling entirely, his fingers smarting a bit.

He winces, wondering if it would be enough to rouse the hounds within.

17:11, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 13 using 1d20+7.  Climb, DC 14.

Since you only barely missed, I'll make it a pretty high roll for them to hear you.
20:11, Today: Zag rolled 7 using 1d20.  Dogs' perception v DC16.

Urvan lands as softly as he can, then freezes.  After holding his breath for 30 seconds, he realizes that the dogs are not going to start barking.  Nothing for it but to try again.

You learned a bit, so now it's only DC 13. 

Urvan waits, eyes clenched shut, waiting for the barking to start...

But doesn't come...

Perhaps spurred by how close he had just come to ruining his first attempt, the boy takes his time and deftly scales the fence, limbs reaching and pushing with raw strength to pull him up and over before he hauls himself half way down the other side and drops into the kennel interior.

Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 18 using 1d20+7.  Climbing, second attempt.

I actually rolled these a while ago, but then realized you needed more steps before you got here.

21:39, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 11,21 using d20+6,d20+1.  Perception, Handle Animal.
Oops
21:42, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 18,12 using d20,d20+1.  Luck, 2nd handle animal
if you can't be skilled, be lucky.

Urvan is relieved to find that the inner door is not locked, only latched.  He pulls the door gently open, slips in, and just as he is closing the door the barking begins.  Within seconds, all 14 dogs are barking.  He reasons, At least I got the door shut before it started, so if it makes anyone glance this way no one will see me and send investigators immediately.

The boy quickly walks through the building, around two big treatment tables and a huge sink which must be where they wash the animals, looking for an obviously pregnant female.  He holds the purloined clothes ahead of him, hoping that the familiar scent will calm the dogs.  It actually seems to work for a couple of them as they stop barking enough to come to the edges of their cages to sniff.

He approaches one large dog, thinking that she might be the one.  "Leila?" he calls out, but she doesn't stop in her barking and doesn't seem to react to the name.  "Shhhh.  Good girl, good girl," he says soothingly and she seems to calm a bit.  He holds out some of the greasy sausage and she stops barking to come sniff the tasty morsel.  She backs away again as he moves closer, but still seems quite interested.  Remembering advice from the book, he tosses her a small piece but keeps the larger piece in sight, talking all the while.  Finally she comes forward enough to snatch the piece and then retreats to the back of the cage to enjoy it.

Well, I think that was the right bitch, but I should be sure.  Moving towards the back of the kennel, checking every animal, he sees several that are larger than the one he gave food to, but they are all male.  The last one he checks, at the furthest corner from the door, is another large female who also seems to be carrying more weight than normal.  This one seems very nervous, and her barking intensifies as he approaches, getting the rest of the dogs all barking once again at maximum.  He does his best with the calm voice and the sausage, but he is not able even to bring this dog to the front of her cage for a sniff.

It's been a few minutes and the dogs are still barking.  Someone will come eventually, but it is hard to know how long it will be.  You can try again and/or do something else in here, and then tell me how you plan to leave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:21, Thu 21 Apr 2022.

With all the barking it's hard to concentrate, these are big dogs with big lungs and each bark echoes loudly, almost painfully in the enclosed space.

But Urvan does think back, remembering something about how mother's retreat to their dens when heavily pregnant and rely upon the male to hunt. That makes sense to Urvan, hard to chase down deer with a swollen belly and huge teats.

But he can't just leave the food and go, can he? Or maybe he can...chalk this visit up as a success and then try again another day?

He remembers that the other dogs barked when being fed normally. Perhaps this would simply take time.

Urvan takes the majority of his purloined food and sets it between the bars of the females cage, then pushes it forward and waits, for maybe fifteen seconds or so, knowing that she can smell him well even from this distance.

"Here you go girl, need to keep up your strength." He encourages her, then, he decides to take one good look around at the interior before he departs back the way he had come.

But oh, were it that easy...

20:28, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  Climbing: Exit Kennels.

20:28, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 10 using 1d20+7.  Climbing: Exit Kennels.

20:21, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 8 using 1d20+1.  Handle Animal, Interact w/ Dog, No Modifiers.

Urvan slips back out the door and starts to climb the fence.  He realizes that it is quite a bit easier from the inside, because the horizontal bars almost act as a ladder.  Of course, this makes him overconfident and he misses his grab at the top and tumbles back down with a thud.  To his horror, he is sitting on his butt looking through the slats of the fence at Lady Stilwell and her son Radgel, walking towards the kennel.  He can't make out what they are saying, but the boy is holding his hands out in front of himself in a gesture that indicates something that was about two feet wide, as if that would be huge for whatever he is talking about, and the lady looks at him and laughs.

The sight of Lady Stilwell was enough to spur the boy to a last desperate effort, the prospect of being caught within the kennels like one of the dogs themselves being too much to bear.

The boy got to his feat, wiped his dirty hands on his tunic, and then hurled himself at the wall. Through sheer strength and desperation, he fights through the pain to haul himself over before he lands, a little louder than he intended, and is off, his heart pounding as he moves off in the opposite direction to the woman and the boy that accompanies her.

22:03, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 9 using 1d20+6.  Stealth: Escape.

22:03, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 20 using 1d20+7.  Climbing, third attempt.

07:17, Today: Zag, for the NPC Lady Stilwell, rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  perception
LOL.  I started to write up the below, but then decided I should roll her perception
07:22, Today: Zag, for the NPC Radgel, rolled 12 using 1d20+1.  perception

Urvan's sudden movement catches the attention of Lady Stilwell and she cries out, "Hey!  You there!  Stop!" but


Urvan leaps over the fence, almost in a bound, and runs away with a blazing speed.  He hears the boy say, "What was ...?" but then he trails off, or maybe the throbbing in Urvan's ears drowns it out.  In either case, there are few who could match his speed and the lad gets away cleanly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:53, Fri 22 Apr 2022.

Urvan returns to the pages' quarters, where Gerro is waiting for him.  "Have you heard the uproar that bastard Gratham has been making?  He claims that rats have infested the whole palace, and that he will bring the wrath of Hera down on the entire Lexagenol family, and that he speaks for Ceres and even Zeus, as well!  I guess one of them bit him on the bum or something."  He laughs with just a hint of hysteria.  "Anyway, I guess Zaan found him some nicer rooms -- way above his station, I'm sure.  Should we plant some more rats in that one, do you think?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:17, Sat 09 July 2022.

Urvan could not help to suppress the subtle glow of satisfaction at the news, but he shook his head. "No, no I don't think so." he left it at that, nodded to the other young man, and went to lay down for a short time.

The girl, the girls he was sure, were avenged in some small way for a time, Iwo would hopefully be pleased, but his goal of taming the pregnant Apolla hound was proceeding more slowly than he would have liked.

Still, there was time, and he had made good progress. If he was diligent and worked hard, he was hopefully he could befriend her and at least one of her pups before the aging Spymaster decided that his time would be better spent elsewhere.

He fell to thinking about his daily ebbs and flows of the people in the Castle, and when he might make his next attempt. It would have to be soon, even after his pyrrhic victory during his last excursion. The days were passing, and he would still need time even after she had come to tolerate his presence to consider the litter.

22:44, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 27 using 1d20+7.  Climb
22:48, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 19,10 using d20+1,d20+1.  Two Handle Animal rolls

That night Urvan returns to the kennel.  He uses the same technique to enter: climbing the fence and entering through the interior door.  He practically leaps over the fence with no trouble on this night, but he knows that this approach is bound to get him caught eventually.  He is just too obvious climbing, and he will need to find another approach.

His entry causes the same cacophony as the previous night, but he knows he'll have a few minutes before anyone comes to check.  He approaches the two dogs that he identified as the only candidates to be Leila, holding out the Handler's clothing in one hand and a sausage in the other.  The first greets him and takes the treat from his hand, but the second is still too skittish.  I wish I could be sure which is the right one, and I really hope its THAT one, he thinks.

Frustrated, Urvan wonders how the handlers themselves come to know the hounds so well that they do not need collars with their names, or placards over their cages.

All Urvan knows for certain is that Leila is the largest, but that's difficult to tell for certain in the dark.

On a hunch, Urvan hisses a whisper. "Leila!" And watches both of the animals, especially their ears, for a reaction.

The experiment is inconclusive.  The first hound was watching him the whole time, and maybe she does look a little more interested when he says the name, and maybe she's just hoping for another piece of sausage.  The other doesn't seem to react, particularly, just acting afraid of him the whole time.

Concious of the time bleeding away and the racket of the Hounds, Urvan once again cuts his losses l, gives the more amicable dog a scratch behind the ears and moves to leave the kennel, this time by way of the front door, and the young man looks it over as he goes for any means of an easy point of entry due jg his next visit.

Urvan looks at the points of egress available.  There are the windows, each with shutters that latch with a simple hook and eye holding them closed.  He tries to figure out if he could open one from outside, maybe by sliding a knife in somehow, but the shutters fit too snugly, with an overlap to prevent anything sliding in.  There is the back door, with just a simple latch that is manipulated from the inside.  That, also, he doesn't see how he could unlock from the outside.  Finally, the front door has a real lock, that is locked and unlocked with a key.  He puzzles over how he would be able to relock it once he is outside, but he figures out that if he closes the door with the lock halfway locked, then it will complete when he shuts it.

You can get away cleanly, tonight, and then we can just progress to tomorrow, but I'll pause here if you want to do anything else before you leave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:57, Mon 11 July 2022.

Satisfied for now with the latch on the door, Urvan stole away back into the night before the handlers came back to investigate.

If there was some small consolation, all this back and forth and waking up in the middle of the night might be making the Kennel staff complacent. He could hope in any case.

For now, it was back to bed, and a well earned night's sleep.

I updated the above message to make it clear that the windows are just openings, but they have shutters over them which close and latch.  Glass windows do exist, but they are a luxury that wouldn't be wasted on a kennel.

The next morning Urvan is awakened by an excited Gerro.  There's going to be a cool demonstration today of the eagles from Zeus' aerie.  We want to get checked in and get a couple hours work on our records before lunch so that we can go watch them.  From the excited boy's chatter, Urvan learns that the temple is built on the last flat ground before the rise of Olympus and that the aerie is built into the side of the mountain just behind the temple.  It houses the huge birds that are the favorite of Zeus, and these special ones are trained by His priests.  They will be coming today at the request of the visitors from Crete to give a demonstration of the birds' prowess.

Thanks to Gerro's planning ... (How does the boy always know what's going on?) ... the two get in their required hours and are able to take time off to watch the eagles.  Urvan considers how very cool it would be to work with such beautiful, graceful, and deadly animals.  The demonstration includes several war-worthy skills.  First, they show the birds hunting for rabbits and bringing them back to their handler, which would enable a scout to focus on his duties and not have to worry about catching his own food.  The eagles then are shown intercepting some homing pigeons, which would cut the enemy's communication.  Finally, in a simulated battle, the birds fly at the enemies' faces, forcing the opposing soldiers to raise their shields or risk losing an eye.  The Olympian soldiers are then able to score easy hits under the shields, which would be deadly if this were a real battle.

That night, Urvan again goes to visit the dogs.  As he is approaching the kennel from behind, getting ready to climb the fence, he hears from above and behind him, "Oy! 'O is that, there?"  One of the guards on the wall is looking down at him.  It would have been especially awkward if the guard had caught him climbing, but fortunately his is still just walking around the perimeter.

Urvan enjoyed the display of the Eagles prowess and the brief respite from his chores, which helped mark the day as a special one. Although he privately was already considering the advantages of one of the Apollo Hounds over the more slightly built Eagles, it was undeniably impressive.

He was in good spirits by the end of the day, and the call from the Guard only caused him a mild startle before he looked up. "It's Page Kron sir, from the Campfire." He reminded the sentry and craned his neck up to better show his face in the torchlight.

Urvan feels sudden alarm when he realizes that he has just said his real name and not his cover name, but he manages to keep his concern hidden.  This soldier probably won't remember, and he won't even think to repeat it.  It won't get anywhere.

"Oh, hey there.  Ye're the lad what knocked down Caiaphas.  Good on you, boy.  You be careful, now.  I heared that those horrid birds might still be about -- peck yer eyes clean out of yer face, they could."  He waves amiably and continues his route.

Urvan continues on his stroll, to make sure that soldier doesn't associate him with the kennel at all.  Once all is clear, he returns and again glides over the fence with no problem.  Entering to the usual barking, he tries to hush the dogs to no avail and quickly goes to visit the two pregnant bitches.  The first greets him with tail wagging, happy to take a treat and some neck rubs.  The second finally warms to his presence and is finally willing to accept a bit of the pork shoulder that Urvan pocketed at dinner.

12:19, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 23 using 1d20+7
12:18, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 19,17 using d20+1,d20+1.  Two Handle Animal rolls

Urvan's feeling of guilt and self chastisement persisted all during his walk, and he kicked himself over and over again for being so careless. He would need to be more careful, and the risk was still very near and very real to him.

The time with the dogs soothed him somewhat. It seemed that his persistence was paying off, when hunger and the need for companionship finally overwhelmed the other bitches hesitation at the newcomer.

He showed the dogs affection, his confidence now bolstered a bit as he scratched and petted, the poor things heavily encumbered by their pregnancies.

When it was time to go, he selected a window shutter that was not likely to be carefully inspected and set the latch just off center enough to permit him entry next time he came through, before he once again left through the self latching front door

He returned, wondering if he should report success or if he should wait until Leila had actually given birth.

He supposed he would still need to identify her, even if he had managed to earn some measure of trust from the two of them.

He decided to wait a little longer before reporting, as he recalled how Iwo disliked frequent visits, the man seeming busy all the time and no doubt with little time to spare for largely inconsequential news.

Disable Device is not supposed to be used untrained at all, but this is something anyone could figure out.  It'll be only DC 9, but I'm giving you -4 on the skill.
15:07, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 12 using 1d20-4.  Disable device (untrained)  DC 9
15:13, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 3 using 2d4.  days before someone notices latch.
15:09, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 13,14 using d20+1,d20+1
15:14, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 7,21 using d20+1,d20+1
15:14, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 8,5 using d20+1,d20+1


The following night, Urvan returns to the kennel and tries the window he left not fully latched.  To his pleasure, after a couple of pulls it pops open and he is able to climb in without the more risky climb over the fence.  Both of the bitches seem a little more nervous, perhaps because of his odd means of entry, but both finally accept his treats.

The night after that, he has a similar result with the window, but the first dog, the one he secretly thinks is Leila, is not excited to see him.  Is she starting to give birth, he wonders; then he sees that she has a bandage on her hind leg.  She was hurt somehow, and that's why she is skittish?  He leaves the food for her, and she does finally limp forward in her cage to take it, once he has backed away.  The second dog, oddly, is thumping her tail and seems overjoyed to see him.  He reaches through the cage and gives her a good scratch, and she seems very happy.

The following day is a busy one, with the delegation from Crete leaving, there are lots of message buzzing around the palace, as people make extra effort to solidify any friendships, real or imagined.  Twice he sees the young lady for whom he failed to procure a ribbon, and she seems not even to recognize him.

Finally the business of being a page winds down, and Urvan again travels out to the kennels.  The dogs are already barking, even before he climbs in, and both his visits to the pregnant bitches are unsuccessful.  He is wondering whether he should keep trying or just leave them to whatever is bothering them when the front door opens.  "Quiet down, you stupid dogs!  It's just that raccoon again.  It's probably already gone."  Urvan ducks behind the center table, but he can see the boy already looking around.

Just when he had been making real progress, it seemed that the Kennel staff was catching on.

Urvan fought back the sudden urge to bolt, to knock the boy down and to run, and instead he quietly knelt down and slipped beneath the table where he squatted like some kind of troll from a fairy tale.

If he could slowly creep about the table, and to keep the top between him and the boy, it might be possible that his cursory inspection could pass right over him in the dim light, or so the boy hoped.

So long as the dogs did not rat him out...

20:58, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  Stealth.

The boy searches through the kennel for, presumably, a raccoon that has been a persistent pest in the past.  He uses a directional lantern, making it easy to keep track of where he is looking.  Urvan takes care to keep some boxes between them until the boy finishes his search.  Fortunately, noise is not much of an issue, with several of the dogs still barking.  The boy shushes them and finally calms them, but it's not as if they are ever really silent.

Once satisfied that there are no raccoons left in the building, the boy approaches the large dog in the center of the room.    "Hey there, Leila, girl.  How's your leg?  Let me see.  Still hurts, does it?  Poor girl.  Well, I'll keep that nasty raccoon away, no more bites getting the taint in them."  He rubs her belly, "It won't be long, now, girl -- by Zeus, you're huge."

Before the lad leaves, he takes the time to check all the windows to make sure that the shutters are well latched, so he will likely be suspicious if one is unlocked the following morning.  Finally he leaves through the front door, and Urvan can hear the key turn in the lock.



This crisis point has helped you grow up considerably.  You are now second level in all but the added Ability Score Points that you will get as part of the new level.  These will require a bit of time exercising and/or studying.  Otherwise, though, level up the character, with skill points, BAB, etc.  Remember that you already got one skill point in advance.  You are welcome to stick with Monk, or you might want to add a level of rogue, for the skills and skill points.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:45, Tue 12 July 2022.

Urvan could feel his heart hammering as the young man searched the kennel interior, and then slowly he began to relax when it became apparent that he was giving up the chase.

Then, a feeling of joy surged within him as the young man called our Leila by name, which confirmed his suspicions and added a last piece to the puzzle tasked to him by Iwo.

He tried to be patient, to bide his time after the young man left, and then suspecting that nobody would return after so recent a visit, he approached Liela again with soft, kind words and attempted to give her some more attention.

He had won over a degree of trust with the great Apollo Hounds, and had avoided getting chased or bitten by them in the process. He had collected the materials to help to smooth the process, collected his information and now he had finally confirmed the identity of the particular dog that he was supposed to befriend.

Hopefully she would have her litter soon, the puppies would be blind and helpless for some time, and that would hopefully give him ample time for them to become accustomed to him.

Despite a few bumps, things were looking up.

With the windows out of the picture for awhile, Urvan did another sweep of the interior to look for future means of access before he left for the evening.

Sounds great, I will give it a little thought and will hopefully have him updated soon.

17:19, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 19 using 1d20+2.  Insight.

Urvan moves calmly and slowly, so as not to alarm the dogs into barking again.  Of course, they knew he was here the whole time, and to a dog's awareness, they assume that the boy did, as well.  He remembers from the book he read that the dogs' greatest sense is smell, so they are not limited by such foolishness as sight and sound to know who is nearby.

However, while he is considering the mechanics of it, he has a sudden realization.  He had been thinking that the "raccoon" the boy was concerned with was just himself, having riled up the dogs for several nights in a row.  However, something bit Leila on the leg, so there must have been an actual raccoon, and that animal got in somewhere.  Perhaps if he could find that hole, he could enlarge it enough that would accommodate himself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:31, Wed 13 July 2022.

Unable to grasp the mechanics of trying to pry his way into the latch, Urvan defaults to the more primitive method of trying to find a hole that he had widen out and slip under.

He may come home a bit dirty, but that was practically expected of Pages, and besides, he was so elated by his progress that he cared little for a little hard labor.

Continuing with Monk and opting for the Animal Companion Ability. It just ties in too well with his story to pass up.

08:19, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Handle Animal.
08:19, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 10 using 1d20+6.  Perception
Plus continuing from your previous Insight roll.

With the dogs calm, Urvan is able to take his time moving among them.  He suddenly understands how important his own demeanor is in their reaction to him -- he is calm, they are calm.  Even the other dogs that have not been receiving treats are no longer snarling or snapping at him; they've just accepted him as part of the kennel.  He spends several hours searching for how a raccoon could get in or out of the building, with no result.  Maybe it was getting in through the window that he left barely latched, but that seems hard to believe.

He returns to Leila who greets him more normally.  She accepts his treat and allows him to rub her huge belly, and he can see that the bandaged leg looks sore and swollen.  Looking at her leg, he wonders why a raccoon might have approached such a huge dog.  Even if such an animal is trying to get at the food, it is hard to believe that it would bite a dog unless it was cornered.  This is where the raccoon enters and exits the building -- it has to go past Leila!

Urvan unlatches her cage and sticks his entire head and shoulders in with her.  She could easily rip my throat out in this position.  She sniffs at him, her sniffing getting more aggressive as she gets near his pouch holding the treats.  After giving her the last of what he brought, he digs through her bedding and -- there it is! -- a hole in the wooden floor that clearly has been gnawed to make it larger.  The hole is right against the edge of her crate, so the raccoon has to squeeze past the wire mesh.  If she happened to be lying against the wall, it might be startled and take a bite at her.

Urvan pulls the crate out and looks disparagingly at the hole.  There is some sort of crawlspace under the building, which he probably can find access to, but he couldn't even fit his head through this tiny hole, never mind his whole body.  But maybe it will be enough to come and visit the girl, possibly even without all the barking.  Looking up, he sees the first gleam of sunlight in the windows, and he realizes that he has to leave.

Now run out of time, Urvan abandons the promising line of investigation, gives Leila one last scratch on the way out and slips out the door before he made sure that it was latched behind him.

He yawned as he made his way in a circuitous path back towards his room.

Soon, soon she would give birth, and perhaps he would get to know the new litter of pups in the coming days.

The next day is light for messages.  It is sparring day for the knights, so of course Gerro wants to be down there to watch all the action.  Urvan has to admit that there are times when fighting with weapons makes sense, since fighting an armored man without them can be hazardous.  But he sees opening for takedowns and throws that he knows armored men are especially vulnerable to, and he is frustrated that none of these knights take advantage of those opportunities.  Suddenly he is overwhelmed with how much he misses sparring with his father, or reading with his mother, or just enjoying the peace of the wilderness.  He has been so busy with his new life his old one now seems years in the past.

That night, and for several nights to follow, Urvan is able to visit Leila quietly by scooting into the crawlspace.  He is able to widen the hole enough to get his head and one arm through, though it cuts into his neck rather painfully.  He gives her treats and pets her.  She, in return, licks his face which is trapped from even leaning away.

After four nights of this routine, Urvan stops at the campfire with another bottle for his friends.  As he approaches the kennel, he can see light shining through the cracks in the shutters, enough that several lamps must be burning inside.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:22, Thu 14 July 2022.

After Urvan had spotted what he hoped was the first hints of Leila's birth, a little thrill of excitement ran through him

He elected to retreat a little and to mount the perimeter wall to perhaps overhear what was going on.

Do you mean that you are climbing up on the wall right there next to the kennel?  This is a difficult but not impossible climb (DC 20).  Or are you going to one of the towers where there are steps up, but you might have to convince one of the guards patrolling to let you up?  You could try bluff, diplomacy, or stealth to get past.  None of these will be terribly difficult rolls, since they aren't on their guard towards the compound.

Let's go with trying to sneak into the wall with the guards attention mostly focused outward.

11:37, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 13 using 1d20+7.  Stealth: Sneak on wall.

12:40, Today: Zag, for the NPC Guard, rolled 3 using 1d20-2.  Perception with -5 penalty

Urvan walks over to one of the towers and sees the guard dutifully watching outwards.  He thinks that it is one of the guards that he recognizes, but without a good look at the man's face he isn't sure.  Urvan decides just to slip past the man, which he does with no difficulty.

Perched on the wall just above the kennel, he realizes that the wind is a little stronger now that the wall no longer protects him, so he can't hear anything going on inside the kennel.  However the kennel's shutters do not seem to come quite to the top of the window, so this perch is perfect for getting a view into the building.  As he had hoped, he can see that the woman and the boy are standing next to Leila's cage where Leila is aggressively licking a brown wet blob that is certainly a puppy, and there are at least two more -- probably three or four -- lying next to her.

With a glance this way and that, Urvan got down on his belly and crept forward until he could see down I to the kennel below.

With the wind tugging at his hair, he smiled as he saw that his suspicions we're right and that Leila had given birth to her litter of pups.

He watched for a few minutes, not wanting to risk being come upon by a guard, and resolved to rest a little now and to return later when the commotion had died down.

Urvan heads back to the pages' dorm to catch a few hours, drinking enough water to wake himself up just before dawn.  Slipping back out there, he sees that the lights are still on, so there isn't really any opportunity to interact with the animals.  He heads back to bed.

When he finally wakes up, he gets dressed and goes to put on his sandals, and he finds a tiny roll of paper tucked into the buckle.  It reads, Find something to be busy at between stables and kennel just after lunch.

Eager for whatever Iwo has planned, Urvan grabs a quick lunch and then heads out towards the kennel.  Just outside the stables is a fancy carriage trimmed in red and yellow.  One man in Lexagonal livery, the same red and yellow, is sitting in the seat and another is standing by the harness, obviously preparing it for horses that will soon be emerging.

Urvan, eager for what promised to be an exciting day, planned ahead and set about returning a set of bits and bridles that he had taken earlier in the day.

With one hand full of equestrian accessories, he turned the corner to behold the stunning carriage parked just outside.

The young man slowed, not quite sure what to make of the carriage and the driver, so he approached slowly as to not disturb whatever was going on, but still clearly intent on returning the equipment.

Urvan brings the equipment into the tack room where he "borrowed" it from earlier.  He can't quite see the kennel door from inside the tack room, so he hurriedly puts a couple of things away, then peeks out to watch open area near the kennels, then puts another few items away.  Once he is done, he heads out following a groomsman leading a beautiful, jet black carriage horse.  He stands to the side to admire the magnificent animal and to watch the process of attaching the harness.  After another minute, the groomsman brings out a second horse, nearly a twin of the first, and the liveried man starts attaching this one, as well.

Just then, Iwo Behyd steps out of the kennel entrance.  He calls out, pointing at Urvan, "You there, page boy."  He turns back into the kennel without even giving instructions, since anyone calling a page boy just assumes they will come running when called.  Urvan runs and opens the kennel door, his heart racing.  As usual, the dogs start their raucous barking when anyone enters.  Inside the kennel are Iwo and Lady Stilwell, of course.  However Urvan is surprised to see not only Davin Chesterson, the Lord Regent, but also Queen Shenea herself!  He has seen her several times, but never so close.  He kneels as he has been taught, then rises and stands to the side.

Obviously, he has entered into some conversation.  No one even acknowledges his presence, so he stands off to the side, as if waiting for a message to be prepared.

"No," says Lady Stilwell, "this is not a fair wager.  I'm sure you have some trick prepared, Iwo.  You've probably been sneaking in here visiting the hounds until they are familiar with your scent."

Iwo makes a show of mock outrage.  "I am hurt -- deeply hurt -- that you think I would pull such a trick on you.  I say that these hounds have been too coddled, that they will let anyone approach them."  He pauses, then sighs, "Fine.  If you say I'm not a fair test, we'll find another.  This page, here -- he can do it."  He turns to Urvan, "Boy, what is your name?"

Urvan is a little startled to be suddenly the focus of attention when he was wondering if they had forgotten him.  "Urvan, sir."  Remembering his earlier mistake, he completes, "Urvan of Tamecia, my lord."

"Very good, Urvan.  Do you like dogs, boy?  And are you a brave lad?"

Urvan, being a somewhat introverted and reclusive young man, was on the verge of being overawed by being in the presence of such August personages as Queen Shenea herself and members of her entourage.

Somewhat shyly, he approached at Iwo's behest after having knelt and given his supplication, obviously uncertain as to why he was being brought forth and what might be asked of him.

The nature of his ruse soon became more clear, and after a glance to the floor and feeling very exposed, he nodded modestly.

"Yes my lord, I do like dogs very much." he answered quitely, and honestly, and then after a moment. "As brave as the next boy I suppose, sir " he answered somewhat laconically.

"Very good, very good," says Iwo Beyhd.  "What I want you to do is to approach this dog and stroke her gently to calm her.  Then, very slowly, take one of the pups and bring it out here.  If she tries to bite at you, then the Lady Stillwell will win the wager.  You don't have to actually let her bite you, you can pull away before that happens."

The queen speaks up, "Wait.  What is in it for the boy?"  She looks at him carefully, "You said you are from Tamecia, so you must be ..." she pauses, working through a mnemonic of some sort, "Brogovan's son, yes?"  She considers, barely waiting for Urvan's nod.  "So you're a Spartan, then, of the warrior caste.  If you succeed at this, it will show that you are blessed by Apollo, and you deserve to have one of these war hounds by your side.  Will you accept that as your reward for this deed?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:31, Thu 21 July 2022.

Urvan was struck by the notion that somehow, likely through days if not weeks of preparation, he had some how worked his way into a position to where the Queen herself was willing to give away such a valuable animal to a boy that he didn't even know.

That's not to say that he was not grateful, he was thrilled by just the chance, and in being in the presence of her Majesty, but the plans within plans, the complexity of it all was something that he felt that he could only barely grasp at. Now he was just a player in Iwo's game, but some day? who knew?

He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice, to maintain some degree of stocism, but it was difficult. He squared his shoulders a little and raised his head about an inch or so before he nodded. "I would your Magesty, and gratefully, if I manage the task."

Even after his many visits to Leila, she was still a huge and dangerous animal. With vulnerable pups nuzzling blindly at her teats, would she still tolerate him? Much less allow him to take one of the pups from her side?

They were about to find out.

After the Queens indication, and with a glance to Iwo, he turned and approached the huge hound slowly, and offered her his hand to smell. Despite his best efforts it was trembling very slightly.

Then, when she seemed to grow bored of his overtures, he cautiously worked his way around, knelt down, and wrapped his hands around the middle of the largest pup before he gently began to pull it away.

As Urvan approaches the dog, she stares at him and her tail begins to thump furiously.  He puts his hands through the bars of the cage and she starts to lick his hand, searching for the treat.  Iwo chuckles and Queen Shenea gasps, "You are indeed favored of Apollo.  This hound greets you as a beloved master."

Urvan realizes that he had planned poorly, as it is a tight fit to get the pup out through the bars.  He shifts the thing so it is resting in along his hand, and he carefully draws out his arm.  Bringing the animal out carefully, he again cradles it in both hands, flipping it over to see the tiny bit of umbilical cord and to check its gender.  (This is your choice.)  Presenting it to Queen Shenea, he proudly announces the dog's name.

Urvan turned the pup over in his arm and saw that it was male, it's bare pinkish belly already swollen with milk.

Like most of its breed, it was a tan color with white markings about the chest and feet, but aside from being bigger than its siblings, it's fur seemed a little longer, and was matted to it's body by the birth and it's mothers tongue.

The fur, hung lank and wet about the muzzle and like a beard, made him think of an illustration he had seen in one of his mother's books, a personification of the seasons and the Gods that ruled over each portion of the year.

Holding the hefty pup up to the Queen as it thrashed and whined, his satisfaction was evident in his eyes, even if his expression remained serious.

Urvan knew then what he would call the pup.

"With your blessing your Majesty, I shall name him Boreas." He suggested as he averted his eyes, and then presented the animal for her inspection.