Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #15 on Mar 6, 2009, 7:45pm »
Teregash flexes his fingers around the haft of his axe. 200 kaitars seems fine to him, and anyway he didn't understand much of anything that was just said. So long as he gets the chance to kill, and blood can flow for Chiteng, it doesn't matter in any case.
"Whatever my comrades decide," he says to the Salarvyani in his thickly accented Tsolyani. "We will put an end to your rats."
Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 51 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Karma: 0
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #16 on Mar 6, 2009, 8:50pm »
"Noble Hritsekkash hiFshur, I doubt not the wisdom of your ancestors. What I would respectfully ask though is how much time has passed since this warehouse saw maintenance? Stone and cement, particularly this near the river, fails with time. Have the spells and glyphs been maintained?"
Looking at the dilapidated state of the building, the answer seems clear, but he wants to hear it from the man's lips.
Haida Pakalan Wildly-handsome 6' tall 180 pound sorcerer of Mretten, now Avanthe. Aside from a dagger, light blue thessun gauze robes appropriate to the heat, and a sack of possessions, he has nothing. His lack of clan insignia is noteworthy.
Joined: Jan 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 309 Location: The Mighty City of Jakalla Karma: 5
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #17 on Mar 6, 2009, 10:53pm »
You can tell from Hritsekkash' tone of voice he is getting impatient, either with Trinesh' attempted bargaining or Do'olnar's sorcerous architecture inquires.
"Time is being wasted...if whomever is inside proves to be a truly vicious foe whose defeat would merit the aid from Hrugga himself then rest assured a bounty will be forthcoming"
"And for our engineer here" he says to Do'olnar "I have only recently inherited my position from my dear deceased uncle. I expect he did all required during his tenure to maintain the warehouse adequately."
Do'olnar senses Hritsekkash has little or no notion of what he inquired. (successful Idea roll)
(Note: Hrugga is a mythical epic hero, sort of like Achilles and Ulysses mixed together)
Haida Pakalan Wildly-handsome 6' tall 180 pound sorcerer of Mretten, now Avanthe. Aside from a dagger, light blue thessun gauze robes appropriate to the heat, and a sack of possessions, he has nothing. His lack of clan insignia is noteworthy.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 384 Location: Maryland, USA Karma: 26
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #21 on Mar 7, 2009, 2:20am »
Hredarru takes in the foreign phrases and customs, all the while wondering less about payment and more about exactly what might be inside that warehouse.
Perhaps Hritsekkash is correct in his assumption that sappers digging in from below is an unlikely scenario. On the other hand, this is just the sort of confidence that makes targets such as him easy prey for thugs.
Although not familiar with local custom, Hredarru thinks that based on his knowledge he might be able to sniff out any potential rats from amongst the merchant's trusted employees if given the chance.
Joined: Jan 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 309 Location: The Mighty City of Jakalla Karma: 5
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #22 on Mar 7, 2009, 2:32am »
Do'olnar Casts Clairvoyance
The clanhouse-turned-warehouse is a large building wider than it is deep. The Haida Pakalyani sorcerer moves to the best spot to cast his spell.
(I'm assuming he would near the right further corner of the building, where it joins the back patio wall. This would be the nearest to the area where Hritsekkash said the slaves where sent one could be on the outside.)
(Clairvoyance has a reach of 20ft while underground, I'm going to rule that in the surface the reach is about 20m with some fuzzy perception beyond that.)
Arriving at the spot Do'olnar focuses his will and uses the gestures and words he learn at the Temple of Mretten to forth the extra-planar energies that will power the spell. His trained Pedethl (spirit-soul) has no problem channeling the required power and the incantation goes off successfully.
He feels his sense of sight increase exponentially and leave the physical limits of his body to center on the area beyond the walls of the building before him.
And in his mind eye he sees...darkness.
Absolute, total and black darkness...
Then he remembers the limitations of this spell. While it can cross physical boundaries as if they were inexistent the image it provides of the area selected by the caster is perceived exactly as it is at that moment.
It provides no means of perceiving in the the dark, and the inside of the building is obviously pitch black, having no openings to the outside or interior light source.
Ups...
Meanwhile...
While Do'olnar is off to do his thing your employer speaks anew.
"So it appears we are settled. Timhuvaz, take them to the gate and tell the twins to allow them in."
The Livyani servant says "I hear and obey." and leads you outside.
Soon after leaving the tent you hear its flap opening again and Hritsekkash head pops outside. You hopes of hearing wishes of good luck or some elevating last minute sentence are dashed when he cries:
"And be careful not to break anything! There are many valuable items inside."
(Issa has not posted on this scene but I assume she has no desire to bargain anymore about payment. I will also assume Do'olnar joins the group midway and informs them of his lack of findings.)
(Next...the adventure truly begins. Check the [Marching Order] thread)
Joined: Jan 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 309 Location: The Mighty City of Jakalla Karma: 5
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #23 on Mar 7, 2009, 4:45am »
You follow Timhuvaz to the gate of the building. It is a massive thing of dark wood reinforced with bronze beams. Aiding the ponderous main lock there are at least 4 smaller ones where each of the beams joins the stone arch around the door.
The gate is guarded by two thuggish men who look remarkable alike in mannerisms, posture and lack of intelligence on their expressions. Both are armed with large wood clubs with handles strapped in leather. The pair looks quite strong, but their stance and grip on the clubs tells you they are thugs inexperienced in the arts of war. Clearly more accustomed to detracting trespassers by passive intimidation rather than by proper dealings of violence.
The guards where both sitting and chatting and now spring to attention even as Timhuvaz gives orders.
"Maku! Thorda! By order of our master these mercenaries are to go inside and deal with the trespassers. Kindly open the door for them and swift about it!"
As the one called Maku produces a ring of jingling keys and begins working on the locks, Timhuvaz teaches you a special code of knocks and raps you should make when you wish to exit, as the gate will be closed and locked anew after you go inside.
He assures each and every one of you memorizes the sequence by making you repeat it several times.
Then the panting, sweating and apparently much-suffering form of Addatheng is near you, followed by two young slaveboys who look altogether dejected and pathetic in their nakedness and total lack of bodily bristle. Each is carrying a lantern and a small sack.
The fat man attempts to speak: "You...(pant)...will assuredly need...(arf)...lantern bearers while you...(gasp)...make way inside the warehouse."
He takes a white scarf from a fold of his robes and begins fighting a loosing battle with the perspiration conquering his forehead.
"These...(wheeze)...slaves are...(cough)...trustworthy and...(uff)...brave, as slaves go. Please, return them back whole of body...they are my favorites."
By now the twin thugs have finished opening the gate. It stands opening into what from the outside appears to be jet-black darkness; looking like one of the the fabled entryways to the Realms of Hru'u the Inchoate Lord of the Deities of Change that are said to exist in the remote and forgotten places of the world.
Your mission awaits...what do you do?
(You will require a light source on the inside. For the 7 of you to act without penalties two torches or lanterns are required at all times, hence the slaves.)
(A character carrying a torch or lantern is incapable of using magic as he needs both hands free and fights at a penalty.)
(If insufficient illumination is not available, but the party is not in total darkness then To Hit bonuses are reduced by half.)
Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 51 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Karma: 0
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #24 on Mar 7, 2009, 1:31pm »
Returning to the group, Do'olnar has a troubled look.
"By means of magic, I was able to see within and it is total blackness. It was not a wasted effort. Everyone needs some light to see, even in the darkest places. That either means that whoever was inside has left or that we're dealing with something, perhaps a creature like a dlaqo beetle that doesn't need light. I have heard that such monstrous bugs are common in the tsuru'um and burrow."
Haida Pakalan Wildly-handsome 6' tall 180 pound sorcerer of Mretten, now Avanthe. Aside from a dagger, light blue thessun gauze robes appropriate to the heat, and a sack of possessions, he has nothing. His lack of clan insignia is noteworthy.
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 65 Location: St. Louis, MO Karma: 0
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #26 on Mar 8, 2009, 12:24am »
Hrahyosh harrumphs and says, "If we are to have the 2 sorcerers and priest in the first 2 ranks of this expedition, I had probably best go in the first rank so that someone can fight beside Teregash if need be." With that he steps up to the gate next to Teregash and waits for the others to join them. He unlimbers a fairly sizable morning star and checks his pack and armor. He looks at Teregash, "I look forward to joining in battle at your side."
Joined: Jan 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 309 Location: The Mighty City of Jakalla Karma: 5
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #27 on Mar 8, 2009, 1:37pm »
Into the Warehouse
The slaveboys take a moment to light their lanterns with firekits they take from their sacks.
The juxtaposition of the still bight afternoon sun and the stygian darkness inside don't allow for a clear picture of what lies just beyond the gate. You discern a few squarish shapes which could be large crates. In their chosen formation and with the lanterns lit and ready, the party makes into the clanhouse-turned-storing-space of the Clan of the White Garment.
As the last you enters the building the gate is closed, cutting off the sunlight from outside, and you listen to the muffled sounds of the twins fiddling with the several locks and bars.
* * * * *
It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the light levels inside.
Your first perception of Hritsekkash' warehouse form the inside is of a huge once-open space who has been profusely filled with crates, chests and all manner of containers to such a degree the "walls" and "corridors" you see are delimited by them.
The air is cold, but not uncomfortably so, and filled with the scents of wood and must under-toned by a whiff of....clay? stone?
(Think of the secret government warehouse from the Indiana Jones movies and you won't be too far off. Of course, there aren't any shelves as the crates are stacked on top of each other.)
Surely it will take half a lifetime to explore and catalog tis jungle of goods, you do not envy the task that has been given to Hritsekkash by his clan.
And surely it will be quite easy to get lost in these labyrinthine depths. On queue, as if sensing your momentary and unspoken discomposure, Slaveboy #1 (the eldest of the pair) speaks up in the ever-humble way of those used to eternal servitude:
"If it pleases the Masters I would speak...we where told to lead your honored persons into the place where Ki'ia and Jumtlo had been sent earlier this day. Neither of us has been there previously but we know the way."
It is a odd feeling to be directed by lowly slaves in what might prove a dangerous expedition. For even if you have lost more than most, you still possess your liberty and are free men and women.
The walk takes quite longer than you expected. One could be forgiven for assuming the place is larger on the inside than the exterior led to believe. But no spatial sorcery is present here. It is simply that winding path of twists and turns and curves you are forced to chase consumes time as the fabled Gluttonous Aspects of Lady Dlamelish.
Verily, the further you walk into the interior of the warehouse the more jumbled and chaotic the scenario becomes. While before neat stacks of containers lined your way, now it seems they where no more than tossed about and left to lay in bundles and precarious-looking mounds.
And a few items where not even given the decency of a vessel to rest in. You see statues and household decorations propped against the sooty "walls".
The dust you could smell upon your entry has now becomes omnipresent. The crates and accouterments here, having not been touched by human hand for a time known only to the Gods, have acquired an ominous grayish tone, courtesy of the layer of granules and grime that varnishes their surfaces.
On the ground, trails of footsteps can be clearly seen in the dust that carpets it like a cheap rug, no doubt the markings of the comings and goings of the slaves and workers who have labored here of late under the orders of Hritsekkash.
At a certain point in your journey the path is almost blocked by two truly massive wood boxes place so near each other, the cramped "passage" is barely worthy of the name.
The small frames slaves shuffle through easily enough but those of you more hampered by shield, pack or armor are forced to cross sideways like crabs, holding your bulkier possessions in outstretched arms in a somewhat undignified (but comical) manner.
By now the urge to sneeze and clear your lungs in this accursed arenaceous atmosphere is fast becoming overwhelming. But not wanting to alarm any foes with sudden noises you stoically master your bodily stimulus.
At last, after a sharp turn to the right, the slaves stop and the eldest boy points forward and speaks. His voice but a whisper in volume and slightly tainted by fear.
"There good Sirs. If we continue in 'tis direction we will soon reach one of the building' walls. That is where they went today, to verify what lies in that area and bring a report back to our master."
Looking to where the boy is pointing you see only the usual path lined by dusty crates and baubles continuing into apparent infinity. Thankfully the way here is wide enough for you to easily march in your chosen formation.
Footprints can clearly be seen on the dust-carpet that adorns the ground, trailing off into the darkened distance where the slave tells you must go.
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 65 Location: St. Louis, MO Karma: 0
Re: [Adventure #1 - Making Money] « Reply #28 on Mar 8, 2009, 2:34pm »
At this point Hrahyosh would look carefully at the footprints in the dust. He'd take in all he could. Are they human or not? Are they bare feet or shod? What kind of shoe/boot/sandal/whatever are they wearing (if it is possible to discern)? Other than that, he'll be ready to fight or protect.
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