The Sounds of Fortune IC

[Lubirio]

Meekis:
The last couple of times you were at fencing class, you noticed that everyone was looking at you funny. You thought it was because you were so much smaller than everyone, but you were wrong. You had caught their attention with your obviously superior skills - there was no point fencing you, they'd never hit you anyway. Upon discovering this you rushed to tell María, and she told you she also got into some trouble, so you both decided to leave school. You had already thought of leaving, but this was the final straw in terms of disappointment this school had been. Then María told you she wanted to bring along two friends, Madikak and Wrench, so you decided to meet up at room 213, the room of your last class on Friday.

María:
The other students have never liked you much, they laughed at you for being a girl, so you always responded by challenging them to a fight, which they loved. Initially, most thought they'd win, but after having fought you for nigh a minute, they were all on the verge of losing, if they had not already done so. In the most recent fight, you've forgotten who it was against, a teacher noticed and didn't believe you when you won fair and square. Enraged, you were on your way to complain to the Headmaster when Meekis told you how he had a similar experience in fencing class.after some hasty deliberation, you both decided to leave school. It just so happened that two other friends of yours, Rhiannon, or Wrench as people called her, and Madikak were also disappointed by the school, so the four of you left school together, and met up at room 213, Meekis' last Friday class.

Wrench:
After that incident with Jimmy, all went downhill for you. You were less and less involved in your classes, and Jimmy didn't want to talk to you anymore, you probably know why. But to top it all off your new friends, María and Meekis, didn't know you very well and thus weren't very accepting of you either, only Madikak, an older friend of yours, knew where you were coming from and sympathized with you, but when even he got notoriety, you decided you had enough. So you told Madikak you wanted to leave, and when you heard María and Meekis were also planning to leave, all four of you met up at room 213 (Meekis' final class on Friday) to finally get out of there.

Madikak:
When you first arrived at the School, you were shunned for your tattoos, and you felt left out because you were used to a big family. But now, a whole five years later, you've made friends and your nobody gives your tattoos a second glance. But you notice discrepancies, people have been talking about you more and more lately. You figure it's because your friend, Wrench, almost detonated a kid named Jimmy, but some rumors have spread about you making inappropriate moves of your own on younger girls, who're new to the School, so when you hear from Wrench that two of her friends, Meekis and María, also planned to get out of here, you decide to join them in their attempt at escape and meet them at room 213, where Meekis had his last Friday class.

Having arrived at room 213, the four of you wait for everyone to leave the area, before you try to venture off-campus, something nobody's done in a long time. All having arrived timely, Meekis finished his class and told them he was ready to go if they were. You were all prepared and as such needed no more time to leave this forsaken place and went off into a hallway...

[Tyrael]

Meekis

BRRRRRRIIINNNNGGGG!

The final bell of the day echoes throughout the halls as the Lizardfolk Professor Niko calls out to his class, "Now, remember guys! Chapter 5 pages 23-85, and watch out for those Draconic conjugations on the Sylvan verbs! I'll see you all on Monday!"

After everybody else leaves the classroom, an absolutely minuscule Kobold climbs up on the professor's lecturing podium and waits for the rest of his friends to arrive, as agreed. He had swiped the best blade he could find out of the Fencing equipment room, and with the blade safely stowed in his backpack along with his papers and other adventuring gear, he paces up and down the desk impatiently. He wears a large, wide-brimmed black hat with an emerald green feather in the hatband. A dark olive cloak adorns his shoulders, and he wears a black shirt over a padded chain shirt, standard protection for fencing practice. A dark green belt holds up a pair of black shorts that leave his scaly legs free to maneuver.

Despite being under two feet tall, the Kobold cuts a dashing figure, his tiny cloak swirling as he paces back and forth on top of the desk, waiting for his friends to arrive.

[The_Scourge]

Rhiannon "Wrench" Stoikovich

"Dude. That hat makes you look wicked conspicuous."
Meekis sees another small figure standing in the doorway to the classroom. Her red hair interrupted by a pair of modified welding goggles. She wears an orange tank top and olive cargo pants weighed down by a heavy leather apron and a multitude of tools, including a pipe wrench about the size of her femur. Her heavy gloves have several small devices attached to them and cables running to a box at the small of her back.
Rhiannon "Wrench" Stoikovich rubs a small spot of engine grease off her cheek and pops a sucker into her mouth as she scans the room.
"We it so far?"

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"It's generally best not to question Meekis's wardrobe; he won't listen to you anyway. 'Sides, if any of the teachers who know him saw him without some kind of crazy get-up, they'd know something was up immediately. He always dresses like that.

"But anyway, we're all here cuz we're tired of the stupid elitist crap at this school. Don't make me regret inviting you by starting with the same crap."

María walks in, wearing traveling gear: a cloak over her obviously armored frame, hood down but available for inclement weather, her pack filled with as many provisions as she could manage to fit in it, a strong rope tied around her waist, and a bedroll hanging from the bottom of the pack. A buckler was on her wrist, and her fine Elven blade hung in its sheath.

What she hoped wasn't obvious was that it was Baldwin's armor under that cloak. She knew she'd need it; she'd barely be able to move if she'd bought a standard steel set once they'd left, and she could never afford such excellent armor herself. Baldwin didn't even have the skills to take advantage of the special magics that made it so maneuverable. Besides, that brat was a no-good lying cheat; he didn't deserve to call himself a knight, much less wear such fine armor, and his filthy-rich parents would surely replace the armor as soon as he noticed it missing, but all that did little to make María feel better about it. The danger of getting caught was definitely a major concern, but perhaps even worse was her own thoughts about stealing. Seemed like she was almost sinking to his level when she took it...

On the other hand, there had been the bet. He'd wagered it on a duel with her, after she mocked him for wasting it; she hadn't accepted, of course, that was against the rules and at that point she hadn't been willing to break them. She regretted that now; she'd been willing to accept the bet, and of course she'd ended up winning handily, and if she'd just accepted the bet she'd have a clear conscience now. But as it was, she couldn't let herself fall into the trap of justifying it with what "would have been". She'd just have to bear the guilty conscience for a while.

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

"Hey, I'm just sayin'. That getup isn't exactly ideal for sneaking away."
Wrench adjusts her tool belt and clicks the buckles of her shop safety gear over her shoulders.

[Avner]

Madikak

Walking in late as he usually does, with the same lack of care about it that he normally has Mady shouts "I'm here!" A bit louder then anyone would like. Backpack full pilfered goods that he justified as "My friends and teachers would rather me be alive, then dead from starvation and elements." A nice little bow he picked up from his Archery teachers collection, his drum strapped to his waist and a big smile. "Who are we waiting for? oh nice hat Meekis. Shall we be on our way soon? I'd hate to get found like this." He finished in a lower tone.


He had grown tired of the school, homework took away from his free time, which he could always seem to fill. His Teachers were boring as he excelled at most of his none book related curriculum and now people were spreading rumors. Madikak had decided it was time to stretch his legs and make a few gold.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Funny you should ask, I was in the middle of deciding whether or not we should leave without you. I'd rather appreciate you being on time when we're taking risks together." The stress of the theft and the need to sneak out undetected has left María rather short with people today.

"Alright, let's go. Don't try to sneak out; if they see us skulking around, it'll just make things suspicious. Just go as if that's where you're supposed to be going. We'll use the less traveled halls; I spent some time last night figuring out the best routes and appropriate excuses we could use in each spot if someone asks. Let's just try to be nonchalant and get outta here, k? I really don't want to get caught..."

[Tyrael]

The little Kobold grins, revealing bone-white teeth. "They're so busy looking at my hat, they don't even see the rest of me sneaking off," he laughs in response to his friends' jibes. "You don't mess with The Hat, man!"

So saying, he hops down to the floor and strides for the door. "Ladies and gentlemen, the world is at our feet, and every adventure began with a first step! Onward!" he cries dramatically, adopting a dynamic pose and allowing the light to flare off his teeth with a sparkling ting!

Sorry about my late reply, the Subscribe command didn't register, so it wasn't showing up in my list for the past few days.

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

Wrnech rolls her eyes and smirks at the kobold.
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it."
Rhiannon drops her goggles over her eyes and presses a switch on the side. they make a quiet but high pitched whine for a moment but then they are silent.
"I cooked up a couple of things in case some of the sneakier teachers follow us out."
She presses another small button on a small box with an antenna attatched to her back. The air seems to shimmer around her for a few seconds before going still.
"Right. Let's get the hell outta here."

casting See the Unseen and Entropic Warding

[Lubirio]

As you head out into the Hallway, you near a corner. Around the corner you hear two people talking, you recognize their voices as being the Headmaster's and one of the 'nicer' teachers, he actually understood your situation a little and was now getting it from the Headmaster, protecting you from his wrath.

"I told you to keep an eye on the rowdier of students! And you didn't listen to me, when did you ever listen to me?" The Headmaster retorts, making wild hand gestures to amplify is point to the now cowering teacher.
"But... but" Mr. Kalford stammers,
"No buts! You have had enough of those, I will give you one last chance to tell me if you noticed anything strange lately!"
"Well, I-I noticed a g-group of g-guys f-fighting over a-a girl, b-but that's n-n-nothing un-unusual, ... Sir"
"Anything else, Kalford? I'm sure there must've been something else, or am I wrong? Losing his temper because of this untruthful answer, The Headmaster grabbed Mr. Kalford by his livery, partially lifting him up into the air. Strangely more sure of himself now, Mr. Kalford answered,
"No, Sir"

Before really going into a rage, the Headmaster instead let go of Mr. Kalford and stalked off into the hallway, coming your direction.

I've rolled listen checks for you, here is the map:
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/6141/enc1headmasterv1.png
Meekis and Maria get to act on the surprise round, after that the order is:
-Madikak
-Wrench
-Headmaster
-Meekis
-Maria
and then from the top again...
((Sorry, not very good with maps, but this'll do right?))

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
Whispering quickly, "Pretend we didn't just hear that. Just say hi and move on if he notices us at all; otherwise just stay out of his way. Maybe he'll just go, sounds like he's got a lot on his mind."

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The Kobold nods and puts on his brightest talking-to-teachers smile, waiting for the Headmaster to approach.

So yeah, just gonna sit there with a big angelic smile :smallbiggrin:

[Lubirio]

Coming around the corner and into eyesight, the Headmaster barely looks up as he passes you, he is clearly too lost in thought or too angry to care about some wandering students right now.

Combat avoided. You can shoot him in the back though, with appropriate sneak attack bonus of course.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
After he leaves, María grimaces. "I want to get out of here, but Mr. Kalford stuck up for me more than once. I feel like I owe it to him to find out what the hell that was about. That was not normal or appropriate."

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny Kobold squirms. "Are you sure? I thought we were just gonna skedaddle anyway. Why stick around?"

[Avner]

''I don't know if that is the best idea Maria.'' Mady replied giving a jovial chuckle at the rhyme. ''We seem to be in possession of a few items that don't quite belong to us yet and are clearly on the HeadMasters bad side. We probably should make like an arrow and fly'' He finished as he let an imaginary arrow fly at toward the last place the Headmaster stood. Making ''thunk'' noise to imitate the sound of the arrow being released. ''I can't wait to be on the outside''

[Tyrael]

Meekis

"Right!" Meekis chimes in. "No way! We've gone through all this, and we're going to turn back now!? I don't think so!"

He adopts a dramatic pose and begins citing obscure characters of classical literature, proclaiming, "Did Aerosthenes turn back at the mouth to the gate of Tymoria? Did Kyrados hesitate in front of the exit from Syrennia? No! They forged bravely onwards, for no true hero quails before the call of destiny!"

"Forth, brave comrades! Let not the machinations of bureaucracy impede our odyssey!"

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

You can almost hear Wrench blink slowly behind her goggles.
"You're confusing reality with books again Meekis."
Turning to the others she shrugs
"I think we should at least talk to Kalford. He's always been good to me and he knows how terrible this place is as much as we do. Hell, he might even help us."

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny Kobold blinks. "Oh....Oh yeah." He fidgets and fiddles with the edge of his cloak. "Don't mind me, then," he mumbles self-consciously.

[Avner]

Stepping behind the diminutive trying to give him a little more confidence "If you insist we can, but ya know we have to take care of ourselves too. We are not just walking around with a bit of school equipment they loan to students." Mady insists. "I do enjoy Mr Kalfords company however at this time I think we may do him as much harm as he does us if we are found out." He finishes.

[DragoonWraith]

Melina
"Ugh, that really is a good point. It's not just us to worry about; he could get in a lot of trouble if we're found out and he didn't tell on us.

"But Meekis, sometimes bravery is hesitating. Especially here... the honorable thing to do would be to at least try to help. That would be brave. 'Marching out' away from danger would not be," Melina says with a sigh.

"Well... can we stash the stuff we don't want to get caught with, find out what's going on, and retrieve it later? At least, that should reduce both our and Mr. Kalford's risk, so I think that may be the best plan, if we can find a suitable place to hide it..."

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

"I don't know about you guys, but what I took, is something I'd be carrying on me anyway."
She draws a slender rod from inside her apron and twirls it around.
"He's not going to ask unless we're too obvious about it."

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Well, I've got a really expensive suit of magical armor under this cloak... I don't own any magical armor, he gets one look under the cloak and it's gonna be pretty obvious."

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

"And how exactly is he gonna get a look under there? Unless there's something you're not telling us."
Wrench sticks out her tongue around the sucker stick.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
María rolls her eyes, "No, I dunno, I'm just really paranoid about it. Fine, let's just go."

[Avner]

Madikak

"If thats what you must do lets go. You have heard the warnings though." Madi reminds her half heartedly. Truth be told the excitement was fun for him and he hoped that he would get a chance to leave a bit more of a mark then disappearing from the school forever.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
María grimaces and heads down the hallway to find Mr. Kalford.

[Lubirio]

As you head down the hall to go and find Mr Kalford, you find his office, where he spends most of his time, and knock on the door. Mr Kalford opens himself, with kind of a teared face from crying, although he seemed to have recovered a little, and said, "Come in," After you entered his office and sat down in the leather chairs he had standing around, he began to give his advice, I think I know what you're up to, and I know you listened in on the conversation between me and the Headmaster. I think what you're doing is very risky and I wish you the best of luck." With that he went and looked for something behind his desk, saying, "Here, I'm giving you all one of these, they will help you on your travels..."

[Tyrael]

Meekis scrambles up on a pile of books and peeks his head over the edge of the desk, two bulbous reptilian eyes staring curiously as the teacher brings out the items.

[Lubirio]

As Mr. Kalford produces 6 marble-sized crystal balls, he tells the kids, "These are specially crafted crystal balls made by me, when you put one of them in your ear, each user gains telepathy with each of the other users, with a range of 50ft for shouts, 100ft for regular talks, and 200ft for whispers." As he told them about the crystal balls, he handed one to each of them. He sat down and looked a them for a while before saying, "If you have any more questions about them, you can always ask me, I have an enhanced version of it, with a 50 mile range for shouts, 100 miles for regular talk and 200 miles for whispers." He finishes talking and goes on with his work, leaving the children to decide whatever they want to do.

[Tyrael]

Meekis frowns uncertainly at the crystal ball. After a moment of wedging, he manages to drop it in his ear. "Uhh...Hello?" he quavers uncertainly. "Testing...? No, that doesn't do it..."

<Testing? Hello?> Meekis' raspy "voice" suddenly echoes telepathically in the brains of his friends, even though the little Kobold isn't speaking aloud at all. <Is this thing on? Wow. This is awesome!>

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

Wrench looks at the sphere quizzically before popping it into her ear.
She jumps a little at hearing Meekis inside her head.
"Ok, not gonna lie that's a little creepy."
<But neat!>
She giggles softly to herself. "How's it work?"

[Lubirio]

Mr. Kalford looks up amused, "Aaahhh, but that's the secret of my magic, I did my best on it,"
<and it seems to work.> He adds with a half-smile.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
Trying out the marble, María, ever the tactician, says, "these would be incredible in a battle... you could make a fortune selling these to adventurers and armies... Wouldn't have to put up with that nasty Headmaster any more... What'd he want, anyway? What kind of 'strange things' does he think are happening?"

[Avner]

Madikak

Hesitantly Mady slowly inserts the pearl into his ear and then winces dramatically as he playfully shouts <Ouch!?> across the others minds. <One two, one two, is this on? So does that mean we don't have to talk anymore?> He asks rhetorically before rambling a few more half words of telepathically. "anyone have an idea of where we should head next? I'm thinking it may be a good idea to know where our first stop will be. Hey! Mr. Kalford. Any good places we should visit once were gone?" Mady excitedly asks.

[Lubirio]

"Oh but these are just the protoypes, I'm not going to be able to sell them for any real use besides combat for a while, but when I do, you'll get to test them out first," Mr. Kalford stopped working when he was saying this, and looked at Madikak intently before continuing, "I recommend you go to the capital, about a day's walk from her. They have work for you there without questioning your age, you can work your way from there." As Mr. Kadford was saying this, he began looking around worriedly. He then began guide them out the door, telling them he was worried they would get caught snooping around.

[The_Scourge]

Wrench

Wrench nods along with what Mr. Kalford says as she heads to the door. She turns and extends a tiny gloved hand up to the teacher, his hand enveloping hers as if she were a child.
"Thanks Mr. K. For everything."
she adjusts a dial on her goggles and peers round the sides of the door.
"Right then, lets get the hell outta here."

[Tyrael]

Meekis

"Forth, brave comrades, into the maw of adventure, and let not our unyielding flame of courage flicker before the beasts of torment...

Meekis launches into another epic narrative as he leads his friends out towards the school exit.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Thank you, Mr. Kalford. Not just for these," María gestures at her ear, "but for everything you've done over the years. Seems like you're the only teacher in this place that didn't give any of us flack. Thanks."

María nods at him, and turns out the door. Just as the door closes behind her, she asks, "Hey, does anyone actually know how to get to the capital?"

Knowledge (Geography) to know the location of the capital and its direction relative to where we are:
[roll0]

[Lubirio]

you know it's 20 miles from here and you know it's either North, North-East, or North-West, but you have no idea where north actually is...

[Tyrael]

I've got nothing to add here, since you need ranks in a Knowledge skill to actually attempt it.

Funny, my char goes to school but doesn't have any Knowledge ranks.

[Avner]

''uuuhhhhhmmm....'' Madi says out loud <I don't really know. If no one knows we should probably just head into town briefly before we set out> He says telepathically as his mouth stills hangs making the vacant sound. He than starts moving cautiously down the hall to leave the building.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
María spins around, opens the door that just closed behind her, and sticks her head back into Mr. Kalford's office.

"Uh... Mr. K? How do we get to the capital?"

[Lubirio]

Mr Kalford looked up and said, "Oh, it's directly North of here, about 20 miles, that way," as he pointed in the general Northern direction.

The actual direction North is in doesn't make a real difference, now you just know where north is (actually, the first map I gave you showed East up).

[Lubirio]

As you approach the capital of Loradien, conveniently called Loradien city, you see majestic walls rise up from the horizon, announcing the city as impending doom to any assailants. But as you come nearer to the city, the walls are not the most majestic thing there, the flags hanging from the walls with the National Weapon of arms is more notable than the walls itself, each hand-crafted with careful precision to get a dazzling sight indeed.
"Halt! State your purpose and you estimated duration of stay." One of the guards told you upon arrival. After having told him what he needed to know you moved on to the main city square. You saw a couple buildings that caught your eye there. First and foremost you noticed the local inn was nothing less beautiful than a good hotel, you then noticed a gatehouse leading to the King's palace, but it looked more like a rich man's house than a gatehouse, to not be too conspicuous, and lastly you saw what seemed to be the poorest and worst kept houses in the neighborhood, it seemed to be horribly out of place.

After a while of standing around just being baffled by all the beautiful sights, you remember Mr Kalford said something about work where they didn't question your age. But you don't remember him giving you any specifics about it. You are then addressed by a man of status who asked if you were lost.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Ah, hello, sir! No, not lost, in particular, sir. We know where we are. Mostly just don't know where we're going: we're new in town, lookin' to get some work. Ya know, we're young adventurer types, looking to get our feet wet, help some people out, maybe do some good... any idea where we might go looking for work?"

[Avner]

Madikak

Beating out a soft sound with his drums stood by, watching the people flow in and out of buildings in the largest city he had ever stood in. Bow Securely fastened to his back. "Or where we could go for some lunch I'm starved." He interjects into the conversation "But definitely work...We need that. We just e.." He stops himself from finishing the word.. "Arrived and we really do need jobs. He poorly recovers.

[Tyrael]

"We seek dastardly wrongs to right! Noble maidens to rescue! Damsels to free from distress! Swashes to buckle and wry quips to spout!" A tiny, brightly-garbed figure proclaims in a shrill voice. "Ale to quaff and taverns to carouse! Evil to struggle against valiantly! Children to awe and wenches to..." The tiny Kobold's tirade is quickly muffled by his companions as he begins to veer into awkward territory.

[Avner]

Madikak

Madi's eyes bulge comically as his Kobold companion monologue begins to veer horribly off course. Madi quickly interjects "And wenches to serve us lunch. Have I mentioned I am hungry? Hey Wrench are you hungry?" He makes his voice boom to cover the shrill voice of Meekis

[Lubirio]

The Man of status tells you he knows a good place to get lunch, and he tells you he also heard of this place that does random jobs for people to bet done, they may be able to get a job there. As he tells you this, he walks to the lunchplace, seeming eager to help you as he had nowhere else to go.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Thank you, sir, for all your help! Well, please, allow us to buy you lunch, then? It's the least we can do for your advice and showing us around."

[Lubirio]

"No I insist, I will buy you fine children some lunch, but then I really must be on my way." As the man of status sits down at a table with you, he becomes very excited for a reason unknown to you, and begins blurting out random things that he thinks they might help them. "I hear there is a local carpenter that needs help, and last week I noticed a friend of mine in need of a good servant. Oh and I thought I heard someone complaining about a lack of gaurds patrolling on the city walls, and yesterday I saw an ad for the guild of useful things. And last night my wife told me some of her friends needed a good cook, oh and ..." the man drifts off into an extensive monologue about many, yes indeed very many people needing help of any sort.

[Avner]

Madikak

Devoting about a quarter of his attention to his Patron he mulls over the menu trying to find something that may satiate his appetite with little luck. Only catching bits and pieces of the slew of information being thrown at him as the man rambles on he makes sure the the man is busy looking through the menu and he slyly makes a googlie eye motion at Wrench Hold on a moment, you said something about a guild and a guard...it sounds exciting what do ya know about it? and I dont think we've been properly introduced. My name is Madi, the one with the goggles is Wrench, The small one is Meekis and the fine lady is Maria." He says extending his hand.

[Lubirio]

Not bothered by being interrupted, the man eagerly takes the outstretched hand and tells them his name is Joseph John III, "As for the guild and the guard, I know the guild is at the center of town, where I met you lot, and the guards are indeed in need of many more, you can find them at the guardhouse, which is at the East gate I believe." Joseph John III then goes on to order many dishes with very foreign-sounding names from the waiter, and then asks them what they wanted to drink.

I thought you were purple, Madi?

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny Kobold isn't quite able to sit in the human-designed seats, so he simply sits on top of the table at the far end of it. He orders a hot, chocolate-y beverage while he waits.

"What kinda guild is it?" he wonders aloud.

[Lubirio]

"I'm sure I can find out for you, it right in the square where we met, we could go there now!" Too eager to help, the man forgets lunch completely and stands up to leave, just when all the dishes with the exotic names came out. "I guess we'll go after lunch then." Being a little discouraged, the man sits back down again and tells them about all the food.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Wow, you certainly are excited to help us. That's really nice of you, sir, you must be really busy and important to afford all this. I really appreciate your taking the time out for us like this, it's a really nice welcome to the city.

"Can I ask what you do, sir?"

[Avner]

Madi (now in proper colors)

As the waiter comes around to him he smiles broadly "I will take an Ale please!" and then turns back to the conversation "yeah! thank you very much for your generosity I hope we get the chance to pay you back Josseph! Why does the town guard require move guards? Is there anything happening about town?" Madi inquires.

[Lubirio]

Ignoring the question about his job completely, Jesph John III answered the latter question, "I'm not quite sure, but as a city expands, it needs better defenses right? Plus, nobody wants to do it, it's mainly about night guards, during the day they're fine." As he sees the ale arriving, he looks curiously at it, but says nothing of it.

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny Kobold clutches the enormous mug of hot chocolate, his proportionally huge eyes blinking owlishly at the man as he sucks at his drink.

Finally surfacing from the mug, Meekis' long serpentine tongue slurps up the foam around his muzzle as he comments, "Guarding things isn't very heroic, though....I wanna go save something!"

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Guarding the town is important and honorable..." María automatically responds with the textbook answer about guard duty, but her heart isn't really in it and she trails off: the thought of standing around waiting for something to happen doesn't much appeal to her desire for glory, either.

"But anyway, we can always check out that guild, may be that'll involve saving something!"

[Lubirio]

Having finished his meal, Joseph John III stands up and leaves while saying, "I'm sorry, I just now realized I have to be somewhere, what I know of the guild is that it is at the square we met, 2 blocks down that way." After having left, he storms back in, leaves a pouch of gold coins "For the meal," and runs back out.

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The little Kobold blinks. "Uhhhh....That was...abrupt..." he trails off awkwardly. "Thanks...? It was fun...?"

He prods the coinpurse with a talon, and then shrugs. "Meh. Won't pass up a free meal."

Slurping up the last of his mug, he sighs happily and shivers slightly as the sugar takes hold. "Ahhh....So! You guys wanna go check out the guild?"

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Sounds like a plan to me."

[Lubirio]

As you near the square where you first came across the man of status, you notice the building that didn't fit in so well has a sign hanging outside of it. Looking closely you see the sign says: Guild of Many Things. Curious to find out about the guild further and eager to get to know the guild because of what the man told you, you go in.

What you find inside is nothing at all like you expected, the outside of the building looks like it belongs in the poorer neighbourhoods, but the inside was majestic as you have never seen before, there is a desk at the far end of the great hall, of which the floor is 20ft below street level with a ceiling about 50ft high, with the big central doors leading outside being in the very center of the wall. At the desk there are several people in line, all looking like they would be adventurous.

Approaching the desk, you notice the receptionist, a pale human, very pretty, is being molested by a huge Goliath that apparently didn't get what he wanted from her and is about to enter a fit of rage as you approach.

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny Kobold blinks in surprise. "A damsel in distress! Quick, my comrades! To her aid!" he cries.

Meekis dashes forward and stops a few feet behind the Goliath. "Halt, villain!" he commands in a rather over-the-top heroic voice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=082y805mkA8) as he puts his years of stage performance on display. "Stand aside and pick on someone your own size!"

[Lubirio]

"And who would that be, KOBOLD!?"
The Goliath bellows with a deep bass voice as he looms over the little Kobold that addressed him, demoralizing him.

DM rolls: Not for player's eyes!
[roll0]
[roll1]

Meekis is shaken for 1 round.

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny swashbuckler's eyes bulge in terror and he seems to almost shrink into himself. His knees knock together, his tail tucked between his legs as he swallows nervously. "I, uh, that is, you see, well..." he quavers meekly, looking about for some sort of escape.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
María steps forward boldly, "Haha, something your size couldn't catch me if he tried!"

[Avner]

Madi

"OIII!" Madi shouts, coming from a tall, lanky boy of 14 it doesn't seem like much, despite the fact he is covered in tattoos and has a thick, equally glyped long bow nocked. Eyes focused on the Goliath "Ya big ugly bugger! Ya you. Why don't we calm down and talk this out. Or we could always just speak the other other language"

DM Read spoiler

So, If were entering combat i'm going to try and do a full attack + Rain of arrows, if not I'm just threatening him.

[Lubirio]

Seeming unconcerned by all these new arrivals, the Goliath grabs the receptionist by her neck and says, "NO! I have a right to my money, and this... this... THING won't give it to me for a reason I don't understand." Pulling his greataxe from his back, he jabbed it at each of his assailants in turn, "I don't know what you want from me, but you can leave me alone to get my money, and I won't harm you." Suddenly finding out they're kids, he laughs. "HA! What do you kids think you can do anyway, HAha!"

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
Looking at the receptionist, "So... why isn't he getting his money?"

[Lubirio]

Unable to say anything because of the giant hand around her throat, the receptionist stammered, "Ah... Ugh..."

[Tyrael]

Meekis

Still shaken, Meekis cowers quietly in the corner, gazing up at the enormous ogre in terror.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Whoa, c'mon, let her explain. She can't explain while you're choking her."

Totally missed that he was choking her... the diplomatic bent seems less appropriate now. Oh well.

[Lubirio]

The Goliath looks at the receptionist, then back at the gang if kids, "She thinks I didn't do my job well, but I think that's RUBBISH!" He shouts as he hurls her halfway across the room to free up his other hand. "BAH! Let's get this over with, I'll get my money from you, that'll teach them not to deny me my money!" He grips his mighty greataxe with both hands and gets ready for whatever they do to him. As he lowers himself to their level you notice he has a whole stack of greataxes on his back

Initiative order:
Receptionist
Angry Goliath (just went)
Meekis (no longer shaken)
Maria
Madikak
Wrench (NPC for now)

Map:
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1875/goliathfight.jpg
All people are displayed with their respective speech color.

[Tyrael]

Meekis

Seeming to notice for Ogre's choking hold on the receptionist for the first time, he cries, "You monster! Unhand her, cur!"

Whipping out his gleaming rapier with a schwinnng, Meekis feints towards the Ogre's groin, and then lunges forward and jabs his tiny rapier into the Ogre's shin. Crackles of electric energy arc down the blade and into the beast's body, unbalancing him and loosening his grip upon the weapon he carries.

Swift Action: Feint in Combat [roll0]
Move Action: Draw Rapier
Standard Action: Lunge (+5ft reach for the attack) Tactical Strike [roll1], [roll2]+[roll3], also includes [roll4](Ogre gets +8 to resist due to 2 size categories)
Immediate Action: [roll5](Ogre gets +12 to resist due to 2 size categories and 2H weapon)

[Lubirio]

The part of his body hit by the attack starts to bleed a little as the tiny rapier plunges into his skin, however he doesn't swerve an inch and his grip on the massive weapon seemed undisturbed.

Hit, he takes 20 damage, balance fail, disarm fail.

When you 'noticed his grip on the receptionist' he had already flung her flying across the room. :smallwink:

[Avner]

Madi
"Oh well ya big basterd, even I'm more civilized by you. Despite what they may say... Madi declares, insulting himself as well as the Goliath for no particular reason.


Full attack, -2 AB for rapid shot + 1 AB for being within 30 feet +1 Competence Bonus to AB +1 point blank shot (jesus)
Rapid Shot attack # 1 [roll0] to hit [roll1] and damage
Rapid Shot attack # 2 [roll2] to hit [roll3] and damage
Rapid Shot attack # 3 [roll4] to hit [roll5] and damage
Range Precision Damage [roll6]
Rain of Arrows, Blinded for [roll7]
Please check to make sure this is accurate, a lot of adding and stuff! and god, I know this isnt going to work the first time.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"You coward! No wonder why she won't pay you; a moron like you probably can't even fight an armed opponent half your own size. You're a brute, and I'm going to teach you some manners!"

María pulls out her elven blade, and with a quick feint left, stabs at him.

No, I didn't actually use a feint.

Swift Action: Test of Mettle - DC 15 Will save, or he may attack only me.
Move Action: Draw sword
Standard Action: Stab, [roll0] attack, [roll1] damage.

[Lubirio]

Wrench makes an incantation to make the Goliath's axe shatter, then moves in closer.

Getting angrier still at all those little kids attacking him, the Goliath roars, "COWARD!? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" He then turns to Maria while drawing a second axe and swings it twice at her.

The attacks that hit deal 36 total damage. Both attacks hit on Maria and she takes 40 damage.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
María is staggered by the thunderous blows, but maintains her footing. Bad bruises are already forming, and her nose is streaming blood. Wracked with incredible pain, it's all she can do to keep her shield and weapon raised, but after that last shot, she's determined that she isn't going to take another. She stands firm, stubborn determination turning rapidly to foolish stupidity.

Taking the Total Defense action.

[Avner]

Madi

Perspiration already beginning to form over his face Madi stares with cold eyes at the raging creature and shouts "Cool down we don't gotta do this ya'know? Just drop the lady and stay cool otherwise this ain't goin to be pretty for anyone!". He beads another arrow at the Raging Goliath.


Attack 1[roll0] To hit [roll1] Damage [roll2] Extra damage from volley
Attack 1[roll3] To hit [roll4] Damage [roll5] Extra damage from volley
Attack 1[roll6] To hit [roll7] Damage [roll8] Extra damage from volley
[roll9] Blind for 1d4 rounds.

[Avner]

Critical confirmation [roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

[Tyrael]

Meekis

The tiny Swashbuckler feints again towards the Ogre's groin, and then lunges forward, stabbing into the creature's other shin, weakening its balance.

Swift Action: [roll0]
Standard Action: Lunge(+5ft reach) [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + [roll3] + [roll4]
Also: [roll5]
Immediate Action: [roll6]

[Lubirio]

Wrench is distracted as the receptionist comes up behind her.
The receptionist goes closer to the goliath still, then does something unexpected, "*Charm Person* I should probably tell you he didn't have any bad intentions, Gruk can just be a little moody if he doesn't get what he wants. I'll send him to the infirmary, along with our knight friend who took the bulk of the damage." She then smiles, and continues, "Actually, I think you should all go there to hear his side of the story. And don't worry, he won't try anything funny again, you really gave him a beating he was in for." As she's talking you notice she's extremely beautiful indeed, so much so that the boys in the group are almost stunned simply by her beauty. After her little speech Gruk, silently listening up to now, told them he's still blinded, thanks to the little archer bugger, and needs a hand to get to the infirmary. After the receptionist, who introduced herself as Elinwa, gave them directions to the infirmary, they go on their way there.

As you guide the now slightly smaller Goliath to the infirmary you notice the receptionist rubbing her neck as she grimaces in pain.

[Tyrael]

Meekis

Panting, the tiny Kobold shakes his equally-tiny fist at the Goliath's retreating back. "That'll teach you to mess with us!" he shouts as he sheathes his blade. Meekis fidgets a moment, mumbling, "Darn, I can never think of the pithy lines right on the spot. Now I've got like five more lines, but he's too far away to hear them by now, and..." He trails off, muttering to himself.

After a moment, Meekis brightens up. "Well! That was...fun...? I guess? Right, guys?"

He turns, seeing Maria's condition for the first time. "Guys?"

"...Oh."

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
María grimaces in pain at Meekis, and says "I'll be fine." before stumbling to her knees. With help, she goes to the infirmary.

[Lubirio]

Arriving at the infirmary, a rather small room containing a pair of clerics talking bemusedly, the clerics look up to find two patients needing attention, and instantly rush up to meet and help them.
"Here you go, brave girl" *Mass Cure Light Wounds* "That should take care of the bulk of the damage shouldn't it?"
"That is should, indeed. Now tell us young ones, what has Gruk done this time to make himself get such a beating, and how come he took about twice as much damage as he handed out? No one's done that before, and another one for good measure." *Mass Cure Light Wounds*
"I, too, am interested in a group of fine children like yourselves doing what Gruk had coming to him for a long while now. You can go back to arguing about your money now Gruk, but remember we don't have a million spells to heal you if the need arise." The Cleric said, looking at Gruk sternly, the two clerics then pulled out chairs for the lot of them helping Meekis to and Wrench to smaller ones.

Maria gets all damage healed. All the others also get all damage healed, if so needed.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"We came here looking for work, we heard that this is a good place for people looking to help people out. We found the ogre with his hand around the receptionists throat - when we tried to talk him down, he flung her across the room, so we defended her and ourselves... didn't expect a mage of her skill to be working as a receptionist, she ended up protecting us..." María is clearly a bit embarrassed about the whole thing, which seems like it was entirely a misunderstanding that nearly got she or Gruk killed!

[Lubirio]

Aftre mulling over what the 'brave young girl' said, both clerics started to talk at the same time, however, both seemed undetered and you could understand both perfectly, seems like they do this a lot."I think we may have found ourselves new people to do the various jobs that need doing, great!"
"Elinwa is very special, she is not only the receptionist, she's also hostess to all our employees that need housing, and she has excelled in learning arcan magicks, I concur."
After some more of this they tell you to go and find a man named Juhoris for more information on a job and a possible mission that needed cleaning up.

[Avner]

Madi

With a clueless look on his face "Not like...Dragon Dung or something? Right?" He asks the Clerics and shrugs as if it doesn't make a difference. "so where is the guy we need to talk to?

[Lubirio]

After getting your directions, you go on your way to Juhoris, and you come to a wooden door, "Come in, come in." you hear a man say, supposedly talking to you, so you decide to open the door and find an ancient man, with a snow white beard halfway down his back, sitting at a fireplace doing nothing of importance, the one thing you note however, is that the man is completely blind, you know this because as he turns his head to hear you better, so see his eyes were supposed to be blue, but seem to have been glazed over with white. "There's chairs here, please do sit down. I'm Juhoris, manager of this guild and owner of the branch in this fine city. I presume you are new, as you seem to be rather surprised I'm blind."

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Well, it's certainly impressive. Most people could not achieve as much as you obviously have without sight."

[Avner]

Madi

"well...Yeah a bit! but it's okay." He blurts out. Looking to Maria with slight confusion "She is right though, I know lotsa folks who can't do much even with sight" Recalling the principle who just happened to walk past him while he was holding a bow he clearly shouldn't have been. "A few of your Clerics sent us over here. They said "You have various jobs that need doing, Great!" and to visit you here. and...whats up with that Gruk guy? He's a bit off.

[Lubirio]

"Ah yes, we have to keep him in tow sometimes, but he's a powerful ally if you play your cards right. We have indeed several jobs available, but we have an initiate training ritual, you have to prove yourself first, you think you're up to it? Juhoris stood up, walked over to a counter standing in a corner, picked up 4 blindfolds, and walked back to his seat, waiting patiently for their reply.

[DragoonWraith]

María Elena
"Well, ..." María stops awkwardly when she realizes she didn't catch the names of the Clerics who healed her. "They healed us all really well, it was really impressive. I'm up for the test." María Elena looks at the blind-folds somewhat dubiously, though. She'd always eschewed a helmet because she didn't like losing her peripheral vision; this was going to be much, much worse...

[Tyrael]

Meekis

"Ooooh! Training ritual. I wanna try! Me! Ooh, me!" Meekis hops up and down excitedly.

[Lubirio]

Sensing the little kobold as his first testee, Juhoris beckons him over, puts on the blindfold, first removing anything that could be in its way, and spun him around a couple time to make him very, very dizzy, he then sat him down on a chair. "How do you feel, you think you're still up for it?"

[Tyrael]

"Whoop...Woaah..." Meekis sways slightly, but manages to refrain from staggering anywhere. He shakes his head slightly to clear it and chirps, "Yep!"

[roll0]

[Lubirio]

He stays standing and seems balanced.

"I see you're ready the, follow me." As Meekis follows him, they disappear into a smaller room that seems to be soundproof.

@Meekis:
Solo-adventure! Look in your PM box, or if that's too full, put it in spoilers in the OOC.

[Tyrael]

Dice don't work in PMs, so...

[roll0]
[roll1]