This is the thread for Festival of Heroes for action taking place outside of the city.
Printable View
This is the thread for Festival of Heroes for action taking place outside of the city.
Hervir brought the group to a broad clearing between a forest and a mountain. A trail led up the side of the mountain to the mouth of a cave.
At the edge of the clearing, near the woods, is a modest camp comprised of half a dozen tents. Three people sat around the campfire and looked up in surprise as the group appeared out of nowhere.
The first one was a short, lean, reptilian humanoid. His scales were mottled red and blue of many different shades, and he had bright, violet eyes. When he looked up, he spread leathery, bat-like wings; the finger-like appendages covered in blue scales, the leathery webbing between them a deep red. He wore a strange-looking suit of quilted armor covered in pockets under a well-worn leather apron.
The second was a tall, lean and lithe woman with dark, ashen-gray skin and shiny black hair bound up in a tight crown braid. Her eyes were a bright red that seemed to glow faintly. Starting at her temples were small, black, ram-like horns that curled around her slender, pointed ears. She wore gleaming steel half-plate armor that appeared to have a wood grain-like pattern. Near the center was a symbol that appeared to be a stylized sword embedded into the side of a mountain. The same symbol was tattooed on her hand in a vivid, crimson ink. On her back, she carried a greatsword that appeared to be made of pale green crystal, the hilt wrapped in some kind of rough-looking leather that was tan and flecked with darker brown spots. Certain elements of her features reminded the group of Kest, the centaur Aurora had introduced to them.
The last was a woman a few inches shorter than the other, with shimmering copper skin and rich, dark blond hair worn in a short, wild pixie cut. Her eyes were also red, but were a dark red, and did not glow. Small horns sprouted about an inch above her eyebrows and curved just over the edge of her hairline. She was not as lean as the other woman, sporting modest curves. She wore a shimering, silvery breastplate and carried a short sword that looked to be made of the same material as her companion's greatsword, but it lacked the leather grip, instead sporting a pale pink stone on the pommel. She stood leaning against a frame displaying a banner. The banner depicted a silver and gold shield being held by four hands, on a field of sandy-yellow; the shield itself bearing the image of a rampant red lion on a field of white.
Hervir studied the camp and its inhabitants carefully. She has seen their kind before, but had not dealt with them. The court mage could tell she looked out of her element in her sporting dress but at least she wore sensible shoes. She turned to her party. "We have no healer among us. I was going to summon us one, but we are in luck to stumble upon this band of mercenaries." She smiled nervously.
Jaylyn looked around as soon as she could see her surrounding clearly. She soon spotted the other group, "Ah crapbaskets, think Jay. Six tents three people, there is at least three others. Sleeping doubt it, hunting party more likely. Best bet in the woods behind them." Jaylyn thought to herself.
After hearing Hervir speak, Jaylyn tensed up a little. Still thinking to herself "You don't say that out loud around people you don't know, they could be hostile."
Jaylyn looked over to Hervir and whispered, "Be careful that 'luck' could be bad. I've got your back, and following your lead."
Jaylyn relaxed a bit looking back to the other group.
The catfolk saw the other group of "adventurers" but decided that any sudden movements would possibly provoke them and decided to stay alert.
ZeetZeet simply smiles widely and walks forward, raising his hands in a non threatening manner. "Hello friends! What a lovely camp you have here. Are any of you healers by any chance?" As he glances at the three he sizes them up, ready to grab his shield and falchion from his back at the moment they attempt something aggressive.
At first Markas was going to let Hervir make the first move as she was the leader of this expedition, but ZeetZeet stepped up already. While he engaged the strangers, Markas noted there were more tents than needed for the three people out in the open. So he kept his eyes and ears open for anyone else nearby...
Spoiler: perception[roll0]
"Who wants to know?" the small reptilian humanoid grunted at the goblin.
The copper-skinned blonde smiled, red eyes lighting up with amusement. "What's a goblin doing in a group like that?" she asked bluntly, tipping her head towards the others.
The dusky woman remained silent, watching the newcomers with an impassive, glowing gaze.
"Diplomacy don't fail me now." Jaylyn thought as she walked forward a bit, still in winged human form. She looked over at the red skin woman smiling sincerely before speaking. "As you can plainly see we just sorta popped in here, and the area we're heading, our healer couldn't fit, so decided to say behind." she chuckled at the last part.
"Although the question of healer among your group DOES interests me a bit. I have a more interesting question. I mean no disrespect at all, but why is an Ifrit, a devil-spawned Tiefling, and..." Jaylyn looks over at the reptilian humanoid pausing, "...sorry I don't know what you are, doing out here?"
"I also noticed three people and six tents. Who else is in your group? If you don't mind me asking."
Diplomacy [roll0]
The ifrit blinked and looked at her two companions and then blew a raspberry that rapidly turned into full blown laughter. She doubled over laughing, clutching her banner frame with both hands to keep from going all the way to the ground.
The tiefling woman's neutral expression darkened, a black blush staining her ashen cheeks. The faint glow of her red eyes brightened and flickered like a snapping candle flame as she fixed Jaylyn with a decidedly less friendly expression.
"You don't know what I... what, girl, are you serious? You never seen a kobold before? And you of dragon blood yourself! Don't recognize your own kin?! Or is it cuz you're a gold? Always were an arrogant buncha fire-breathers," the kobold said. Despite his words, his tone was light and his violet eyes glinted with amusement, and he was obviously struggling to keep a grin off his reptilian face.
Markas smiled and began to relax a little at the good humor these strangers were showing, to the Kobold he said, "Well...to be fair to my friend here, she is a foreigner from a distant land so that may very well be a possibility...or the wings threw her off. Even among Kobolds, it is rare to see one so honored by their ancestors. I thought you were a half-dragon at first glance, though I hope you'd take that as a compliment."
Spoiler: diplomacy (if needed)[roll0]
Droktoktor decided to look closer at these adventurers.
Ifrit, Tiefling, Kobold
Size up
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
Sense motive
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
The catfolk retained a neutral expression since he did not feel threatened by the three.
The kobold spread his red and blue wings proudly, preening for a moment. He grinned at Markas.
"Hell yeah, I trained long and hard to bring out the most of my draconic heritage! I am a paragon of my people! I couldn't put more into the expression of my blood unless I was a sorcerer!" he said in a bragging tone.
The ifrit woman finally composed herself, and picked up her banner and whacked the kobold lightly on the head with it before planting it back on the ground. She shook her head, red eyes dancing with humor.
"Enough of that bull**** you little braggart!" she scolded playfully. Then her expression sobered a little and she looked up at the strangers.
"What do you want, anyway? You asked if we have a healer amongst us. Why do you wanna know? None of you look hurt, to me. Plus you teleported in here, so it's not like you couldn't get to a temple or hospital if you needed to. So what's your deal?" she asked bluntly.
Markas let out a good-natured laugh at the antics of the Kobold and his companion, then, still smiling, let the strangers know about their mission, "Well, yes we are all okay, but that's because we just started our mission. We're about to traverse the mines ahead in order to retrieve an egg from a Mythic Cockatrice. One of our companions needs it as a spell ingredient. As for why we would like a healer, well, the person we'd normally recruit is otherwise occupied and if nothing else we'd like to make sure that we'd have a way to prevent or cure someone from being petrified, as cockatrices are known to do. Of course we would pay for the assistance. How much are we getting for this job, Hervir, per person?" he asked, turning to the person who made the request in the first place
All three mercenaries perked up at the mention of payment.
"Ahhh, you want to hire someone! Well, why didn't you open with that?" the ifrit asked, shaking her head.
"What do you think, Kasidra? You wanna take the job?" she asked, nudging her tiefling companion.
Kasidra glared and the ifrit briefly and gave the party a sullen look and said nothing.
The ifrit sighed. "C'mon Kasidra, we need the coin..."
The kobold shook his head. "She looks upset," he commented.
Hervir looked at Markas. "I would pay 1000 gold to hire the healer." She replied as she patted her gold pouch.
"A thousand. How does that grab you?" Markas repeated a little louder for the other party's benefit. He did notice their Tiefling companion was unresponsive however, "What's wrong?" he asked with some concern, "Something we said?"
The kobold's and ifrit's eyes lit with greed.
"Kas! A thousand, Kas!" she said, shoving the tiefling's shoulder, slightly rougher than playful.
The kobold rubbed his chin thoughtfully and glanced speculatively at the party.
"Hmm. What was it my 'cousin' over there called her? A 'devil-spawn'? Not exactly the nicest thing to call a tiefling. 'Specially when it ain't true," he pointed out.
"Shut up, Olp," Kasidra muttered, her voice kind of deep, with a vaguely smoky quality.
The ifrit started laughing again, and put a hand to her brow and shook her head.
Olp glowered at the ifrit. "It's not funny, Zetaya!"
"Oh, yes, yes it is!" Zetaya disagreed, wiping merry tears from her eyes. "It's absolutely hysterical that they she said one of the few things she could say that would piss off the one person they actually wanted to hire!" she said, breaking into giggles.
"You won't find it so funny if Kasidra declines and we're out a thousand gold," Olp muttered.
"I didn't say I would decline!" Kasidra protested sharply, glowing red eyes narrowing at the kobold.
Jaylyn looked over at the Tiefling, then over at the Kobold, then back to the Tiefling before speaking. "I humbly apologize for any unintended insults, it seems my sources of information is either wrong or missing key details. As my ally stated earlier I'm not from this area. However now that your question has been answered would you all be so kind as to answer mine. Who are the other three tents for?"
Diplomacy [roll0]
Kasidra sniffed and looked away, making no comment.
Zetaya shrugged, the humor going out of her eyes.
"The rest of our band, obviously," she said. "If you're lying to us and intend to attack, I can assure you, they will make it back here in time to assist us," she warned sharply.
Olp waved his hand at the ifrit dismissively. "I ain't too worried about that right now; they already offered a nice bit above the going rate for a day job. And that makes me curious," he said, violet eyes scanning the group with sharp intelligence.
"I don't know anything about these cockatrices... didn't even know any such thing was in this area, or we wouldn't have camped here," he said wryly. "You got a pretty big group here, and you're lookin' to hire another. These things must be unusually strong, and those eggs must be unusually... valuable. A rare, difficult-to-acquire magical reagent. And you need more help to get it..." he said, making a show of casually inspecting his claws.
"Mebbe the danger and the value of the target is worth even more. Y'all were so quick to offer, like I said before, a nice bit above the going rate for a one-day hire. So I'm thinkin' mebbe you were lowballin' in the hopes that it being higher than normal would make us less likely to ask questions or negotiate the rate. But I'm thinkin' nah," Olp drawled.
Zetaya nodded in agreement, her interest sharpening.
"Yeah, Olp's right. We're mercs, but we're not heartless. We're a family here! We're not sending Kasidra into unknown danger for a measley 'k," the ifrit said, crossing one foot over the other and leaning against her banner frame. "Especially with someone who would say carelessly hurtful things."
"We're going to need to know more about these cockatrices, and these eggs you want so bad," she said.
Hervir glared at Markas and Jaylyn. She mumbled under her breath.
ZeetZeet had been cackling at the mistake his ally had made. He finally started to calm down as Thebes's mercenaries started talking about momey. "Yea, 'cept we don't want to hire all of y'all. We just need a healer cause we are lacking' one. So we will pay for the services of your healer, and the rate we have offered, which is generous. If y'all want to tag along to keep your friend safe, I won't stop ya, but we ain't paying for more than just a healer."
Zetaya snorted. "The rate you proposed is for just one person. We never said it wasn't, nor did we offer to go with you. What we said was that we weren't going to let Kasidra go with you without knowing more about what we're sending her into! Unclog your ears, goblin!" the ifrit snapped in annoyance.
"Calm down, Zetaya," Olp said, making a pacifying gesture with his hands.
"But she is right," he said, looking at Zeetzeet. "You folks haven't even introduced yourselves, and the only reason you know our names is because you've heard us call each other by name. And then you start making demands and acting like we're bein' unreasonable for not trusting you. You're rude as hell, to say the least! A thousand gold is a lot, but gold doesn't buy trust. At least not from this mercenary group! Like we said: we're family here. If you want to haul our only healer off on a day mission to get some crazy valuable reagent that's dangerous enough to obtain that a tough-lookin' group like y'all don't even feel confident without a healer, you're gonna have to tell us what she'll be facing. A no-questions-asked hire for something like this is gonna cost you more than just a 'k!" Olp scoffed.
"Surely the value of those eggs is much higher n'that!"
Hervir smiled at the three. "I am Hervir. A sorceress from Juvelnord City."
Trying to be a voice of reason, Markas smiled softly, "they do bring up valid points, my friends. I'm sure we would feel exactly the same if our positions were reversed. Heck I'm confident we have been at one time or another. My name is Markas Fletcher by the way. I apologise for our earlier rudeness.
Spoiler: diplomacy[roll0]
The catfolk replied to the party in a neutral fashion, My name is Droktoktor, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
"ZeetZeet is ZeetZeet! Owner of Wolf Den Inn. We are adventurers that were in the festival. There, now ya know names and why a goblin would be with these folks. Now we soon' business out wastin' time?" He yawns loudly and scratches his chin, which he pauses and seems to double check with a slightly confused expression.
"I'm Jaylyn, a sorcerer from the county and city of Varrock to the south."
"That's better," Olp said with a satisfied flex of his wings. "I'm Olp Dragonson, this is Zetaya T'lon and Kasidra Kassada," he said, pointing to the ifrit and tiefling in turn.
"Uh-huh, and about those cockatrices," Zetaya said, "what exactly are you asking us to send Kasidra with you to face? We've never heard of such creatures. What makes them so much more powerful and different from normal?"
"And what kind of value do these eggs have? They're obviously difficult to obtain, which must make them a rare commodity. And if they're an important magical reagent, they must be pretty valuable!" Olp added. "Why shouldn't we get one or two of those eggs for our own profit, or a cut of their value if there's some issue taking more'n one out of the nest?"
Jaylyn looks over at Zetaya, "Yea that makes two of us, once I heard what we're facing. I went to the temple of Daikitsu, the Fox Mother, for a divination on these Mythic Cockatrices. The priestesses returned with a note on them..." Jaylyn looks over at Hervir, "May I get the note back so I can read it, I'd rather not try and rely on my memory, as it's been less then accurate so far." Jaylyn looked over at Olp with a sly grin and a chuckle.