The council of Dragons

[Killsauce]

You are all in the bustling port city of Oceansgate. Oceansgate sits on a white sand beach on the middle of a large natural harbor. Many ships from various parts of the world come to this city to trade in their various wears. This is also the location of the Order of the Eastern Rose, a large and influential group of arcane magicians who have set up a college(Halls of the Eastern Rose) here for the study of the arcane. Next to the college is the Library of Boccob(dedicated to him due to his love of knowledge). The library is massive, one of the largest in the world and has a special wing that functions as a temple to the deity, where only ordained members of his priesthood are allowed to go. Also in this city is a group known simply as the Black Skulls. Black Skulls bear only one identifying mark, a black silhouetted skull on the back of there neck, which they often cover with there hair. They are a guild of thieves, some of the finest in the world and are notorious for recruiting new members from the sailors and drifters who wind up in this town.

Currently it is getting late and many of the citizens are calling it a night and gathering at the local taverns to relax and catch a story or song from a traveling bard, before going home for the night. You have all stumbled, for your own reasons, into the "Drunken Dragon Inn and Tavern", a quaint little tavern with a sign displaying a dragon passed out on the ground with a cask of ale spilled nearby. The room is packed with all kinds of interesting characters of almost every race imaginable.

[Violet Octopus]

Zyasel Moonbrook

Zyasel closed the door of the Library of Boccob behind her, with the odd combination of concentration and imprecision that comes from being trance-deprived. It had been a long few days collating and transcribing her notes, cross-checking and updating the Library's records on the towns she had visited. The work wasn't unpleasant, but it got mentally fatiguing. At last it was done, and she decided to go somewhere to unwind.

After glancing through the window of the Drunken Dragon, she decided it looked cosmopolitan enough to be likely to stock her favourite. She entered, and once another patron had left, sat down in his seat.

I'll have an elven bark tea, if that's possible."

[Derjuin]

Amirla Wildanar

Amirla set down the book and let her head rest on the table. She'd spent the whole day looking for and attempting to read - to the best of her ability - books, scrolls, anything with more information than she had on the undead. The sun was already down, to her surprise - time for rest. As she went to leave, she saw another of the Library's visitors - from the looks of it, a priestess - walk out the door.

Walking through the city at a quick pace, Amirla spotted a homey-looking Inn: the Drunken Dragon. A patron had just left, but a familiar-looking elf sat in his place.

She waited for another spot at the bar to open, then quickly took the seat.

"A pint of ale would do me good."

[Parlity]

Ady Renci

Ady had dozed off in a nook in the library, dreaming amidst the books of old tales and legends. She hastily gets up and re shelves her book about local heroes of Oceansgate, patting herself down to check that her stiff limbs are functioning. She leaves the Library of Boccob on the heels of another library patron, takes in a big breath of the evening air and wanders through the city, aimlessly following the confident looking wild elf.

Inside the inn, Ady sees that there's no bard playing. She hesitantly approaches the innkeeper, "Will ye take an evening of singing for some of yer bread and stew?".

[Omegonthesane]

Ewan Brand's son

Somewhere in the corner was a gangly-looking bloke with a cloak over him and a crossbow on his lap, because - for some reason - the Drunken Dragon allowed people to keep weapons at their side. Ewan had to resist snorting at that custom in the first city tavern he went to, when Sairi's lot were still together and drank together; even then, as a youth hardly worthy to run messages from place to place, he had known the stories about adventurers who the whole economy revolved around. And now, his only chance was to become one, with the group rumbled and him on the run; there was plenty of demand for runners, but no one would hire a grown man to do a little boy's job, and it was no step at all from hardcore freelancer to adventurer.

He noticed a couple of elves passing through the doors, replacing regulars, a priest of some kind and a chick with a bow. Hot stuff, but elves were right up there with eunuchs as far as odds went, so no reason to bother. He wouldn't have gone to the bar, but his tankard was empty and he had nothing else to do today, so he put an arm through the weapon's shoulder strap and stepped up. Some coins fell into his hand on the way, and he slapped them on the bar at the first opportunity.
"Another pint of Kord's Finest, please!" Then he saw it... a girl, nearer his age, thought she could get her keep for a song. Cute. "And another for the singer!"

[Killsauce]

Ady, the inkeep is in a small room adjoining the tavern. He is a large orc, who is surprisingly well groomed and wearing very fine clothing. "Of course sir. Just let Snorri, the barkeep, know that you want the bardic special. If I know him, he's already filling your order."

A rough looking dwarf with an eye patch and a wiry, bristled, beard takes the order.

"Lets see, here's the tea. Two orders of Kord's finest." He looks through a large opening into the kitchen "Bread and stew!!". Then he turns back to the other elf. "What kind of ale would ye like. We have Kord's finest, Goblin guts(nasty stuff that, but the orcs like it), Smitty's Brew, and if your looking fer somthin' ta knock yer little elven boots off, we have some genuine Dwarven Firebeard.".

[Derjuin]

Amirla ponders the choices a moment, then places a few coins on the bar.

"I think I'll have some of Kord's Finest."

She turns to view the rest of the patrons, then spins back around when her ale is ready.

[Killsauce]

Just so everyone knows the price of Kord's finest is 6 copper pieces(being fairly high quality ale) per pint.

and the tea is 2 copper pieces

[Parlity]

"Thank you," Ady says to the finely dressed innkeeper. She sets her pack down near a wall and tunes her lute, plonking and strumming it badly.

When the gangly bloke with the crossbow next to her calls out for a drink for her, she nods and says in a clear, carrying voice, "Thank you kind sir, have you got a request for a song?"

[Violet Octopus]

While waiting for her tea to brew, Zyasel sees a rather striking wood elf sit a couple of chairs away. A few moments later, she notices a young woman talking with a rather respectable-looking orc. Zyasel is pleased when she pulls out her lute - it's been a long time since she heard any good music. Small-town minstrels tended to lack a certain finesse.

Her tea arrives. "Thankyou kindly."

Zyasel pays for the tea, and sighs audibly as se begins to drink it. I'll have to come here more often. She places the delicate cup back on its saucer. After a while, something about the elf sitting nearby strikes her as familiar, yet she can't place it. She turns to her.

"Excuse me, but have we met before?"

[Derjuin]

Amirla turns to the lady next to her, taking another sip of her ale before setting it down.

"Hmm? I recall seeing you at the Library of Boccob; perhaps that's where you saw me as well?"

[Violet Octopus]

Now that she thought about it, Zyasel did remember seeing the other elf in the library, looking at shelves devoted to arcana. Odd, she didn't look like a mage.

"Hmm, you're right, I think we must have seen each other in the library." She paused awkwardly, then smiled. "My name is Zyasel."

[Omegonthesane]

Well, she apparently appreciated the gift of Kord's finest, or else was ridiculously polite, which would be a first among bards who frequented the kind of tavern Ewan would ever go to. Well, a first in his experience, he wasn't exactly a widely gone traveller or anything. The barman took the money Ewan offered, one silver and two coppers, all stolen on the way to the bar; then he heard the singer ask if he had a song request. Hm. That was a toughie.
"Er, d'you know the Epic of Pun-Pun?" That was a great one he'd heard in his lord's tavern, as a little lad, detailing how a shapeshifting druid nearly usurped the gods themselves, in the days when the world was young and gods walked the earth alongside their creations.

[Derjuin]

"Pleasure to meet you, Zyasel. My name is Amirla."

She smiled back to Zyasel before finishing off her drink. She looked over her new acquaintance and thought for a moment.

"Do you live here, in this city? Or are you a traveler too?"

[Parlity]

Ady looks a little worried. "Hmm I may remember that one," she mumbles, strumming on her lute badly, she puts it down and starts singing.

"pun pun pun pun whoosh creeeeaaaaawk!!"

[Killsauce]

What the hell!!!! What kind of song is that? Anyhow, give me a perform check.

[Parlity]

Perform(singing) (1d20+7)[16] mostly forgotten epic of pun-pun in auran with ad-libbed words.

[Killsauce]

((oh, right. Whoosh is an auran word, I forgot.lol))

[Violet Octopus]

"A pleasure to meet you too, Amirla."

Zyasel is distracted by the performance, which is unlike any musical tradition she's heard before. She decides to talk with the singer after she finishes,see what she can learn. She sips her tea again, and continues.

"Yes, I am a traveler, though not very widely. I visit towns and hamlets to learn information, which I then collate in one of our Libraries. I expect the Church will send me out again soon, though I don't know where."

[Derjuin]

"Interesting; I once protected my home and kin, but they no longer needed me...so here I am, a wanderer."

Amirla takes a quick look at the singer before looking back at Zyasel. She was singing in quite an odd language (if it was one at all), and decided she would talk to the girl after she was finished with her songs.

"Perhaps if we cross paths in the Library again, you can show me around it. I don't think I found what I needed last time..."

[Killsauce]

Ady, some of the guests begin setting coins on the stage to the tune of 5 gold and 3 silvers worth(though in various smaller denominations). One patron, however, doesn't seem to impressed. He's a small gnome(small even by their standards) and he appears to be quite old(again, even by gnomish standards). He waves his small pipe and yells "sing something in Common, what kind of language is that". Maybe it's best to to sing something everyone can enjoy.

However, before the gnomes request can be fulfilled, the loud merrymaking of the Tavern is broken with the loud sounding of long deep horn blasts. "It's the warning signal!" cries the barkeep "everyone evacuate the city!!".

[Omegonthesane]

Despite not being able to understand the language of the song Ewan hums along, remembering the tune well - though he's a little off key and definitely is no bard.

When the horns start blasting, he loads his crossbow and starts heading out with an itchy trigger finger, muttering his worry at the thought of what could require citywide evacuation.

[Parlity]

Ady bows and sweeps the coins off the table into her backpack, "Thank you, and for you kind sir I'll sing a lively ballad in Common," she says to the elderly gnome. As the horns blare and the barkeeper shouts, Ady looks around.

"What's the warning signal?" Ady tries to remember what the warning signal is for as she puts on her backpack and picks up her lute.

Bardic Knowledge roll (1d20+3)[7]

[Derjuin]

Amirla nods, appreciating the old gnome's request for a more understandable song. Her request for another ale is interrupted by a loud horn, to which she stands up hurriedly with the rest of the patrons. She follows the barkeep a few steps and shouts to him.

"What's the alarm? What's going on?!"

[Violet Octopus]

Zyasel opens her mouth to reply, when some kind of horn sounds, and the barkeep tells everyone to evacuate. One hand grasps the hilt of her sword, the other pats her chest to make sure her holy symbol is still there. She moves towards the door to take a look outside.

[Killsauce]

sorry, failure on the bardic knowledge. All you know as a bard, is that the horns must be frickin huge to produce a sound like that. You also are pretty sure the horns involve emergencies of some kind, and this is probably one.

Everyone who is asking around about the signal gets something to the tune of "They're the massive horns that were installed to signal invasions and such." Nobody has ever seen an actual evacuation in their lifetime and there is some chaos about finding the evacuation route. As you enter the street(whether or not you wanted to) you see the entire population of the city moving to the large gates on the landward side. It seems that the trouble is coming from the sea.

Ewan, give me a knowledge streetwise if you have it.

[Omegonthesane]

((No ranks in it but Knowledge (local) is a class skill and my Int mod is +2. I'm guessing this isn't DC 10 knowledge, but just in case: (1d20+2)[6]))

[Killsauce]

dang, failure. Sorry.

[Violet Octopus]

Zyasel moves swiftly back to the Library of Boccob. She is worried not all the elder sages have made it to safety, and perhaps someone there knows what's happening.

[OOC: I'm trained in knowledge (local), if you'd like me to make a check]

[Killsauce]

Sure thing violet. Also as you approach the library an orc in clerical robes stops you.

"Here" He says "Take this and get as far from here as possible. There is a statue near the center of town. At it's base is a sewer grate. Get in and follow the rats, they know the way."

With that he leaves. You realize that you are now holding a very large red spherical object. It appears to be some sort of egg, though what kind is unclear.