Magic Under the Sun

[Tarinth]

To Wynn I say, I assure you, we are more than prepared to stop these evil creatures from invading any more towns. We already killed the dragon you saw as well as the fire giant's main force of orcs and ogres.

Then I turn to Quintar. Well, we might as well take them to the town he mentioned. No place out here is prepared for refugees, but it will be better than nothing.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( Anyone gonna answer Wynn?
Anyone got anything to say about Tarinth's ideas?
Anyone got anything else to say or do?

P.S. I forgot to mention—Tarinth may be away on Spring Break, but he gave me permission to NPC him. So as far as I'm concerned, we're still on. ))

[Entertainer13]

Um, we stopped it. Didn't we already tell them that we stopped them?

Quintar agrees with Tarinth's assesment.

[adanedhel9]

Plus, when we get to Villmore, we can deliver the letter Tianna wrote.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( You said, "We were sent to stop this rampage." Doesn't say if you've achieved it yet or not. And Wynn's not quite aware a small group like yourself could have done that already...

So's everyone packing up for Villmore? ))

[ericoedge26]

((I am on spring break as well so take into account we're having internet problems and I might not be on as much as I want to be.))

Sounds good to me.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

You salvage what you can from the camp, especially food and tents, and head off to seek help at Villmore.

As dusk approaches, Tamboc can make out the village on the horizon. If you keep going, it'll be a few hours after dark by the time you reach Villmore. But the refugees are obviously tired, so it might be a good idea just to set up camp and get to the village in the morning.

[adanedhel9]

Sounds good to me. Should we send someone ahead to let the locals know we are coming? How far away is Villmore at this point?

[Tarinth]

Well, I'm not exactly a PR guy and neither is Chonk. Quintar or Mab would be good choices for diplomacy seeing as we're telling Villmore the bad news that we're bringing refugees to their town. Of course Tamboc, you have the most expedient way to get there and back, and your very charismatic as well. Anywho, I'm OK with a surprise arrival too.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( The village is about 6 miles away. Once you figure in the terrain (you have been unable to converge with a road yet) and number of slower moving folks (children, injured people, a few halflings...), the whole crowd is moving at about 1.5 miles per hour (or 15 ft. tactical speed). However, Squaw should be able to reach Villmore in just under an hour. ))

[adanedhel9]

Okay. Tamboc will ride ahead to give notice of the masses. He'll also take the letter, in case anyone in Villmore is in a position to do anything about it (doubtful, but possible).

[Entertainer13]

Sounds perfect. We be off!

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Being slightly smaller than Serranton, Villmore consists of a small core of buildings offering basic services for the greater community and a series of outlying farms.

The total dark of night has not yet fully set in by the time Tamboc reaches the village square. Though it is late and you would expect people to be home for the night, there is something unsettling in the quiet of the village. Lamp-light shining from windows betray which town buildings also serve as residences. One particularly well-lit building also reveals that even a hamlet this small can support a tavern.

[adanedhel9]

I suppose I'll have to find someone with some sort of authority. Is there some sort of guard post, or a town hall, or something?

[Tarinth]

LOL. Every town can support a bar. Have you been to Arcadia or any of the small towns around here. They have more bars than any other recrational buildings like churches and such.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

There's nothing that you can tell for sure would serve any of those functions. Villmore is small enough it doesn't have much in the way of official governance.

If any troops or guards were sent to Villmore, they'd need housing. They might have taken any rooms that are rented out in the tavern. If not, someone in there could probably direct you to whoever calls the shots in this burg when the shots need calling.

[adanedhel9]

All right then, to the bar I go.

Who is in charge here?

Once I find the appropriate person:

As a servant of the king and church, ((Is that right? I don't if Tamboc is literally a servant of the king.)) I need the help of you and this village. We found a group of villages from Serranton and Carascon who had been taken as slaves. They will need beds and food until we can get help from king and church.

[Tarinth]

What? I was making a joke DM, but in one of those sad honest ways where you know bars really are more popular than church. Anyway, I'm going to go stand in my corner now.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

As Tamboc approaches the tavern, he notices it is labeled with a sign reading, "The Villmore Drinkhouse: Travellers Rest Here." Upon coming through the door, he finds the tavern to be having a bad business night. Aside from the overweight bartender with the frizzy grey hair and Tamboc himself, there are only three people in the bar. Two of them appear to be sharing the table that is farthest from the third patrons spot.

Upon hearing Tamboc ask, "Who's in charge here," the lone patron, a man dressed in dark grey with greasy black hair and several days worth of bleard-stubble, stands up and responds with a scowl, "Who's in charge? Why, that would be me." He pauses and glances at the other men in the bar, as if challenging them to say otherwise. "What's it to ya?"

---

Upon hearing Tamboc's request, he makes an odd chuckling noise, "Well, they gotta find someplace else. They ain't welcome here. For the time being anyway."

((As this man says so, Tamboc notices that there may be something small hidden on the inside of the man's belt...))

[adanedhel9]

I didn't ask for your welcome: they are coming here. I came ahead not to ask your permission, I came to give you fair warning, so that you have time to prepare for what decency and duty demand of you.

Now, if something prevents you from providing aid, speak, and I will do what I can to help. Otherwise, rally those who can help us, or at least stand aside and let us do the rallying.

Diplomacy (1d20+10)[11]

[Shhalahr Windrider]

The man in grey takes a moment and scratches his stubble. Looking like he made up his mind about the issue, he says, "You know what? Maybe you're right. It's late, but I suppose we should get on this right away. I'll need my, ah, assistant, Throelg to help. Fortunately, he's just outside. By the stables. Let's go out to meet him." He smiles and begins to move towards the tavern door.

Tamboc notices the one patron whose face he can see adopt a worried expression as soon as the man in grey mentions Throelg.

[adanedhel9]

Can I roll a Sense Motive? Or did you already do that behind the scenes?

Lead the way.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( Well, I'm figuring on taking care of any opposed rolls vs. bluffing and all that, but you can certainly go ahead and try to get a "Hunch". ))

The man in grey opens the door and steps out onto the tavern porch, only to suddenly stop. "What the hell is that?" he asks, pointing at the giant eagle in the village square.

[adanedhel9]

Okay then, a hunch it is: Sense Motive [roll]1d20+1[/roll]

Mrreeep.

She's Squaw. Don't worry, she's not dangerous.

((Except to filthy slaving orcs. *Snicker*))

[adanedhel9]

((Okay, apparently hitting preview screwed that roll up. Let's try again: Sense Motive (1d20+1)[11].))

[ericoedge26]

I suppose Azzy should be waiting outside since he is kinda ugly.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( Uh, Azzy is back with the refugees, several miles away... ))

(( As to the dice roller: Yeah, the dice roller doesn't work if you use preview because of the way it tracks rolls to discourage cheating. If you wanna react to the result of a roll, you gotta do a full post and then edit later. Just don't change the text of the roll. ))

Tamboc feels like something isn't quite right, though he's not sure if it's the man in grey, the patrons, or just the fatigue from a long day playing havoc with his senses. It's probably the fatigue.

With a sideways glance, the man in grey responds, "Not dangerous, eh? Well, what's it doing there?"

[adanedhel9]

Squaw's my mount. She's how I got here. She's how I'll leave when that time comes.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

He takes a tentative step towards the tavern's porch step, "Is she smart?"

[adanedhel9]

Yes, she is. Now can we move along? Discussing Squaw's smarts isn't getting us any closer to helping these people.