The Wrong Guys IC

[Strawberries]

"What?!" Audric says, shocked. That little...I was looking right at him.

((Ajadea: what am I missing?))

[Savannah]

Rana picks up the glowing rock that the elf left behind, puzzled as to why it is shimmering.

[FirebirdFlying]

Rowan

"Was looking for someone. Got lost. You?

"…And d'you know the way out?"

[Ajadea]

((A lot. You all are. There won't always be convienient exposition faeries around. Except when there are.))

A voice echoes out of the rock. It sounds female, and stressed. "Lieran! The commander wants your report!"

[Strawberries]

((A lot. You all are. There won't always be convienient exposition faeries around. Except when there are.))

((I meant literally speaking. . What did the "elf" take?))

[Ajadea]

((About 50 gp, and a day of trail rations))

[Savannah]

"Lieran is gone. He left this; maybe I can help you?" Rana speaks to the rock, while gesturing for Audric and Antal to keep quiet.

[Ajadea]

"That idiot!" She shouts something else, nearly unintelligible.The rock combusts in a flash of dark blue light. Take (1d6)[4] damage.

[Savannah]

"Well, it was worth a try. Ow." Rana brushes the rock fragments off herself. "I'm heading back to the surface. You said you knew somewhere where...unusual...races were ignored?" she says, turning to Antal.

[Jallorn]

Yeah, do try and look poor though, or dangerous... or both. It helps, and once again, Antal starts to bound off, stopping if he isn't followed.

[Strawberries]

"That's what I get for trying to be nice. All alone with no friends, my left foot." Then, to Rana, in a tone that might be considered gently mocking. "What, little lady, you aren't the least bit curious about what he was and where he come from?"

((And something I realize I should have done earlier knowledge religion - (1d20+1)[15]. Anithyng about scaly elves or rock communication deviices?))

[Jallorn]

Hey now, don't be forgetting or underestimating the halfling. Just cause I'm small don't mean I'm dumb or childish. Although I am sometimes childish. Anyway, my point is, there's nothing more we can do down here, and all right, if you insist you can come too, but if you get robbed blind... again, don't say I didn't warn you.

[Jallorn]

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Sorry for the double post, but I think I'll throw in some knowledge checks too. Still got plenty of inspiration points, so I'll apply those too. I read it as this: this is something new. A strange paladin being outwitted by an apparently magical elf, he wants to know more. So his mind is racing with what he does know.
History: (1d20+8)[13]
Arcana: (1d20+7)[18]
Local: (1d20+8)[18]
Not bothering with other knowledges as he wouldn't bother to try to think much outside his expertise yet.

[Savannah]

"I can do dangerous." She smiles sweetly, laying an hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"And, yes, I am curious. But do you know what else I am? Not stupid. I'll bet that whoever I just spoke to knows where we are and doesn't want us here. I have no intention of being here to find out how she reacts. Now, are you coming?"

[Strawberries]

"I wouldn't dream of underestimating you, my friend. I already made that mistake once, today" Audric smiles a bit "And don't think I enjoy staying here in this smell. But I'm still a paladin. Shocking, I know" he grins to the half-elf "I was sent down here to investigate. I found something, I can't leave it alone Or were you suggesting to letting the waters calm a bit?"

[Ajadea]

Antal:

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The elf is likely a dragon-descended. Which is odd, because they aren't supposed to exist outside of stories. There hasn't been a dragon sighting for 340 years.

The communication stone looks as if it was enchanted, perhaps with message or a similar spell. And another effect to make it blow up on command, apparently. From what you know, only arcane magic is capable of transmitting speech like that, though arcane and divine magic can both create the effect of light.

The elf...isn't. Despite your knowledge about the local area and the rarity of elves in this country, you can count on one hand the number of rumors there are about elves. None mention green-scaled elves capable of stealing your money from under your nose.

Audric:

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The elf is probably a dragon-descended. Which is odd, because they aren't supposed to exist outside of stories. Your church claims that dragons are a hallmark of a more chaotic age, and are now mostly extinct. Anyways, there hasn't been a dragon sighting for 340 years.

The glowing stone is easily created with a simple orison, but only arcane magic is capable of transmitting speech like that.

And guys? I know we just spent 5 pages on set-up, but I assure you, there is an overarching plot-line. Pretty darn big one too.

[Jallorn]

Like I said, nothing more we can do now. Plus wolf-friend here brings up a good point. Someone using magic of that level is bound to be able to find our location. And that was arcane magic.

[Savannah]

"I"m merely suggesting that fighting on another's home territory rarely ends well. Lieran knows who you are. If they want to find you they can, but make them do it on your terms. If they don't find you, you can always come back."

[Strawberries]

"Now why, in Aldaran's name, fighting is all you can think when you look at me?" he sighs. Sometimes being a paladin is a hindrance. "And I know it was arcane magic. I can sense arcane magic. And I just realized: that elf looked like a dragon-descended. Dragons were supposed to be gone years ago." then, shakinghis head a bit It's possible that you're right. This is bigger than I thought.

((Ajadea: I've never doubted it. We just need to find a way to stop bickering with each others (the characters, not the players), and join with Firebird and Nanoblack ))

[Savannah]

Rana laughs bitterly. "It's not you. Look at me; you think I can go anywhere without thinking about how to fight for my life?"

[Jallorn]

Oh come on, you can tell he's dragon descended just by looking at him. What is truly impressive is that there's no evidence of him, I think he might be new to this area.

[Strawberries]

"Apparently, little lady, in the sewers. With a paladin. I bet you weren't expecting that." Not that I was. He chuckles again Not to mention you might look exactly like one one my nieces. But that's a story for another time, I think.

He turns slowly around, taking a couple of steps in each direction, trying to get a better sense of where he is. Things had become pretty weird pretty fast, and he hasn't had the occasion till now.

"And do you happen to have seen many dragon descendents lately?" he asks Antal "Because I haven't. Not outside stories, anyway."

((spot - (1d20+1)[2] listen - (1d20+1)[9], to get a better sense of where he is. Also, detect magic, again. EDIT: apparently he is blind and deaf. Oh, well.)).

[Ajadea]

Audric:

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A moderate magical aura swamps your field of vision. Same sort of royal blue color as the stone, same slightly tingly feel. You have this horrible feeling something is watching you for a brief moment.

[Strawberries]

You can see Audric concentrate, seemingly focusing inward. Then he startles, and his eyes widen for a moment "You were right, we are being watched" You could swear he just uttered what would be considered a pretty creative swearword, for a paladin. "I have to learn more about this. Possibly ask for help." But he is reluctant to bring the rest of the temple into this. Some of the people in his order, the shining hopes of Aldaran, as he mockingly calls them in his head, would consider a reasonable course of action to purge with fire the entire sewers. And then, goodbye, possible clues.

Then something suddenly occurs to him: there are two people, right in front of him, who already know all that he knows about the situation "I don't suppose you'd be interested?" he says, looking amused at himself.

[Nanoblack]

"Was looking for someone. Got lost. You?

"…And d'you know the way out?"

"I can show you the way out, but I still have a bit of business left down here. Would ya mind sloggin' around down here a little longer? Maybe those weirdos might know somethin' about your lost friend."

He gestures for you to follow and starts retracing his footsteps.

[Savannah]

All I wanted was to get out of here. Go back to the woods. But I'm so curious... Rana looks torn, and when she speaks, she sounds like she can barely believe what she's saying, "Yes, I think I would be interested. As long as you aren't planning to bring any more paladins in on this; your kind aren't exactly known for being open minded."

[Jallorn]

I said it was obvious, not unimportant. But yeah, I'm always up for some adventure. Wish you were a little more fun to annoy, but I guess I wouldn't really want to spend very much time with you if you were. Mixed blessing then. Now come on, let's get the hell out of here.

[Strawberries]

"It's possible that I will have to, in the future" he understands the woman's concerns, and he doesn't want to lie to her "But in that case, I'll inform you in advance." He smiles openly, holding out his hand "Do we have an agreement?"

EDIT ((OOC: that'll teach me to keep the "post reply" window open for too long. Sorry to have missed your post, Jallorn))

I said it was obvious, not unimportant. But yeah, I'm always up for some adventure. Wish you were a little more fun to annoy, but I guess I wouldn't really want to spend very much time with you if you were. Mixed blessing then. Now come on, let's get the hell out of here.

"I can't tell if you're paying me a compliment or not. But just in case, thank you." Audric answers the halfling.

[Jallorn]

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I say we pause here for the other two to catch up.

[Strawberries]

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I agree. Phew. Three together, two more to go.