Adventures of the Mixed Company (4e Sandbox)

[Surrealistik]

"Hey hey! Now that's more like it! If there's one thing I love almost as much as cold hard cash, it's discounts. Personally prefer the five fingered variety, but the legal kind has its own, lesser charm. No hard feelings Reggie; be seein' ya."

With a friendly wave, the drow then saunters off, a broad smile on his face as he moves to rejoin the group.

****

Nihilus stands against the wall, munching absentmindedly on a handful of the provided biscuits as Jarek belts out his questions. His eyes flit impatiently about the room, features clearly steeped in boredom.

[Camelot]

"Madam, I assure you we shall do our utmost to find your son. Can you tell us his name?"

"His name is Howerd, Howerd Tirel, but his friends call him Howie."

"Could you tell us where his school is and what route he takes there and back?"

She squeaks and scurries into the other room. When she returns, she is holding a large, rolled up piece of parchment that turns out to be a map of Fannen-Dar. She indicates the path her son usually took; he stuck to the main roads, and it wasn't that far, only a ten minute stroll. She lets you keep the map, in case you need it.

"Do you perhaps know of anyone who would want to gain any leverage over you by kidnapping your son or anyone who might haver a grudge against him?"

"I don't know...we're not what you would call rich, and I haven't received any ransom notes...he didn't carry much money with him, I didn't want him squandering his hard earned gold on market trinkets...Oh!" She squeaks, remembering something. "He did mention a group of bad mannered boys who were bothering him at school, a few weeks back. I talked to the headmaster and he seemed to sort out the problem, but maybe one of them got hot headed and tried to get revenge? If I recall...Howie told me the leader of those bullies was named Mikal, but I don't remember his surname. The headmaster, Amarella Preisley, will know."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Oresteus nods as Reena and Jarek speak, but politely declines the offered tea.

When Reena mentions the bullies and headmaster, he says, "Then that is where we should look next. Thank you for your time, and fear not. We will find your son and bring him home safely."

[Drakefall]

Jarek, human swordmage:

Jarek smiles and nods at Oresteus' words.

"Indeed. Thank you for the information and the tea Mrs. Tirel."

Turning to the others:"Shall we be off to speak to this Mr. Preisley then?"

[Surrealistik]

Nihilus finishes off the last of the biscuits with a satisfied smack of his lips.

"Guess so, but while we're on our way there it'd probably be a good idea to survey Howie's route."

[Turalisj]

Masc put down the teacup that was now drained of it's contents. Ma'am, have there been any rumors of late, of things moving around at night? Perhaps bedtime stories you have told you child to scare him? Those rumors and stories have a bad habit of becoming true every now and then. Some of the present company should be, he motioned to the drow and himself, evident as to that. Er, not that we're evil or anything. Just to say that we are of racial heritage that usualy involves the kidnapping of little children. I mean, I'm not saying that we kidnapped your son ma'am. We'll do what we can to find him.....


.... You know what, I'll just leave the conversing with others to those who didn't take charisma as a dump stat.

[Camelot]

"Oh, my, I haven't heard anything like that," Reena says in response to Masc. "Everything was perfectly normal. I honestly don't know where to look, but maybe something was happening at school that Howie didn't tell me."

So, you head to Opel Academy. You follow Howie's path, and indeed it takes you along the major roads. The first road, heading north, is Temple Way, where all the major places of worship in Fannen-Dar are. From there, you head east, along a wide street of apartments. You pass Market Road, where merchants are shouting to passerby, hoping to get someone to buy their wares. Then you enter the northwest quadrant, where the nobility live. You pass grand stone mansions, built by dwarves and eladrin working together, until you reach the Opel campus.

The school is surrounded by a short stone wall. The entrance is a metal gate. You can hear a buzzing sound coming from behind the wall to the right of the gate, but you can't see what's making the noise.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Oresteus checks to see if there's some kind of bell, and if there isn't, he bangs on the gate with his fist.

[Drakefall]

Jarek, human swordmage:

Jarek holds up Mortimer on his arm and describes Howie to him, before asking him to have a look; after which Mortimer promptly launches into the air to survey the schoolyard and immediate area for any sight of the boy or anything overtly suspicious.

Spoiler

Show

OOC: Falcon familiars may go as far out as 40 squares from their masters, because WotC seems to believe only the mighty cat deserves the right to wander about on its own.

Perception roll for Mortimer to see if he gets lucky and spots Howie or anything interesting: 5 trained + 2 familiar
(1d20+7)[24]

[Surrealistik]

As the group travels along Howard's route, Nihilus' carefully looks about for any clues in the vicinity, head slowly panning across the street's expanse.

Spoiler

Show

Perception Check: (1d20+5)[17]

****

When he comes to the gate, the assassin's eyes immediately fall upon the location of the buzzing noise, a hand darting to his longsword, ready to draw. He then sweeps the area with a cautious, searching glance.

Spoiler

Show

Perception Check in OOC.

[Camelot]

Mortimer flies over the gate and immediately sees the source of the buzzing: a guard fallen fast asleep in an awkward position, causing his snore to emit as a buzzing noise. However, Mortimer doesn't see anyone fitting Howie's description in the area.

At the sound of Oresteus' knock, the guard springs awake. "Whu-hugh! Ohm, er, greetings. Do you have business at Opel Academy?"

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Yes we do. We are looking for Howerd Tirel, who dissapeared recently. We were told by his mother, Reena that he attended this school. We would like to speak with the headmaster."

[Camelot]

"Okay, well, I don't know anything about the students, I'm just a guard, but you can certainly come right in and speak to the headmaster, as soon as I call down a few guards to escort you."

Two guards arrive, one a dwarf and one an elf, who guide you through the school to the headmaster's office. After waiting a few minutes for the headmaster to be done with a meeting, you are allowed inside.

The headmaster is a female eladrin with golden orbs for eyes and perfectly straight red-orange hair. She wears flowing emerald robes, and those of you who are perceptive see a wand poking out of her pocket.

"Welcome to Opel Academy," she says in a whispery voice. "As you are probably aware, I am headmaster Preisley. I hear you are inquiring about a student, Howerd Tirel. I would be happy to answer any of your questions."

[Surrealistik]

With the noise outed as a lazy (and probably ill-paid) watchman, Nihilus rolls his eyes, sheathing his weapon.

****

The assassin notes the partially concealed wand with a raised eyebrow, wryly noting that the headmistress may be as talented as she was totally hot. Shaking his head to offset the mental undressing, he responds.

"Yeah, the kid's missing and we're the ones commissioned to find him. Heard there were a couple of bullies he was in the bad books of; Mikal and his crew? His mom said you could tell us a little more about em."

[Drakefall]

Jarek, human swordmage:

Jarek could have sworn that Mrs Tirel said the headmaster was a Mr., but oh well, she clearly isn't.

Jarek jumps in to add a touch of politeness to Nihilus' question"Indeed, as my comrade said we are looking for the missing Tirel boy. He hasn't returned home in three days and his mother is worried sick. We were hoping you would be able to help us."

Mortimer chipes in with a lazy "Kaw" for no apparent reason.

[Camelot]

The headmistress sighs. "Yes, Howerd's mother sent someone to me two days ago, asking if I knew where her son was. I am afraid I must tell you the same thing: I do not know. With my duties as headmaster as well as teacher, I am too busy to conduct a search; the town guard has been informed, but they won't go out of their way for a middle caste child. That is why she must have went to the adventurer's guild for aid."

"I can tell you that Howerd was a fine student. He was in my combat tactics class. He was studying to be a resourceful warlord, but I was beginning to get suspicious that he had multiclassed into rogue. I was going to confront him with my concerns, but that very day he didn't show up to class."

When Nihilus mentions Mikal, she raises an eyebrow and ever so slightly tilts her head. "I'm afraid Mikal is a very common name; we have about five boys named Mikal here. Two of them I would point out as known troublemakers, and one more who I don't know very well. The other two, though, are fine students who I would never contrive to be involved in bullying."

[Surrealistik]

"Warlord and rogue multiclass?"

Nihilus visibly winces at the thought.

"Urgh, you were right to be concerned. Well fortunately, if he's uh, still alive, there's always retraining; this is fourth ed after all."

It takes him a strained moment to purge the idea of such a patently terrible build decision.

"Anyway, this Mikal hung around in some sort of gang if that helps narrow things down. If it doesn't, maybe you can give us the names and whereabouts of their teachers. I'd also like to hear more about those troublemakers."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"What is this 'multiclassing' of which you speak?"

[Camelot]

After a disdainful glance at Oresteus, headmistress Preisley says, "Certainly, you may speak to the boys and their teachers, but I won't have you interrupting their classes." She glances at a sundial near the window. "In about a half of an hour we will have our afternoon break. You may speak to whomever you like then; I will gladly fetch them for you. In the meanwhile, you may wait downstairs."

If you have no more questions, the guards lead you to a waiting room downstairs, where you can discuss what you have learned or surmised and what you plan to do next.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Oresteus regards the headmistress.

"Is there any particular reason for the dirty look, madame?"

[Drakefall]

Jarek, human swordmage:

Jarek attempts to answer Oresteus' question.

"Multiclassing is when you take a feat that grants you a small, weaker version benefit from another class as well as skill training in one of that classes skills. For instance, I've taken a ranger multiclass feat that got me trained in perception and lets me use the hunters quarry class feature once per encounter, though it only lasts until the end of the my next turn after I activate it, unlike the true ranger ability."

[Camelot]

"Excellent summary, ser," Preisley says.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Oresteus scratches his head, as if he didn't hear them.

"Is someone smashing a wall in the building?"

[Surrealistik]

"If you're referrin' to the fourth, it's been blown wide open well before we got here."

Observes Nihilus with a grin.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"The fourth?"

((I'm starting to think this'll be Oresteus' schtick. The anti-Elan, completely incapable of understanding that they're in a fictional medium and taking everything seriously. ))

[Surrealistik]

"Yes, the metaphysical partition between this fictitious world and reality."

Nihilus sighs and shrugs in resignation.

"Ah, forget it."

Turning back to the headmistress, he makes a final query.

"Don't suppose you could you provide us with the names of the teachers who oversee these Mikals? Would save us some time."

[Turalisj]

And if any of them are secretly in a cult to Vecna. And if any are, the location of where they sleep at night would be useful. Masc said, looking off into space.

[Camelot]

"The sages in question are Ploronius, who heads the Wizardry department, and one Miss Setchel, who teaches the new class "Lost in the Crowd: How to Hide in Plain Sight. I'll send them both down to the waiting room as well as the boys."

In response to Masc, the headmistress furrows her brow but simultaneously smiles, not sure whether he was joking or if she should take his comment seriously. "I don't think that will be necessary," is all she manages to say.

[Drakefall]

Jarek, human swordmage:

"Excellent! We should head over there presently then, unless any of you have any further questions?"

[Surrealistik]

"I'm good, time to play the waiting game I guess. Been a pleasure Ms Preisley, hope we'll meet again soon; perhaps after I get through with this contract?"

Nihilus gives the headmistress a flirtatious look and wink as he turns on his heel and departs.