Sedition (4e Dnd IC)

[Incomp]

Here's the in character thread for Sedition 4e. When you're posting in here, keep out of character-ness to a minimum- most of the time, that should go on the dedicated OOC thread. I understand an, for example, impromptu discussion of the situation you're in, but you should not use this space to tell us, say, you're going to be gone for the weekend.

[Incomp]

It is early spring. The cold, harsh, hungry winters of the world are just beginning to break, and for the past few weeks, you have been able to feel the populace waking up from their winter melancholy. Specifically, today is the Thaw, a holiday which marks the point at which the snow begins to melt and farming can begin again. On the Thaw, in almost every community around the world, a great gathering, known as the Festival of the Thaw, is held. Whether by accident or design, you have found yourself in the City-State of Mittegarve in Gaorinn, a relatively modest trading town nestled between the fork in the river Kroft which forms the river Mitte. You've wandered into the Festival Annulus, a permanent site for each year's Festival, where the large majority of the population has gathered to celebrate. Over the din, you hear a priest of the Pelaurum and a Speaker from the Wild, and you catch a whiff of the tantalizing aroma of hot food-- you've had a hard winter, too.

[SidCoolios]

A man is standing alone, at the edge of the annulus. He is clad in gray leather armor, the color of the sky on a stormy day. Beneath the armor he wears nothing but a black cloth shirt and pair of pants. The gray armor has splashes of red on it, looking much like blood stains. Particularly on the shoulders and one giant splash across the chest. He carries a plain, unadorned sheath slung across his back, only the handle visible, the rest hidden by his cloak. The sword is plain except for a single golden topaz set where the blade meets the hilt. His face is covered by the hood of his cloak.

This man's name is Velkoth.

He is attending this ceremony with only one purpose. He heard a rumor that morning that bandits were going to attack the city state. Since this was the Festival of the Thaw, he knew the people would be unprepared if the slight chance of something happening came true. He only attended to keep a lookout for trouble.

But that roast chicken was looking quite delicious....

[senrath]

A short, thin man wandered around the crowds, his well-worn cloak a stark contrast to his dazzlingly bright shirt. He made an odd sight, with the goggles that sat on top of his head, and the staff that was slightly taller than he was. His stomach growling, he made his way over to where the food was being kept. It had been weeks since his last good meal.

[gareth]

Alvis wanders through the Festival, ignoring the food. He's a dwarf, but he's thin enough that he could be mistaken for a short, heavily bearded man. He wears cheap-looking black robes under a set of chainmail and a cloak that look far more expensive. Alvis winces as he hears the priest, and makes his way to where he is addressing the crowd.

So you're a priest of Pelor?

Alvis turns to the audience and calls out to them in a sacastic tone.

Those of you who are sick or crippled, come forward and be healed by the mighty priest of Pelor!

[Dekkah]

Bortos
A tall and muscular Goliath walk among the crowd. Everyone can see his bald head poping out of the crowd. He wear an used but clean hide armor. A large shield hang on his left shoulder, a quiver of javelinson his right and a longsword by his belt. He walk with confidence toward the food stand.
"How much for a nice meal?" he ask to the cook.

[Shhhh!]

Lukas stands uneasily in the crowd, a hulking figure wearing black scale armor, with a longsword hung at his hip, carrying a blood red gem at the cross guard. He has a unadorned, circular steel shield hanging over a backpack. He wears a leather belt over the armor, with several totems and trinkets strung to it, and his face is marred by a number of scars. He keeps one hand resting on his sword as he walks through the crowd, rarely having to push someone out of the way. His light green skin, and jutting lower fangs insure their distance alone. He sighs as the scent of food wafts over the air towards him, and begins to walk to the food vendors, only stopping when he hears a small, dwarf sized human begin taunting the faithful. After a moments though, he heads to the outskirts of the crowd, growling in Giant at anyone who stands in his path. Upon reaching the group, he stands, arms crossed, and watches dispassionately the unrolling exchange.

[Incomp]

Gareth: The priest, standing upon a radiant altar of the sun, looks down upon Alvis and tells him: I am a priest of Pelor, my son, and it is clear to me that your life has been difficult. You mock me and, in doing so, you mock Pelor. But I blame you not. Yet you must overcome your bitterness, my son. We live in hard times, and embracing misery hardly improves our lot. Yea, he says, transitioning naturally into a sermon, for to accept bleak misery is to die. Know that in your toils, Pelor watches over you, and cares for you. Let this knowledge give your soul hope and lend your arms strength. Be filled with the light of Pelor. And, he says in an undertone to Alvis, I will have you know, my son, I can work no magic and do not pretend miracles come from my temple. I try my best to mend the wounds the people suffer, but I am only one man.

Dekkah: The cook, a slight, befreckled boy of no more than fifteen, finds himself intimidated by Bortos' elephantine proportions and stammers for a moment before shaking his head and grinning at him. "Five silvers, sir. But take it easy, everyone else needs to eat too," he says, evidently trying to make a joke.

Shhhh!: As you make your way to the edge of the ring, a small boy clad in grimy clothes, no more than eight years old by your estimate, stands in front of you and refuses to acknowledge your rancor-filled grunts. He speaks you: "Hello there! Are you an orc? My mommy says orcs are bad. She says if I see one, I should run away very fast. Are orcs really bad? Where are all the orcs? What color is an orc? Why do you have such funny teeth?"

[King Tius]

Trale

A very thin man stands with a longbow slung across his body. Both his hands are full of big turkey legs and he eats them voraciously. Occasionally someone in the crowd nods to him, recognizing him as last year's winner of the town's archery contest.

[Incomp]

King Tius: Trale hears a boy calling out "Trale! Trale!" Eventually, a young man emerges from the crowd, and maneuvers up to you. He's tall and a little thin, though almost everyone is, winter having just ended. You know him. His name is Addumn, and he's told you repeatedly he's a big fan of yours. "It's been a while," he says to you. He must think you're friends. "Have you heard about the bandits? I heard bandits are coming to kill us, but mum says it's just a silly rumor. I don't know. Joeb told me, and he heard it from Donnul, and Donnul said Geiff told him. But it doesn't matter, because you're here, right? You'll protect us, won't you?" There is real worry in the boy's eyes.

[King Tius]

Trale responds to his fan (he loves the attention!) but his mouth is full, so it comes out a bit muddled.

(I will spare you and type in proper English)

"Don't sweat it, Kid. Those bandits wouldn't know what hit them."

[Incomp]

Addumn is visibly relieved, and he tells you so: "That's good to hear. I hope they come now. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when you put an arrow between their eyes! I think I'm gonna go tell Joeb and Geiff and Donnul that since you're here, we've got nothing to worry about!" Having said this, he prances merrily off into the crowd, humming boisterously.

[SidCoolios]

Giving into temptation, and telling him self that nothing was actually going to happen, Velketh makes his way to a stand to get some roast chicken. On his way he see's a dwarf mocking a priest, and an orc being pestered by a small child. After reaching the stand he looks to his left and sees a goliath scaring a food vendor, and a small strange man with a glowing staff on his back.

Hmmm... I'm starving

He purchases a piece of chicken and takes a bite. Only after swallowing the delicious food does his brain begin to work again.

Wait a second...

He jumps on top of the roof of the wooden stand and looks into the crowd. There were an abundance of fishy looking people.

Something was going to go down.

[Dekkah]

Bortos
Bortos pays the kid and take his food and start to eat. As Velkoth climb onto the stand to scan the crowd, Bortos do the same from the ground, curious to see what the man spotted.

[Shhhh!]

Lukas stands still, gazing quietly at the boy, coming to a silent decision. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, He tilts his head, taking care to make no overtly threatening motions, talking slowly, in a rolling, deep voice.
You should listen to your mother, child. Orcs are not bad, they are mean, and if you have something, anything they want, they will hurt you and take it. But I am only half an Orc, I am not so cruel. Orcs are bigger, and greener and here Lukas gestures to his green tinted skin than I, and if you see one, you must not simply run very fast, you must run until you find the nearest town, because they hide in the woods and hunt little children for food. Lukas then pushes the child gently to the side, and goes on his way, hoping to catch the last few dregs of the riot that would surely follow the little hairy man's actions, lost in thought along the short way.
Let the child be scared enough to avoid speaking to such heavily armed strangers in the future...He's lucky enough he wasn't skewered as is, and with such a warning. Kids these days! HUMANS these days....Blesch. Old one eye take the poor fools, I knew better than to pester a warrior in full armor at his age!

[MCerberus]

Kraagor

Not one to usually get involved in a celebration, Kraagor still found himself in town for this one. He'd always had a special like for Thaw, if only because it meant the bitterness of winter was passing. It was starting to get warmer yes but the wilds were not one big stretch of sticky mud. It also happens to be one of the more acceptable times to be one with the old faith.

Kraagor moves through the crowd quietly. He is slightly thin for a dwarf, but this is mostly hidden by layers of thick animal hide armor. He keeps his hood up while searching, showing only his ornately tattooed face while he searches for whoever speaks for the spirits these days.

Eventually finding his way to the Speaker, he waits for the current lively chant to end before approaching him, "Aye so what does the season hold in store this year?"

[gareth]

Alvis laughs.

Sorry, my mistake.

He turns back to the crowd.

Those of you who have insomnia-

He breaks off as he notices Velketh jump up onto the roof. Alvis leaves the priest without a word, pushing through the crowd to get a better view of Velketh.

Spoiler

Show

Perception test: Who's the guy on the roof, and what is he doing? (1d20+7)[22]

[Incomp]

MCerberus: As the Speaker of the Wild turns to respond to you, you are slightly shocked to see a creature you knew mainly out of legend: Its skin is light green, and along its body are tiny branches with budding spring leaves. You are looking upon a Wilden, the children of the earth itself. You know the town must be blessed by the spirits indeed to receive such an auspicious Speaker for the new summer. The Wilden says to you in quiet dwarven with a voice like rustling leaves: "I discern the spirits within you," a very archaic greeting between two members of the Druidic Tradition. "I will be forthright with you. The portents look grim indeed. There is much blood and death in the summer. But do not speak of this to the people, and trust in the spirits. We will endure."

Overhead, the evening sun is obscured by gathering rainclouds. The Speaker looks puzzled by this, and much of the populace groans as they notice.

[Dekkah]

Bortos
Bortos spot the half-orc speaking with the young man and turn around to Velketh and tells him,
"Relax man, this is an Half-orc, not a savage beast from the crag. Get down from there, this stand probably isnt meant to support a full grown man weight.".

I hope it wont start to rain, I hate these low celling inns.think Bortos as he look at the clouds.

[MCerberus]

Kraagor

Kraagor nods in acknowledgement of the Speaker's request. An especially violent summer was ill news indeed. The living creatures seldom break from fighting each other when the weather is fair, so more bloodshed than normal does not bode well for anyone. Trying to disguise what he heard and any sign of foreboding, Kraagor responds slightly louder than his normal voice,

"Then we have special reason to be merry this day!"

With that, Kraagor gives in to his stomach and buys some food, paying double the asking price. As he begins to eat, he notices someone has climbed to the top of the roof. Kraagor turns to a nearby man (Alvis) and asks, "What's he doin' on the roof?"

[gareth]

Alvis shrugs.

No idea. Is there anything in the crowd that could be spooking him?

[Incomp]

gareth: (sorry I didn't see the spoiler earlier)

Spoiler

Show

You see a human on top of a food vendor's stand. He is dressed in fancy leather armor, probably magical, and carries a rather large sword and a symbol around his neck. From this distance, you can't make out the symbol's shape. However, you can ascertain that he appears to be scanning the crowd.

SidCoolios:

Spoiler

Show

care to make a perception check?

Dekkah: Put a link to your sheet on your signature, damn you!

It begins to drizzle. The worshipers of Pelor are visibly distressed by this, as the Thaw is a holy day of the sun. The formerly boisterous crowd begins becomes much quieter, as its members mutter amongst themselves trying to explain this dark omen. Finally, a man shouts out: "It's those damned tree-worshipers, id'n it!" Immediately an uproar breaks out, and the two parties shout furiously back and forth.

MCerberus:

Spoiler

Show

As a dwarf wise in the ways of nature, you know that rain this early in the year is unnatural. There is still much snow on the ground. Something is going wrong.

[SidCoolios]

(DM: Perception check (1d20+13)[27])


Velketh turns his still hidden face towards the goliath standing before him, he begins to speak quietly,

"Please be quiet, I'm trying to see what's going on. I've got a bad feeling about this and if it comes to a fight I wouldn't mind having someone of your stature on my side"

Velketh notices that the strangely dressed people he had seen before are all looking at him, he points to each one in turn and beckons them over.

[Incomp]

SidCoolios:

Spoiler

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Looking around, you spy A. quite a few members of the crowd looking at you, as you're kinda making a scene. B. A man in the Pelaurum side of the crowd about to throw a rock at the Druidic side, and several people around him cheering him on. This might get messy.

[MCerberus]

Kraagor

As the drizzles start to fall on his cloak and armor, Kraagor fills with a sense of foreboding. With the crowd growing restless and the need to get some place with a better view, he decides to head up to see what the man on the roof wants.

Climbing quickly and more easily than one would expect a dwarf to scramble, he makes it to the top. Before addressing the man, he takes a moment to scan the crowd for anyone acting more suspicious than the rabble. Kraagor smells the air deeply as the rain produces a smell alien to the world this early in the life season.

"So then, you know what's going on?"

OOC: Rolls

Spoiler

Show

Perception - (1d20+13)[31]

[senrath]

Reed finally made it to where the food was kept, and paid for some. Munching, he continued to wander around, not particularly paying attention to anything.

[Incomp]

Kraagor:

Spoiler

Show

you note that a man within the Pelaurum side of the crowd is about to hurl a rock at the other half, and that those near him are cheering him on. Furthermore, you glance up at the sky once more, and see the sky darkening. As night begins to arrive, it brings with it a profound sense of animosity, and the drizzle strengthens into full rain, the droplets somehow colder and harder than they should be.

The drizzle becomes rain, and a rock is thrown at the druids from somewhere within the Pelaurum crowd. A riot breaks out as the two sides collide screaming.

[SidCoolios]

Velketh, looking at Kraagor, points his finger at the fight at simply says,

"That's whats going on. I suggest we go run down to the podium and see if we can't calm them down."

With that Velketh jumps smoothly down and turns back to Kraagor giving him a look that says "Are you coming?"

[Shhhh!]

Lukas Stone
Lukas sighs quietly as the riot breaks out, muttering nearly under his breath
Giant=

Spoiler

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Well, not why I expected, but sure enough, here's a riot.

He then reaches behind himself, drawing out his shield, and pulls his helm down over his head, leaving only his jutting fangs and lower jaw visible, before bracing himself and trying to push his way against the tide and onto the stage.
[spoiler]I'm sure I'll need to roll something, but not sure what, so to save the effort and time, I'll throw some d20s out here, and you can cherry pick from my modifiers for whatever you need. (1d20)[19],(1d20)[2],(1d20)[19],(1d20)[17],(1d20)[16]. There's five, so lets hope that's enough

[Dekkah]

Bortos
A smile appears on Bortos face at Velketh first reply to him,
"Sure, some action is always welcome, make a long time since I could warn up myself."

As Velketh propose to go help calm the riot down, Bortos will ready his shield and put his hand close by his scword but keep it in his scabbard.
Better be ready for action I guess.
"I am with you, if thing turn sour, I'll protect you, just dont kill innocent people."
Bortos scan the crowd for possible trouble.

Spoiler

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I look for potential danger, someone who appear strong enough, who stand out and could pose trouble if fight errupt.
Perception : (1D20+9)[8](17)

Bortos Highpeaks