Benugaal

[Sen isSaqqara]

The sun shines brightly overhead, illuminating the small, open market square deep in the Great city of Caetech. Merchants trade their goods for the small gold, silver, and bronze coins used as the universal currency of Bolial and Dahlost. Citizens scramble to get what they need before heading back to their busy lives. On one side of the square is a small shop specializing in light meals and snacks known as the Lost Gods Restaurant and Altar. Why exactly "altar" is included in the name is a reason lost to time, but the proprietors refuse to rename it for fear of losing their older clients, most of whom refer to the place simply as "the Altar". It has an open patio in front of it for patrons to gather in while eating their meals. It may not seem at first glance like the ideal place to discuss things privately, but the noise level makes eavesdropping tough, and residual effects from an old artificer's shop across the way makes magical snooping near impossible. It is here that you meet each other for the first time. Each of you is here on the invitation of the wizard Markus Nemene, who wanted to talk to you all regarding a mysterious man who he has reason to believe each of you has seen.

[PollyOliver]

Lysa goes into the shop before heading out to the patio and gets in line to order a meat pie and a glass of cold beer. While she's waiting, she tries to blend into the crowd and glances out toward the patio to see if she can catch a glimpse of this Markus Nemene, or anything that might be out of place.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Minding the shop counter is a young half-elf boy. He hands you a mug of beer and a small meat pie which smells delicious but look a little dubious. It doesn't worry you: everyone you have talked to says that the meat pies at the Altar are great, despite their appearances.
"That'll be one silver piece in total." he says.

[PollyOliver]

"Thank you."

I pay him and head out toward the patio, still looking for Markus Nemene--or at least an empty table.

[Sen isSaqqara]

As luck would have it, you spot both at the same time. Sitting alone at a table meant for around ten people is a comparatively young (perhaps 20 years old?) grey-elf man fitting Markus' description.

[PollyOliver]

Lysa stops just before the bright outdoor seating area and takes an experimental bite out of the meat pie, washing it down with a small sip of beer. The pie is delicious, and the beer not to much to her taste, so she takes another small nibble, hesitating.

This is probably the most foolish thing I've ever done, she thinks. And I've done a lot of foolish things.

Whoever the man with the hat was, he was dangerous. He had to be. Why would the gods send her a warning years in advance if he wasn't? Unless the dreams came from him, which made it even worse. If he had the power to reach into her head, she ought to get out right now. Go home, tell Gareth she'd be playing the evening set after all, help Reese pair up wines with the specials like she always did, and hope she never saw the man again.

She stops herself, as she has a thousand times in the last two weeks.

It doesn't matter. I have to know.

With that, Lysa brushes the crumbs from her lips and her shirt and puts on her best charming-but-not-bright-enough-to-be-threatening smile. She takes a deep breath and heads over to the elf's table.

Hi, she says. I'm Lysa. Would you be Marcus?

[Wizibirb]

Jared entered the market he was wearing a travelers cloak which was wrapped tightly around himself. The only visible weapon on him was a large battle axe at his hip, he had a foreboding look on his face. It was one of anxiety, fear, and confusion. He did not like this, ever since he had encountered that 'man' everything had felt off, he needed to know... and now this wizard had contacted him, everything felt off. He read over the note again, trying to figure out how to find this wizard.

[Mayhem]

Andoitz felt it prudent to wear armour to the meeting today, but didn't want to look cagey. In an act of impulse he donned his flowing vesments of green and white, the choice outfit for clerics of Aait, complete with jewlery and holy symbol.
"Yes," he thought, "These will cover my armour nicely."

After the fateful event whereby this mysterious man spirited away his target, life has once again taken an unpleasant turn. Oakblade lost his hand for that particular incident, which cost no small sum to have restored.
"By the gods you have a sweet hat, Mr. Stranger. Just as I took this ring from that ape 'Scruffy Mate' for taking my hand, I swear that hat shall be mine."

With sudden thoughts cast back towards the market place, Andoitz hoped there would be a begger there to entertain himself in the case of early arrival. Surpressing a grin at the thought, he finnised his preparations by stowing a horsewhip under his robes and began his journey to the marketplace.

Upon arriving Oakblade was dissapointed to find no beggers, nor even a halfling baker, so he set his mind back to task.
"Where's that pretty elf Markus, and the red-headed cutie he spoke at such length of," he thought.

[Egneil]

Delihla stood before the entrance of the restaurant for a moment or two, contemplating the name. She shook as she discounted the notion that it was for the Old God of chaos and evil. She was wearing her old traveling clothes, which she had when she left her troupe. Having dyed them a brilliant green and a clear white when she started following Aait. Across the back was the symbol of her goddess, partially hidden at the very top by her hair as it spilled over her shoulders. Touching her holy symbol Delihla moved to the patio where the meeting was going to take place.

Upon seeing a gray elf that fit Markus's description, she placed one hand on her hip. Although she saw another woman stand at his table, Delihla thought she was only a waitress. She was just here to investigate the black-haired man, and see the intentions of the others who hunted him.

"Hello there! You're Markus I presume?" she started with a disarming smile. Taking a piece of parchment from one of her pockets, "It seems that you wish to speak with others about a strange black-haired man."

Without waiting for a response she sits down across from him and continues, "I myself am quite fascinated with him. Even though I doubt that our goals are similar, if they are alike at all, I suppose I could help you. If you would, I would like to hear your tale first," she pressed a finger to the side of her lips as she mused aloud to herself, "Of course I don't mind waiting for any others you've invited."

[PollyOliver]

When the newcomer took out the same note that Lysa had received--and left with Gared, in case something unforseen should happen--Lysa nodded to herself. It seemed that this was indeed Markus Nemene.

Still smiling, Lysa sat down and considered the newcomer for a moment, then extended her hand in greeting.

"I'm Lysa", she said. "You've seen him too?"

[Mayhem]

The the sun bearing down over head, Andoitz was starting to feel overdressed to say the least. Time for a drink, perhaps.

As he made his way to the bar, he paused a moment upon spotting the crowd's seeming gravitation around something not-quite-in-sight. Pushing on, he saw the Elf himself who along with the red-head was greeting a dimunitive figure with a note in hand.

"Markus sure can pick 'em, the sly dog."

Pulling on his most convincing humble and kindly face, Andoitz approaches the table. With a slip of the hand, a note appears in his cluches, to match the others, held respectfully in both hands.

"Greetings, noble friend. And who might be your honoured company?." He says with a respectful bowing of his head and a kindly smile upon his face, positioning himself neatly between the trio.

[Egneil]

Delihla blushed as she realized her mistake.

"Oh, I thought you were a waitress! Sorry for not not introducing myself earlier. I'm Delihla, Delihla Gibbsen," she said while accepting the hand.

"As for the strange black-haired man," she sighed "I have seen him. His presence was... potent to say the least."

Hearing the newcomer, Delihla turned to face him and smiled when she saw that he wore the vestments of her church.

"Why hello there!" she said while offering him a seat, "I am Delihla Gibbsen, loyal paladin of Aait. Who might you be? A priest or simple follower of Aait?"

[PollyOliver]

Lysa smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I am, actually--or rather, was, though never here."

Lysa looked at the newest arrival as well. It seemed this Markus had summoned a diverse group. Did it mean something, that the man with the hat had been seen by so many very different people? He must be doing something strange, to cross the paths of so many people who seemed to move in such different circles. Had they all dreamed him, too?

Still, at least the newcomers looked like they could handle themselves if he meant ill. Lysa wasn't particularly keen on facing the man down on her own with just her whip and her singing voice.

She mentally shook herself, and waved in greeting to the newest member of the group.

"My name's Lysa," she said, for perhaps the third time in one minute. She was beginning to feel like an idiot, but the only alternative was to not say anything at all.

[Mayhem]

He beamed at them, and with a florid bow to the pair, introduced himself.
"Pleasure to meet your aquiantances, I am known as Andoitz."
Turning to Delilah now, his kindly yet humble visage back on and taking hold of the seat proferred, "I am but a humble servant, noble sister."
With a respectful tilting of his head, Oakblade sits down. Leaning in, and in a conspiratorial whisper, "Now what do we know of this man?"

[PollyOliver]

Lysa nibbled at the pie again. The newcomer seemed nice--frankly, he seemed too nice, not that she was the best of judges. Despite the beer's sweetness--fruit beer was not her favorite--she took another sip, drinking slowly to stay alert.

"I don't know where the others have seen him," she said when she was finished, "but he was at the Golden Spoon two weeks ago. Just standing there. I looked down, and when I looked back up he was gone. I haven't seen him since, but it's...more complicated than I can explain easily. Perhaps the rest would be better left for when the others arrive."

[neoseph7]

Fyued Sbigglix
Gnome Sorceror

The short man walks into The Altar, not quite certain what to look for, but certain he would know when he saw it. It didn't take long. Some stand out more noticebly than others.

Ladies and gentlemen. A good day to you and well met. The thin humaniod greets the adventurers gathered around the long table. Sorry I'm late. I was debating as to whether this was all part of a dream or not. I half assumed no one would show up and I'd be eating meat pies all by my lonesome, chuckling at how odd my internal fantasy had progressed, but here we are. I certainly hope I'm not talking to figments of my imagination. The proprieters of this establishment would be quite put off. Abandoning this tangent, Hi. My name is Fyued.

Fyued bows and casts prestidigitation in order to add a dazzle of color and light to his salutation.

[Marxism]

In smooth well educated common Markus addressees you.
"Well it is most pleasant to be meeting you all. I have called you all together concerning a most mysterious man. From what you all say you seem to have some experience with him. As a wizard I always wish to know more about the most obscure things and this is not exception. Now I am sure you all have your reasons for wanting to see this man and so do I. I do not possess the Arcane power to find him with my divination's and even if I did I would be loath to search for him alone. I met the man on my travels and have been unable to get him out of my head. I know little more then you do but I would suspect that he is a spellcaster of some kind due to his dress."

Markus regards Fyued with an odd expression somewhere between curiosity and surprise.

[Wizibirb]

It was by sheer random chance that Jared had overheard the wizard start speaking. He grunted and joined the group looking around, he was not impressed by what he saw he could probably break most of these people over his knee with one arm. He stifled a sigh if this is what it took to find this man then he would... It was still in the back of his mind even now, meeting that man had been a curse.

He waited to speak, he did not want to interrupt just yet, he wanted no he needed to know more. He could not stifle his sigh this time. He instead, leaned up against a pillar, and put his hand on the hilt of his Battle-axe. The gesture was not meant to be threatening but to be honest he did not trust this 'wizard' and wanted to be able to act in an instant.

[Egneil]

Delihla kept an eye on Andoitz as he took the seat offered. She was not the most perceptive of paladins, but she picked up a knack for seeing what others intended over her years of service. Even though she doubted that he was a follower, she figured that he knew Aait's tenets. So long as he followed them she would have no grief with him.

Her thoughts were cut short when a Gnome reached the group. Delihla couldn't help but grin when the theatrics died down. Forgetting the company she was in she spoke in Gnomish instead of the common Hinian, "I haven't seen an entrance like that since cousin Kuja's little mushroom trip!" Beaming at Fyued she continued, "I mean no disrespect by it. It's just that I have seen so little theatrics since I left my home."

Offering Fryued the seat next to her she returns her attention to the wizard that brought them here. She nods in agreement when the Elf suggests that the the man they are looking for is a wizard. Delihla glanced over at a warrior that was leaning on a pillar. Even though she saw him place his hand on the battle-axe, she sensed no malice in it.

[Forb]

Nipnit!

Shuffling through the crowded streets, Nipnit is shadowed by most others. Yet his face is filled with a wide smile, or at least what looks to be a smile. Covered in dirty auburn fur, the weasel-boy looks as if he was just rolling around in mud, and smells like it as well. Darting back and forth through the vendors and common folk, he maniacally scoops up scraps of food from the ground.

Eventually finding himself within sight of the crowded table, Nipnit drops to all four legs and begins running at full speed, his rusted plate armor clanging with his weapons underneath a torn robe. Nipnit slams his invitation onto the table and looks around before climbing onto Lysa and stuffing his face into her meat pie.

Spoiler

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Holy crap, that sounded sexual. Unintended, I swear.
Hope this entrance is okay.

[PollyOliver]

Lysa picked up the strange creature by the scruff of its neck, examined it briefly, and frowned.

"You owe me a pie, you know?" she said in the most serious voice she could muster, before dissolving into the helpless laughter she'd been holding back since the gnome's light show. She set the creature back down in an empty chair, and let it keep the pie. There were probably fur balls in it now, and the creature was making unappetizing chomping noises. She looked critically at the beer she'd been trying not to drink, and then pushed that in its direction as well. Lysa tried not to wonder what the strange thing would do if it managed to make itself drunk, and instead changed the subject back to the reason they were there. The table seemed full, or nearly so.

"Are there others coming?" she asked Markus. "Or should we begin?"

[Marxism]

A smile crosses Markus's lips with the abrupt new arrival
Well I count seven of us so I believe that is all. I wish to be to the point so... This man in black. What do we know of him and what are we going to do? I am sure you are all wondering that. Well I have reason to believe that he will be returning to this area soon. I intend to learn as much as I can about him as possible until then.

[PollyOliver]

Lysa waited for Markus to continue, or someone else to cut in, but as silence settled over the table she forced herself to speak, despite the gnawing worry that they would doubt her or think her mad. She had never spoken of it to anyone before--whenever she spoke the words aloud to herself, she became almost convinced that she must be mistaken.

She took a deep breath and spoke.

"Like I said before, he was at the Golden Spoon two weeks ago. I was playing the last set for the evening crowd. I looked up in the middle of the song, and he was watching me. He startled me so badly I lost my fingering, and when I looked back up again he was gone"

Lysa shook her head. "But like I said, it's more complicated than that. That wasn't the first time I saw him. I've...known him since I was a child, I think. I have this dream. Always the same dream, for as long as I can remember. For a long time it was just a bad feeling, but then it was a shape, red and black, like smoke and fire. Five years ago, it was a man in red wearing a hat. A year to the day before I saw him at the Golden Spoon, I saw his face for the first time. It was him. It's always been him."

When she stopped talking, it was briefly silent. She waited, heart thumping in her throat, for someone to declare her mad, or just a child. It was probably what she would have done, if not for the night she'd woken, on the verge of a scream, with that face burning in her mind.

[Sen isSaqqara]

As you talk, a catfolk beggar dressed in filthy rags walks slowly up to the fence separating the restaurant from the square. At first it would seem that something one of you said had caught his eye, or that he had something to add to the conversation, but soon you realize that he is here simply to stare with a look of longing at the meat pie being devoured by Nipnit.

[Egneil]

Sensing that Lysa was disturbed by her story, Delihla decided to tell her's if only to calm the other.

With a frown she began, "I met the man a few years ago while I was looking for the one who had taught me alchemy. He was simply meditating on rocks in a stream. Normally I wouldn't find this strange, except..."

She let out a heavy sigh, "Except that there was no sound. Not the stream, or the wind, or the even clang of my armor, nothing. I couldn't even hear myself breathing!"

Delihla touched her chest as her eyes became lost in thought, "When I noticed that there were no people or animals around, I could feel my fear strangling my chest. Even though he was there it flowed though me, instead of helping me his presence simply seemed to magnify it. When I couldn't stand it anymore I approached him, at which point he vanished. Completely, and as though he was never there to begin with. In his absence all of the lost sounds returned, with all of the power of a mighty tree being toppled, or the suddenness of a predators cry."

[Mayhem]

Andoitz cast a glance over Jared. He didn't like it when brutish ones like that got nervous, they tended to resolve their insecurities with violence. Still, he seemed like a decent guy.

Upon nipnit's entrance, Andoitz watched on with a bemused expression on his face.
"What a curious little fellow.." He mused, with an itch in his fingers.

"Intriguing tales assuredly, friends." He beamed. "Myself, I first saw the industrious fellow horizontally scaling a wall as if it were pavement! He saw straight through my concealment, and turned his head a full 180 degrees to tip his hat to me in a rather polite gesture. Suddenly he vanished in a splash of light. Since then the mysterious chap's been always at the edge of view, never affording me a moment's rest." Andoitz sighed theatrically.

Suddenly the wind shifted, carrying a rancid smell. Turning his head, Andoitz heart leaped in his chest as he spotted a begger here afterall. Supressing a grin, Andoitz turned back to his company.

[Sen isSaqqara]

As Andiotz looks over at the beggar, he notices something. When the beggar looks up at him for a fraction of a second, they lock eyes. The beggar's eyes are empty: no pupils and no irises. Pure white with the occasional streak of red, and the subtle tinge of crackling green magic. They are slightly fogged over, and tell only of blankness and emptiness. Then the beggar looks back away, and it seems as if the moment never happened at all.

[PollyOliver]

The others' stories made Lysa feel somewhat better. At least she wasn't the only one whose run-in with the man in the hat had been bizarre and somewhat terrifying. She wondered what kind of spell would let a man walk straight up a wall like that, though.

Lysa followed Andoitz' gaze toward the beggar when he was done speaking. Her eyes widened as green sparks crackled across his eyes, and she hurriedly turned her gaze back to the table. Was that some kind of magical disease? Or did it mean that someone else could use his eyes? She knew too many stories, and not enough real life. Lysa stared at her hands on the table, thinking.

Spoiler

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Can Lysa make a knowledge or spellcraft check about the eyes? (1d20+6)[16] on either spellcraft or knowledge (arcana) if so.

[Sen isSaqqara]

The beggar turns away, and slowly walks back to a pair of others like him sitting across the square. Various passersby push past him, but he ignores them, moving as if in a trance. As you watch him, you notice a slight feeling that something is subtly off somewhere in the square. You feel that you should notice something, but you don't see anything immediately out of the ordinary.

[Wizibirb]

Jared was appalled by the latest creatures interruption as it sat on one of the others lap and started eating a meat pie. He tried not to gag as the creature scarfed down the food, it was truly a gruesome sight.

He did not feel like sharing his experience with these people... but felt he should at least add to the conversation, Who ever this man is we need to confront him... Something is not right about him I think we can all agree on that. Who he is and what he is doing is something I need to know. I can't stand not knowing it is driving me mad... His voice was quiet, he was not a very outspoken person. He had always leaned toward letting his weapons do the talking.

He glanced at the hobo a sinking sensation filled his gut, yet he made no move to do anything. His desire to learn more outweighed his want to investigate some mysterious hobo, he already had enough mystery in his life. He remained propped up against the pillar constantly scanning the area around him.