Machines of War

[madtinker]

Nope, noone else boards 'em unless the riders are paying, and no horses have come in today from Woolshire.

[INWranger]

Go see what kinds of inns, taverns, etc there are in this town. Try on the amulet I lifted from the dead chief.

[madtinker]

It's a pretty big city. It's the capitol after all. Are you looking for high, middle, or low class inns/taverns?

When you put on the amulet you feel nothing but the cold metal on your skin.

[INWranger]

Forget the inns/taverns. Screw being one step behind these guys. Jaster is going to hire a diviner and ask about the other parties job here and where he can find them in the next 2 days.

[madtinker]

I'll have to check the rules for that, but I'll post tomorrow afternoon.

[INWranger]

Even better ask what their plan was that I missed while eaves dropping in the Hungry Turtle and where their next target for destruction is.
This should all be doable under the Divination Spell, though I may need to pay for two of them.

[madtinker]

After some searching, you are able to locate a temple with a seventh level cleric.

Sighing wearily, he agrees to cast divination for you, but asks for 305 gp compensation (that's really the cost from the rule book).

[INWranger]

I will pay the 305 in gold. Now for some results that will really get me somewhere.

[madtinker]

DM only

Spoiler

Show

(1d100)[74]1-77 is a correct divination.

What is the exact question you ask "concerning a specific goal, event, or activity that is to occur within one week?"

[INWranger]

What is the plan of the two men and orc I saw in (whatever that town was) and where is it happening?

[madtinker]

The name ...

Ah, Vicciano.

After ten minutes of mumbling and swirling incense, the cleric falls into a glassy eyed trance.

The bald one goes to kill a horde
and sow in Oldshire deathly discord
aided by Argough's seal
it will all be much too real

[INWranger]

Ask the other priests (assuming there are other priests), what Argough's seal is, and where Oldshire is.

[madtinker]

DM only

Spoiler

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none of them are trained in knowledge, nobility, and making the connection between a visiting diplomat and his personal seal is (I hope) not an obvious one, so it is above common knowledge and beyond the reach of an unskilled check

The other clerics aren't too helpful, shaking their heads. You do gather that Oldshire is a town to the north in a mountain pass border with the Red Valley (See the sheet Worldmap in the google doc).

[INWranger]

Now I go to one of the inns. somewhere with a good bard with a huge amount of knowledge. Ask around for one.
gather information
(1d20+7)[10]

[madtinker]

You'll need one of the upper class taverns, where it is polite to purchase a nice drink. There, you find Ferducci, a master bard. He wears a cape, silk clothes, and carries a six stringed lute-like instrument of his own make.

[INWranger]

Go on in, order the "house special" and submit a request for the "tale of Argough". (There might be one, claim we have one where I am from if he claims to never have heard it. Make up a story about some generic bad-A if he asks and include a part about a seal.)
If he won't play it, then ask him about Argough after the nights performances, or who in the city would know.

[madtinker]

Ferducci's face turns white. You can't be serious. Argough's song would take hours to tell in full, and in part does it no justice.

[INWranger]

I must hear the song, and if not the song the story. I will pay you 50 gold just to hear the story.

[madtinker]

Some of the color returns to his face. Yes sir. But might it wait a little? When the other guests have gone to bed perhaps?

[INWranger]

Sure it can wait. Please, continue.

[madtinker]

After a few hours of singing jaunty tunes by request and telling jokes, the crowd has broken up into small groups and most have gone to bed.

Ferducci turns to you, takes a sip of wine, and starts into the longest tale you've ever heard:

Spoiler

Show

Might it not become us,
brothers,
to begin in the diction of yore
the stern tale
5 of the campaign of Argough,
Argough son of Svyatoslav?

Let us, however,
begin this song
in keeping with the happenings
10 of these times
and not with the contriving of
Boyan.
For he, vatic Boyan
if he wished to make a laud for
15 one,
ranged in thought
[like the nightingale] over the
tree;
like the gray wolf
across land;
20 like the smoky eagle
up to the clouds.

For as he recalled, said he,
the feuds of initial times,
25 "He set ten falcons
upon a flock of swans,
and the one first overtaken,
sang a song first"—
...

The strife of the princes
against the pagans
has come to an end,
for brother says to brother:
320 "This is mine,
and that is mine too,"
and the princes have begun to
say
of what is small:
"This is big,"
while against their own selves
325 they forge discord,
[and] while from all sides with
victories
the pagans enter the Smirnoffn
land.

330 O, far has the falcon gone,
slaying
birds:
to the sea!
But Argough's brave troops
335 cannot be brought back to life.
In their wake the Keener has
wailed,
and Lamentation has overrun the
Smirnoffn land,
shaking the embers in the
340 inglehorn.
The Smirnoffn women
have started to weep, repeating
"Henceforth our dear husbands
cannot be thought of by [our]
345 thinking,
nor mused about by [our] musing,
nor beheld with [our] eyes;
as to gold and silver
none at all shall we touch!"

...

The sea plashed at midnight;
waterspouts advance in mists;
God [?] points out to Argough
the way from the Kuman land
735 to the Smirnoffn land,
to the paternal golden throne.

The evening glow has faded:
Argough sleeps;
Argough keeps vigil;
740 Argough in thought measures the
plains
from the Great Don
to the Little Donets;
[bringing] a horse at midnight,
745 Ovlur whistled beyond the river:
he bids Argough heed—
Argough is not to be [held in
bondage].
[Ovlur] called,
750 the earth rumbled,
the grass swished,
the Kuman tents stirred.
Meanwhile, like an ermine,
Argough has sped to the reeds,
755 and [settled] upon the water
like a white duck.
He leaped upon the swift steed,
and sprang off it,
[and ran on,] like a demon wolf,
and sped to the meadowland of
760 the
Donets,
and, like a falcon,
flew up to the mists,
killing geese
765 and swans,
for lunch,
and for dinner,
and for supper.

And even as Argough, like a falcon,
flew,
770 Vlur, like a wolf, sped,
shaking off by his passage the
cold
dew;
for both had worn out
775 their swift steeds.

...

After singing a song
to the old princes
one must then sing to the young:

Glory to Argough son of Svyatoslav;
855 to Wild Bull Vsevolod;
to Vladimir son of Argough!
Hail, princes and knights
fighting for the Christians
against the pagan troops!
860 To the princes glory, and to the
knights
[glory]-Amen.

It is early morning now, with the birds beginning to sing outside. A few early risers are stirring.

[INWranger]

Yes, and what of the seal of Argough?

[madtinker]

Ferducci looks at you quizzically. I don't understand. The tale mentions no seal.

[INWranger]

I came across a prophecy that soon a horde would be killed and that by the power of Argoughs seal it would happen. The seal may not be an artifact, but it could be an artifact kept next to the seal of Argough. Are there any places here that Argough may have visited? His burial place, or even a house he once owned, some place he had some connection with? Or even an item he carried. Any clues of objects he carried would help.

[madtinker]

Ferducci gives a slight chuckle. Ah my friend, Argough has been dead for over a thousand years. His burial place is lost to history, though you may find it in the Kuman mountains to the south. Legends about of a great ghostly fortress there, but as for myself, I don't believe half of them. The family Argough does still exist. Ironically enough they backed an unsuccessful coup four generations ago and are now firmly entrenched in the Red Valley nobility. Count Argough maintains apartments as a diplomat here in Lafierre.

[INWranger]

What district is he in? Pay him his 50 gold Thank you for your help and time. I may not have found what I thought to find, but I think I found what I needed. If it turns out the way I think it will be a story worth telling, though I doubt my exploits will be to the level of Argoughs. Leave and see if I can find diplomat Argough apartments. The plan after that is to trance, and take the fastest transportation possible to Oldshire.

[madtinker]

DM only

Spoiler

Show

knowledge - (1d20+8)[24] DC 20

He is in the Water district, I believe his residence is called "Cataracts."

With the help of some passers by, you are easily able to locate the Water district with its many canals and fountains, and the House Cataracts is likewise not difficult to locate with its sweeping verandas and waterfall architecture.

[INWranger]

Look around and see if I can spot a family crest or an official seal on anything, without breaking into his apartment. If someone asks me what I am doing, say "O am a mercenary trying to put my name out there for whoever has some cash." If they have something right now I say "I have a job in Oldshire I am in the middle of, but I will let you know once I can take it."

[madtinker]

You see a crest with a falcon wringing a swan's neck in its talons, on a round shield. It's just above the door.

[INWranger]

Okay, if there are no interruptions I will go back to the tavern and trance. Then see if I can rent a mount to take me to Oldshire, preferably a pegasus or a hippogriff, depending of price. Or get a fast horse.