Kingmaker: Here Comes the Cavalry! (IC)

[Chained Birds]

Maple

Taken aback by the man's enthusiasm,

"Wow, seems like it would be quite fun! Except for the 'evil' stuff which I frown upon. I always wanted to go to a festival seeing as the last one I went to turned into a battleground against shadowy monsters... It was sorta fun in a way..."

Maple just stares out at the other colorful people, before giving the man a wave as she catches up with the group.

"Speak with Caster Roquan there for trade stuff. He seems to really enjoy talking about goods and stuff."

[Sithis]

Alistar

Alistar does his best not to snarl as the man uses "werewolf' and "freak" in the same sentence. He doesn't quite succeed.

Seeing the guards, Alistar waves back and makes his way up there. " 'ello gents. So, when did these clowns get here? And who exactly are they?"

[Lost Demiurge]

Sciatto grins widely, and offers a handshake to Roqoan. "Oh, adventurers, huh? Well, your coin spends too. We'll forgo the usual dog and pony show. Got some nifty stuff for sale!" He gestures to a somewhat old, and obviously-many-times-repaired wagon. "Talk to Barn Owl the wise. Geezer collects magic, dunno what he's got in stock right now."

He shrugs at Maple as she tells about her experiences. "Sounds like you had some REALLY good stuff to drink. Or smoke, whatever. We got some'a that too, if you want."

At the stockade, the nearest guard grins down at Alistar. "Sczarni. Wanderers. Though this bunch has a lot of half-elves with'em that say they're a different clan, Crescent, or summat. They got booze, ladies that ain't shy, and we got money to spend so the end of our shift can't come soon enough."

"Lieutenant tells us to watch'em close, though," Says the other guard. "Lotsa things tend to go missing when there's Sczarni around."

"Including some of us, he ain't careful. That big guy in charge wanted to hire us to escort them west a ways, but Kesten weren't having none of it. Too bad we're stuck guarding this place, coulda been good coin."

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"Barn Owl? Alright, i'll just head over there." Roqoan says to the man, a bit surprised by the name of the trader. As far as he knows owls don't live in barns. Towers sure, but barns?
But that's not very important, he walks over to the wagon that was pointed out to him. He knocks on the door and says: "Hello there! My name's Roqoan and i've been pointed to your wagon. I've been told you have exotic items to sell, perhaps even magic items.
I have several items as well, perhaps we could trade?"

[Sithis]

Alistar

"You know, your leutienant seems like a pretty bright guy. I'd listen to 'em if I were you. This group smells like trouble." He walks into the trading post.

Now, why does the Crescent sound familiar?

[Lost Demiurge]

Roqoan knocks on the wagon.

"It opens." Is the terse and cranky reply when Roqoan knocks on the wagon's door.

Inside it looks like a curio shop exploded, and indeed is still in the process of exploding. A stuffed moth of unprecedented size hangs from the ceiling, as if looking down upon the stacks of scrolls, bundles of herbs, rocks and crystals, various preserved animals and bits of flesh in jars, and other knick-knacks.

The man inside has a hint of elvish blood, which is why he's still alive. He is OLD, and his face is a mass of wrinkles and scorn. Bright green eyes shine out from behind the mass, and a dour jawline presages the notion that smiles are not only a foreign occurance, but lacks a passport entirely and would be detained at the border indefinitely.

The rest of the old man is withered, and pulled inward. He rests in a chair with legs that seem to shift every now and then, rocking him gently. Some kind of animation spell?

"What t'ya want, boy? An' I swear to de gatts if yer FIRST action is to cast firkin' deteck machic and spent tirty seconds starin' at me possessions, I will burn you down like-a orc ina ten-by-ten room, shove da body in my bag of hidin' an' tell yer frens you went invisible and ran away. Wouldn' be da first time. Don' test me."
----
Meanwhile, Maple finds her way into the post, to find Svetlana and Oleg arguing quietly in the mess hall. They settle down when Maple enters. "Oh, welcome back! Heh, I take it you noticed we've got visitors," says Svetlana.

"Not for long. They'll be gone soon." Glowers Oleg.

"Without proper provisions, too. They've got a hard road ahead..." Svetlana frowns at him, and he grunts, and stomps out of the room.

She sighs, and picks up a washrag, straining the water out as she gets back to scrubbing the table. "Sorry, he's been grumpy ever since they showed up..."

[Chained Birds]

Maple

"Good day to you Mrs. Svetlana, all goes well for us. I didn't think Mr. Oleg would have too much of a problem with the colorful folks outside. I mean, I dress in colors and Roquan uses colorful words all the time... Which reminds me. I've got to go take a bath, be back in a bit guys."

Maple felt a bit uncomfortable still muddy and wearing filthy clothe. She'll be back in about 10minutes.

[Morbis Meh]

After restocking her arrow supply, Brin sets forth on tackling the garden, so far she had only managed to clear out the area she intended to use but due to being away for so long she noticed weeds popping up. Noticing Fa'el had accomponied her, Brin begins to delegate weed picking to the elven lass while she begins hauling the sandbags over towards the garden. As she passes by the odd looking wagon she hears 'I will burn you' and instantly freezes. She remembered vaguely seeing Roqoan going towards it while she went to the garden. Rage suddenly rears it's ugly head and Brin begins reacting without thinking "IF YOU SO AS MUCH HARM A SINGLE HAIR ON THIS MAN'S HEAD I WILL PERSONALLY BEAT THE DUST OUT OF YOU YOU BAG OF HOT AIR AND DON'T THINK I WON'T BECAUSE YOU'RE OLDER THAN THE DIRT OUTSIDE. "

[Lost Demiurge]

Brin bursts through the door, shouting.

The half-elf blinks, and shudders, gasping.

At first it seems like he's crying... No, he's laughing.

Finally he finishes, and mops his face with a scrap of paper. "Oh. Oh, you gotta sweet wife dere. Dat's FIRE in de hart, dat is."

Still not smiling, but the eyes twinkle with amusement now. "Easy chile," he tells Brin. "Was jes de stantart warnin. I know adbenchurers. Sciotto tellsem I deal in machic, dey start stinkin' up my place wit spells an actin like I ent here. Best to geddof on de right foots."

His eyes slide back to Roqoan. "De right foots bean wisdom of de ages, ancient machics, and priceless arty fax available for a soot price. So whatcha want, son?"

[Steckie]

Roqoan

Roqoan is equally surprised by Brin rushing into the wagon as the old man is. He doesn't know what to say at first, but as usual he doesn't stay quiet for long.
"She's not my wife." He says: "Although i must say it's nice to know that she cares. Yes, very nice indeed. I had no idea you cared this much about my safety, Brin."
He smiles at her, for a moment forgetting about the old man.
"Anyway, i hope you have something we can use. What do you have to offer? Perhaps a few discount items?
And i'm also looking for books about these lands, or perhaps a map if you have something like that."

[Morbis Meh]

Brin, with fists poised for elder abuse, suddenly blanches (though you wouldn't be able to tell) at the mention of 'wife' then begins stumbling over herself "Uhhh... I am sorry... for disrupting business, I am going to go now and maybe bury myself in some sand for awhile... yes... have fun." She begins to turn around slowly and walk out the wagon but trips and falls down the stairs. Getting up slowly, more out of embarrasment than pain, she bolts as soon as she is on her feet.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Books... Eh, ent no books boutcha River Kingdoms wort' a damn. Too... Fluid. Got some ald history scrolls from when last we'as here. Fiddy gold deys yers."

"As to otha machiks..."

INVENTORY

Spoiler

Show

All of this is at 100% market price.

Potion of Shield (Level 3)
Potion of Endure Elements (Level 3)
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (Level 3)
Potion of waterbreathing (Level 5)
Scroll of Fireball (Level 5)
Scroll of Ghost Sound
Ring of Protection +1
Wand of Acid Arrow (Full charges, wizard-made, level 3)
Lens of Detection

After showing Roqoan his loose cache of items, the old man leans back. "Now... You want somefin' wit MORE power, mebbe can do. Mebbe."

"But we be needen a favor first. Bain't a small one neder."

[Steckie]

Roqoan

Roqoan sighs, why can't a merchant just sell his items without asking for a favor. "Alright, what kind of favor do you have in mind? Just remember that i'm not a 'flower of the streets', so if you want that kind of favors you're going to need to find someone else."

[Lost Demiurge]

"Naa, na. Y'look more like a Pesh dealah anyways. Dress 'bout as bad."

He leans back. "See, if ya willin to help, I ken enchant tings for yez. Makeya cloak. Makeya weapons glowy. Cost sa bit, but te charge be craftin fee, not market price."

"All yeh and ya frens gotta do be runnin wit us 'bout a hunnert miles a so. Get us past some onquiet dead. Sa old grudge 'gainst us, totally a mistake but try tellin dat to de spirits. Innerested?"

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"So basically it's guard duty with an extra clause that we need to clear some undead. What kind of undead are we talking about here? Corporeal or Incorporeal?
I don't mind doing something like that. I'll have to ask the others first if they want to. We were talking about taking a few days of vacation, we've had a couple of rough days. And we also wanted to track down a werewolf that is rumored to roam somewhere.
Say, you wouldn't know anything about a werewolf around here, would you?"

Once Barn Owl answers, Roqoan says goodbye and goes looking for the others. Once he finds them he asks them about the old man's request.
"Brin! The old guy says that he'll enchant your bow for a crafting price if we escort him for about a hundred miles and kill some undead for him.
Alistar, he can probably do the same for your weapons or any other items you want enchanted.
Maple, are you interested in rooting out some undead?
And where are Fae'l and Lux? I haven't seen them in a while. They haven't snuck off to do something naughty, have they?
Anyway, think about it, i need to talk to Kesten for a moment."

Roqoan quickly heads over to Kesten. "Hey Kesten, a question. We took out four of the Stag Lord's lieutenants, and we have their amulets to prove it. On Oleg's notice board there's a paper about a reward for the death of four lieutenants. Do we need to send message to Brevoy ourselves or do you have any contacts there?
And have you heard something about our reward for the alliance with the Kobolds? Or about the gun that you promised Maple for our delivery of Sneeg?"

[Lost Demiurge]

"It's diff'rent every damn time." Mutters the old man, to the corporeal-or-not question. "Werewolf? Whad? Bain't been no weres here for yeahs..." But then Roqoan's gone, and the old man shrugs and starts packing a pipe for a serious smoke.

----

Kesten puts his mug of ale down, and nods. "Yes. Both payment and the gun have arrived. As Mistress Maple requested the gun, she is more than welcome to come see me at the earliest opportunity. But I suppose you're holding the purse strings, so payment can be relinquished..." He stands and makes his way to the blockhouse, returning with a coinbox.

"There you are, 800 gold. Don't open it in front of the Sczarni."

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"Thanks kesten." Roqoan says while pulling out a piece of paper. He fills in the 800 gold in the right place. He counts out 20 gold and puts the rest with the gold they've already got. "Here's 20 for you as a bonus and a thank you for being our contact with Brevoy. I wish i could give more, but we're currently looking for several magic items. We need to get some more power to be able to take down the Stag Lord. Thanks again and i'll send Maple here for the gun."

Roqoan heads back to the others. "So, what do you guys think? Are we accepting the Old Man's task or not?
Oh, and Maple your gun has arrived. Kesten has it, i told him you'd pick it up as soon as you have the time."

[Chained Birds]

Maple

"Well that is something interesting you are requesting of me today and some good information to know, but for now, GET OUT!"

As she throws stuff and forces Roquan out of the bathroom. Some People! She thinks to herself as she finishes up her bath time.
After finishing, she goes up to Svetlana and asks her privately with a towel around her. With an embarrassed look,

"Um, any chance you have something I can wear today while my usual clothe are drying? Some Human kids clothes would work if you have any..."

Maple forgot that she brought most her clothing with her during the trip and didn't plan on getting all of her gear muddy.

[Morbis Meh]

Brin doesn't bother replying to Roqoan, too embarrassed to even speak she just keeps working away in the same old stoich fashion. Ugh, more of those abominations? Hell if they pissed off some ghost from grave robbing it serves them right, I wouldn't be of much help anyway... Upon returning to her garden she noticed Fa'el was absent "Bah, elven layabouts, they wouldn't know a day of honest work if it hit them over the head. They'd rather sip their fancy hot leaf juice and play that god awful noise they call music instead of getting something useful done. Oh well at least I won't have to do the same job twice because she half arsed it..." Laying done the sand she begins digging up the garden and leveling the area for planting.

[Sithis]

Alistar

Alistar was sitting by fire pit, having a smoke of his own as Roquan runs back into the trading post, shouting at everyone about something. Alister merely watches, somewhat amused as the sorcerer runs back and forth all over the place, eventually being yelled at by Maple.

"Roquan, you need to slow down. I caught something about 'old man,' 'escort,' 'undead,' 'enchantments.' Now, I think I get the gist of it, someone in the caravan there wants to us escort them past or through some undead, right? And magic artifacts would be the reward? I can't say I'm opposed to that, though I was hoping to get a few days of rest before heading out again." Alistar takes a moment to look around. "Now that you've mentioned it, where HAVE Lux and Fa'el gotten off to?"

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"I don't know when the caravan is leaving, they may still stay here a couple of days.
I'd also love to have some rest, but when an opportunity presents itself i find it hard to resist. And this land is just full of opportunities."

[Lost Demiurge]

Before Roqoan goes, Kesten stops him. "Ah yes, the four lieutenants. You say you've eliminated them? And have the amulets as proof? Good, good. If you wish to write a letter to the consul, go ahead. Otherwise I'll just send them forward with the facts as I know them. Good work... Hm, you may be just the folks he's looking for."
----
Meanwhile, Svetlana's face lights up at the possibility of getting to play dress-up using Maple. "Ha! I have just the things!" The halfling is dragged into a blockhouse room for an extended period of gab and trying things on...

[Steckie]

Roqoan

Getting in contact with a consul or leaving the contact to Kesten? Not much of a choice, this is another great opportunity to get something done. "I'll write the letter, Kesten. If you could send it for me please? I don't have the adress. Give me a few minutes."

Roqoan sits down and pulls out paper and his inkpen.

Esteemed Consul,

My name is Roqoan and I have been directed to you by Kesten Garess.
I have good news for you: the Stag Lord's four lieutenants have been defeated by me and my associates: Maple Leafsinger, Brinhelda Stormsinger, Alistar Crowley, Fae'l and Lux. Former associate Fermor also played a big part, unfortunatly he had to leave for personal matters.

The four lieutenants each carried a silver stag amulet, i will send those amulets with this letter to you as proof. If you need more proof, we have several witnessess of our actions.
Happs: The first one we killed. Witnessed by Oleg and Svetlana Leveton of Oleg's Trading Post.
Kressel: Captured and later executed. Witnessed by Oleg, Svetlana, Bear Korvik, Toothless Feodor and Just Jeb.
Falgram Sneeg: Captured and later executed by Kesten Garess.
Vargan: Killed without witnesses, but his body was later claimed by the Kobolds of the Sootscale Tribe, our allies.

I heard there was a reward promised for the death of these four people, and with the proof presented to you i hope our group can claim that reward.
We're also planning to first explore these lands a bit more before we try to take down the Stag Lord.

We will do whatever we can to bring more peace to this land and gain more allies. If there's anything you can do for us, your help would be much appreciated.
And if there's anything we can do for you in the Stolen Lands, let us know and we'll see what we can do.

Sincerely
Roqoan

Roqoan folds the letter, drips some wax on it and uses his signet ring to put his seal on it. He gives it to Kesten to send to Brevoy.
He waves goodbye to him and walks outside to meet up with the others.

[Chained Birds]

Maple

"Thanks again Mrs. Svetlana."

Returning is a child's dress, very fitting actually. She approaches Kresten.

"Greetings Mr. Kresten, you have the weapon I ordered? Sorry if it took you too much trouble to find it. I did only learn about it in the "Book of Guns" manual that came in that one lieutenant's gunsmithing kit."

[Steckie]

Roqoan

Roqoan walks over to Oleg. "Oleg, i'd like to buy some crossbow bolts from you. I seem to have fired a lot of them recently, don't want to run out. I'd say about 30 should do.
Oh, and have you seen Father Jhod today? We've found another journal that's written in a language none of us know and we'd like to get it translated. It might have some information about the Stag Lord in it, and any info we can get is valuable."


Once Oleg answers, Roqoan walks to the man that introduced himself as Sciatto Sczarni.
"Hey, i talked with that Barn Owl the Wise guy you sent me to. He asked us to escort you for a while and help you with some undead problems.
We're probably going to do it, but we were thinking about taking a few days off first.
You see, we've had a rough couple of days. We've been trough a few heavy fights and got beat up pretty bad.

So we'd like to ask you to wait for us for a few days. You could either wait here at Oleg's, or you could visit our friends at the Sootscale Caverns. They're Kobolds that we recently allied with. They may be interested in trading with you. They're decent folks.
Think about it.

Oh, and i almost forgot. Earlier you talked about 'Harrow Readings'.
I've never heard about it. What is it, some sort of fortune telling or something like that?"

[Sjurd]

ooc: My text color will be very dark and sneaky bold.

The clip-clop of an approaching horse is heard over the din of the trading post. Approaching from the north is a lone mounted figure, coming at an easy walk. He stops within a bow-shot of the entrance and pulls back his hood.

You see a slim, predatory, bipedal cat. His fur is taupe with russet brown stripes and a white undercoat. His eyes are the color of dandelion flowers, with small flecks of orange near the iris. His skin is taut and tight, with the smooth languidness of a thief. He is dressed in well-made black leathers, with an ample hood and cloak. He is of average height, with a solid frame and straight posture.

He raises a hand and smiles. His voice has a rumbling purr in the background. "Hello! This would not happen to be Oleg's Trading Post? I am a charter bearer from Brevoy. I was told to come here."

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"Well, well. They seem to be giving out those charters quite a lot these days. You realise that you're number eight to come here with a charter. Or perhaps number nine already?
Anyway, welcome i guess? My name's Roqoan, what's yours?"

[Morbis Meh]

Brin grumbles with frustration as she wipes the dirt off of her hands, her mask slightly damp from prespiration. Blast, not enough flower seeds... time to send Roqoan out on a flower picking mission. Worn out from a day's worth of work she lets out a deep sigh as a dark thought crosses her mind Well at least I am tired from work not from bloodloss... for once Walking back towards the main entrance, she spies Roqoan shouting and waving to some figure in the distance. Her keen eyes focus on the figure and low and behold a cat the size of a man. As she studied its features she soon realized that it looked like her old pet kitten Mr. Wobbles! Her eyes lit up in wonder and partial excitment then the horrific memories of Mr. Wobble running around her burning home a blazing furball shrieking in agony! Tears filled her eyes as she softly mumurs "Poor kitty..."

[Lost Demiurge]

Oleg grunts at Roqoan. "Sure, we got crossbow bolts. Standard fee applies. The Father's out doing his walk in the wilds, he'll be back tonight if all goes like it usually does."

Later, Sciatto frowns at Roqoan. "Well, you want us to wait I guess we can. We ain't goin' south, which is fine 'cause we don't got no truck with stinkin' thievin' kobolds. So we can wait for you. But the longer the wait, the less we pay. And we wait too long, we go without ya. Nights are gettin' longer. Can't afford too much risk."

His eyes brighten a bit at the inquiry about Harrow Readings. "The Harrowing deck! Buncha mystic cards, got all the secrets of the universe in'em! Only ten gold a read. Tell ya future, tell ya present, reveal secrets of destiny, all that sorta thing."

He leans forward. "It works, friend. Trust the Harrowing. It works..."
----

And as the catman rides up, the Sczarni gather to watch the spectacle of the exotic stranger. The guards at the gate are a little less amused. "Got a charter then?"

Kesten clanks up, in his full plate. "Oh, bloody well let him through. They show up, they stick around for a few days, then they run when they find out how much work and danger it all is. Well, except for the main bunch, who are making out like kings from all the coin and treasure they're getting."

He raises the visor, and, from his position on the wall, looks down his hawklike nose at the newcomer, who's already gabbing at Roqoan.

"Right. Don't trouble the post owners or guards, don't commit horrible crimes, and follow the lead of your fellow charterbearers and we'll get along fine."

[Sjurd]

Dar'Tsavi gives a lazy salute to Kesten. "Understood, Tin Star." He turns to Roquoan and smiles. "I am Dar'Tsavi, an adventurer of humble means and even humbler disposition." He gives a bow from the waist. "What is this I hear of too many charter bearers? Such is not fit talk for those of steadfast heart." He swings a leg over and dismounts. "I am here to stay. Now," he looks around the trading post and its occupants, then holds his hands out. "What has happened since you arrived?"