A Realm of Five - e6 Campaign IC

[Blueiji]

All of you decided to have your characters start in the tavern, sop rather than give a description of the town of Taoul, I'l describe the tavern.

As the sun sets in the village of Taoul, bright lights and boisterous sound emanate from the town's lone tavern, "The Spotted Mudlett".

The tavern's large, rectangular, main floor is dominated by a number of wooden tables situated across the room, many of which are populated by Orcs and Humani. A lone table to the corner of the room contains a small group of Halflings.

The room itself is clean to the point that it is almost spotless. This level of cleanliness is kept up solely by the owner of the tavern, Tom, who's obsession over cleanliness is well-known throughout the village of Taoul.

Behind the bar stands a large, heavily-scarred Orc, who quietly whistles a solemn tune as he pours large mugs of ale for the customers. Tom, with his brows furrowed , sweeps the wooden floors of the tavern, distressing over evry new mote of dust he brushes from under the tables.

The numerous denizens of the tavern speak loudly, and drink energetically, for harvest time has just begun and the fields were bountiful this year. The mood is generally positive across the entire room.

In one corner is an especially large square table. It has but one chair, who's back is to the wall. Draped over the table is a large cloth, which reaches all the way to the ground. Because of the large hill in the fabric, it is clear that something large rests beneath the cloth at the center of the table.

Where are you and what are you doing?

[stack]

Kale sits quietly in one corner, nursing a drink and trying to concentrate on his thoughts, have little to do with the boisterous celebrations of the common folk. He rubs his graying temples with soft fingers, mentally practicing the ancient syllables required to control the fabric of reality. If only they knew...such a task is before me, and no one in this room could grasp the most basic parts of my studies. Yet it is they who would benefit most from uniting the peoples...such a strange world.

[Boss_Smiley]

Vulperos

Amidst the din and flurry of activity it is easy to miss the halfling sitting alone, eating at a small table. He seems to be lost in thought, taking a bite of his meal or a sip of his ale before slipping away for a moments at a time.

Outside in the night a figment of a raven flutters through the air, moving from building to building. Occasionally it rests, standing motionless on a perch, but more often it is inhabited by a mind belied by its simple form. Vulperos watches from its small black eyes, and feels the wind ruffle his feathers, enjoying the sensation he is allowed as he spies on the townsfolk, looking for any sign of a threat.

Flying into the darkness behind a building, Vulperos slips back into his own body and allows the raven to vanish. Good to find a mana-starved town, doesn't seem to be much threat from anyone in particular, and I have enough supplies for now. No need to steal any more. His eyes move to the large, covered table in the corner, Still, I don't know what that is, and I'd rather not find out its bad the hard way

[Komodo]

Tulgan is just coming through the tavern door, looking tired. While he is no stranger to hard work, he's not used to Taoul's humidity or harvesting crops. When the family said they'd let him stay for free in exchange for work, he hadn't known what a harvest was. Now he does: endless hours of swinging a sickle in the same fashion while crouched over. Groan.

Currently, he's not wearing his armor, no sense wearing it for field work, but he does have his equipment in his backpack. As he trudges across the room, he's aware that he's probably tracking dirt. While he's been told of Tom's excessive cleanliness, his mind is too focused on a keg of flowing ale, and maybe a leg of whatever animal passes as food in this town.

Ignoring the crowd's chatter and the empty table, he work his way over to the bar and attempts to catch the scarred Orc's eye. "Two ales," he requests.

[Infernally Clay]

Leif had been playing songs on her instrument, something lost between a sitar and a banjo, for much of the evening. This was the easiest way to earn a free room and food, but in truth it was so she could maintain a keen eye on everyone that entered and left the inn. It wasn't that she was distrustful of the people of this quaint little village, in fact she found them quite pleasant, but she didn't want a certain group catching up to her. If they did, what would happen? Would "they" try to be discreet, or would they simply kill everyone here to keep her secret?

Not wanting to think on the consequences of bringing these people into something that didn't concern them, Leif began playing a new song.

"Now if you don't mind," she began, I'll sing you my October song."

"There is no song before it,
The words and tune are not my own,
Yet my joy and sorrow bore it.

Beside the sea and brambly briar,
In the still of evening,
Birds fly out from behind the sun
And with them I'll be leaving.

The fallen leaves a-jewel the ground,
They know the art of dying,
And leave with joy their glad gold hearts
In scarlet shadows lying.

When hunger calls my weary footsteps home
The morning follows after,
I swim the seas within my mind
The pine trees laugh green laughter.

I met a man whose name was Time;
He said I must be going,
But just how long ago that was
I have no way of knowing.

Sometimes I could murder Time
When my heart is aching
But mostly I just like to stroll along
The path that he is taking."

It might have been a little melodramatic, but the tune was catchy and she knew the inn's guests - at least the local ones - would sing along.

[stack]

Kale closes his eyes as the other guest begins to sing. Why did I even come to the common room. I'll never find any peace here. Though I suppose it will be good to practice my concentration.

[Cloudsmeet]

Pruss sits at his table in the back, a certain aura of mystery surrounding him and his creations to many of the townsfolk; so much so that to a few he's as interesting as the travelling musician that is the center of attention. In between fiddly tinkering and good-naturedly batting away too-inquisitive children, he watches her sing with some interest.

A swig of ale, a touch of wrenching there, a poke and a prod here, he successfully manages to sting himself with an electric shock. With a grin, he begins to pack away his tools, his work done for the night.

[Blueiji]

Spoiler

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I've decided to name the banjo/suitar type instrument an "Itsiko", but you could choose a different name if you had something else in mind.

The Itsiko player garners much attention from the townsfolk, and many of the more intoxicated individuals begin to sing along, stumbling around the song's lyrics and failing to stay in tune.

The Orcish bar-tender shakes his head upon seeing Motgar working on his inventions (not that he know's Motgar's name). More and more I am seeing these young people meddle in these gizmos. They believe that their silly technology will bring them to the level of the Mana Gifted, but they are wrong. It will only give the Mana Gifted another reason to hate us, to wish to put us in our "rightful place". Just because we think we've elevated ourselves to the level of the Mana Gifted doesn't mean that the Mana Gifted will accept that.

Though some of the townsfolk notice the intense, scholarly looking Humani in the corner of bar, none choose to engage with the individual. His furrowed brow and concentrated look scares most off (I'm assuming that your character currently looks frustrated, but if not, then the townsfolk don't approach because you are a stranger).

The Orc at the bar (Tulgan), and the Halfing sitting alone (Vulperos) are inconspicuous enough not to attract any attention.

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Also, for those of you who haven't, please post your character sheets in your signature.

[stack]

The humani in the corner starts to murmer to himself, staring intensely at the table. "Acue, Acue, Acue, ignorare ignarus rusticus et focum in labium."

His eyes dart to a fly that lands on the lip of his drink. "Insectorum in potum meum dissiliunt et peribit." Though few are even close enough to be able to see, the fly warps, then disintegrates, leaving only dust. He promptly calls for a fresh drink, allowing himself a faint smile.

[Komodo]

"True, but then again, the Mana Gifted will use 'it's tuesday' as a reason to hate us," Tulgan replies to the Orc bartender. "By the way, which one of the Manas gave you those scars? And am I gonna see those ales anytime soon?"

[Blueiji]

The Orcish Bartender, annoyed by the young Orc inquiring so much into his personal life, narrows his eyes and snaps back. I don't think it's any of your business how I got my scars. And what makes you think a Mana Gifted did it? Maybe it was just a particularly angry Vraal that I rubbed the wrong way.

The bar-tender then turns his back to Tulgan, and begins to pore some mugs of ale.

Somewhere in the world, a small insect's mother will not be coming home tonight.

[Boss_Smiley]

Vulperos

Finishing his meal quickly now that his mind was wholly in his body Vulperos couldn't help but smile when a human begins playing her Itsiko in the middle of the tavern. It's been a while since I've been able to relax, this town seems pretty safe to me. Looking around again he sees a large orc sitting at the bar, he seems to be fresh from work like the others, but his bag is bulging and full. Hard to imagine a farmer would carry such a heavy pack around for no reason, maybe he's a traveler as well.

After downing what was left of his ale Vulperos sidles up to the bar, standing behind the orc he had noticed before. "Hello there, are you a fellow traveler?" He asks before climbing up the bar stool and nodding to the barkeep, tapping a finger on the counter in order to order another ale. I should have thought this through, it might be difficult to socialize while hiding the fact that all my teeth and tongue are pitch black

[Komodo]

"No need to get sore, now, I'd respect you either way," Tulgan says to the bartender. However, seeing this conversation isn't going to get any better, he turns to the halfling who's crawled up onto the stool next to him. "Ah, hello to you, too. No, I'm not a traveller as such, but I'm not planning on staying long in Taoul, either, if I can help it. I'm hoping to find someone who needs a bodyguard, or sentry work, or something like that." Still waiting on his ale, Tulgan turns around and looks out at the people in the bar.

"By the way, that Humani girl over there, is it just me, or was she just singing about murdering Time? If so, I'm not sure if that's strange or epic."

[Infernally Clay]

"I like to think of it as strangely epic," Leif said, appearing beside the Orc as if she were summoned by his mentioning of her. The locals were still singing along, seemingly unaware that she had even stopped herself. Even so, Leif had been playing for a while now and figured she'd take a break.

She tried asking the bartender for something strong, but he had only laughed at her. For all her efforts to act older, Leif obviously still looked like a child. So, instead, she settled for a glass of milk. Probably only hurt her image even more, but still... When was the last time she had milk?

"So what's a place like you doing in an Orc like this?" Leif asked with a grin. Whoever this Orc was, he looked suitably large and imposing. She hated doing it but, on the off chance "they" caught up with her here, she'd need someone as large and as imposing as this guy to give her a chance to run.

[stack]

My replacement beverage appears not to be forthcoming. Must I mingle with the good citizens that make civilization possible? Bother. Kale stands , carefully puts his large scabbard-ed blade back in place from his lap, and moves toward the bar, catching the tale end of the conversation there. He leans a hand on the bar, silently waiting for his turn to order.

[Blueiji]

Outhr (the bar-tender), realizing that he has gotten very behind in his pouring of drinks, quickly fills a number of mugs to the brim with ale, passing them out to those who had previously requested them.

He then turns back to the Warrior Orc and the Half-Halfing performer, eager to see how this odd interaction will pan itself out.

[Komodo]

"What the...?!" Tulgan looked up suddenly to see his space at the bar beginning to get a little crowded, and that he was starting to attract a little more attention than he was comfortable having without his armor. A smart person could find some way to turn this to their advantage. Unfortunately, Tulgan has never been very smart. Also, this short Humani is getting a little too close for comfort, and worst of all, he is still sober. Then he notices that Outhr had finally brought him the ales he had requested. Thank goodness. "Er, one second," he said to her, and proceeded to empty the first mug.

GULP GULP... ah, that was just what I needed. Alright now. Setting the empty mug down next to his full one, he turns to the Itsiko player with a bit more confidence.

"I'm just here to relax, is all. Had a long day of cutting plants. (Could you take a small step back, please?) Otherwise, I'm just hoping to find someone in need of a soldier." He is aware he's being blunt, but he can't think of anything else to say as he tries to find a way to get the attention off himself. Suddenly he finds it as he notices a contemplative-looking Humani approach the bar. "Oh, ah, hello to you sir! You're not from around here, are you?"

[stack]

Kale continues watching the bartender for a moment before he realizes he is being addressed. He clears his throat. "Hm, no. Not from this area at all. Just passing through, actually. Research and all that. Probably not to your interests."

[Blueiji]

Spoiler

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So this isn't actually part of the story, I'm just posting it here so that you all see it.

I'm going to be out of town on a camping trip from the 15th to the 22nd, and I won't be near any computers and/or internet enabled devices. This means tht we'll be momentarily pausing the Realm of Five campaign.

I'm really sorry about this, and I promise for some big plot advancement as soon as I get home. I'll also send out a reminder that I've returned so you don't need to keep checking back.

Thanks for understanding.

[Boss_Smiley]

Vulperos

What was intended as a small social gesture seems to be drawing a substantial crowd, and a suspicious one at that, Maybe I should be more cautious. None of these three are from around here, and that Humani has clearly had some learning, he could be a puppet of the mana-gifted. Best to make some space in case I have to run.

Turning his head quickly Vulperos again eyes the overlarge table, And what is that cloth hiding? Makes me nervous, I think I'll arrange for a bit of a peek. Taking his mug of ale with a nod of thanks towards Outhr Vulperos then takes a drink before speaking into the mug, concealing his teeth as best he can, "Well, perhaps I'll see you around. He then hops down and returns to his table. Once there he takes another swill of ale before leaving his mug and walking to the lavatory. Once inside he calls on Malphas' spirit to create a raven, which he releases out of the window. Afterwards he calmly walks back to his table.

OOC:

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The plan is to have the raven fly in a door or window and pull the table cloth off of the table. Looking forward to how the other PCs and the NPCs respond to such odd behaviour from a bird.

[Blueiji]

In the midst of the ruckus in the tavern, a tall Humani walks into the bar. His garish attire is almost painful to look at, and it looks quite expensive for someone who lives in such a small town. His clothes are dyed a bright purple color, and his wide-brimmed top-hat is striped lemon yellow and bright green. He has the pale skin of a Northerner Humani, and his fiery red hair is tied back in a ponytail. All-in-all, the brightly colored individual is astonishing and shocking to look at, but also has a peculiar charm to him.

The garishly dressed Humani scans the tavern, taking in the room as if it was his own kingdom, however, when his eyes land on the covered table in the corner, his brows furrow in a scowl. Quickly wiping this look from his face, he turns to the taverns owner, Tom. Oi, Tom! I seem to recall asking for my possessions to be moved to my room if the tavern got too crowded. Why are they still on the table?

Tom, startled by the sharp voice of the brightly colored man, drops his broom. He then begins to stutter out an apology in a mousey voice. Oh, Jack. . . I'm ever so deeply sorry, it slipped my mind. . . What with all the cleaning to be done. Would you like to handle your, errm, goods, or shall I bring them back to your room?

Jack stares at Tom for a moment, a hint of anger behind his eyes, but then he breaks into a cold smile. I'll let you handle it Tom, go ahead and put it in my room. In the mean time, may I assume that I can have a drink on the house as compensation for forgetting my request?

Tom gulps, then scurries toward the table with the cloth over it. Of course Mr. Jack Sir, I shall bring the package to your quarters at once. As for the drinks, have as many as you want, they're on me.

Tom pulls off the cloth, revealing a large wooden crate beneath, he then scoops up this crate in his arms, and struggles to carry it from the room.

In the mean time, Jack meanders to the bar, and with a seemingly genuine smile this time, orders a drink.

[Komodo]

Tulgan takes a moment to observe the odd spectacle in the middle of the room while sipping at his ale, trying to keep a neutral face at the comical scene. As the strange humani approaches the bar, Tulgan turns to him and looks him down. Hmm. Ah, hey there. Jack, was it? What brings you to Taoul?

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I want to look this guy down. How large/strong does he look? Also, does he appear to have any weapons on him?

I'll roll a spot check in the ooc thread once if figure out how to work that thing.

[Boss_Smiley]

Vulperos

Exiting the loo, Vulperos walks into the main hall in the midst of quite a scene, he sees the tavern's owner all but grovel for some garishly dressed humani, "Of course Mr. Jack Sir, I shall bring the package to your quarters at once. As for the drinks, have as many as you want, they're on me".

Tom proceeds to gather the cloth and the crate that it concealed before heading to the private rooms. Hmmm, I wonder why this humani is treated with such deference, perhaps a peek inside that crate will help to enlighten me. Pausing briefly so as to not draw attention, Vulperos follows Tom towards the private rooms, keeping his distance and staying quiet so as not to alert Tom to his presence.

OOC:

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Okay, I'm not sure if this will work seeing as I don't know the tavern layout, I'm assuming the rooms are on a second storey or in a distinct section though, otherwise it shouldn't matter too much.

I'm not going to roll anything to leave the room without drawing attention but if you'd like me to let me know

I'm using Move Silently to go unnoticed behind Tom though (although not immedietely behind him) and am readying an action to activate my invisibility and enter Jack's room as soon as Tom is about to leave it. If possible I will be using my raven to look into the room through it's window to lessen the chance of being seen.

Move Silently check: [roll0]

[Blueiji]

Tom, carrying his heavy burden, walks towards the North-East corner of the room, in which a stair-case lies. With great effort, he walks up the wooden steps and seems not to notice Vuperos following him despite the creaking stairs.

Once Tom reaches the second floor he makes his way towards the room at the end of the hall, setting the package down, he begins to fumble for his keys, facing the direction of the door to Jack's room.

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I made the dice roll for Tom's listen check using real dice, not the forum dice-roller.

Jack looks down at the Orc speaking to him, and begins to smirk. I'm just staying here for a bit, then it's off again. I like to think that the road is the best teacher, so I don't spend much time in any one given place.

Spoiler

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You don't need a spot check to see that Jack is slim, but fit.

Jack has no weapons in plain site, but he wears a large, purple over-coat, and he may be concealing weapons beneath there. If this is true however, you cannot seem to find any visual evidence of it.

[Komodo]

"The road may be a good teacher, but also a harsh one," Tugan replies to the technicolored stranger. "You hold yourself like a military commander. I don't suppose you're in need of any soldiers?"