A Thorn In The Hand IC

[Malak'ai]

Raif:

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As you look around with Detect Magic you see a few of the larger books glow, one really old one seems to show up very strongly.
The armour also shines, so bright that it starts to hurt your eyes.
As your gaze moves further, you see not only the chest glowing dimly but also a few of the rolled up parchments on the desk.
Also, like you would expect, the tent it's self is showing signs of being enchanted.

[Wordplay]

Raif tries to surreptitiously read the title of the older book.

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Not quite sure what's most appropriate to roll here.
Buff: (1d20+3)[8]
Untrained Search (1d20+2)[19]
Untrained Spot (1d20+4)[6]

[Malak'ai]

Raif:

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While trying to make it look as though your not trying to read the title of the book, your body language screams out that that is exactly what your doing.
You see a title on the spine, 8 runes long, but you have no idea what they say, you don't even have any idea what language they might be in

[Arranis Thelmos]

Halabur tries to read the title of the same book, as he is proficient in Undercommon, Elven, Orc, and goblin. If he's not successful, he tries to determine the type of magic surrounding the book.

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Knowledge Arcana (1d20+10)[20]

[Marlowe]

Verossa sighs, and beats the butt of her glaive against the floor.

[Machuchang]

Eleanora looked around nervously. She had hoped they were past this.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" She said, giving a stern look to the gnome and the cleric.

[Malak'ai]

Halabur:

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Glancing at the book you take a quick look at the runes. They are in the Drow dialect of Undercommon. The title of the book seems to read: The Power of Demons and Devils: Pacts and Drawbacks.

[Wordplay]

'Go through with what, hmm?'

Clearsight turns about.

'Waiting in the Prince's tent? Certainly, for a while anyway. Infiltrating the Cult's lands and bringing them to ruin? It's my heart's fondest wish. Going in through the Blossemwood? As I was saying, I think that it's a quick and glorious death. Death doesn't really concern me, but I was hoping for it to be long and ignominious'.

Raif thinks for a moment

'Oh, or do you mean the book? Why, there's no harm in just admiring it, is there? It's not even as if I can read Draconic anyway. I learnt to read fairly late in life myself, and so I'm full of admiration for the written word. To see such a beautiful book fills my heart with joy'.

Raif Clearsight's eyes narrow.

'And what a shame it is, that so many books are so very rare, confined to the libraries of the great, the good and the high. If only there were some way to make knowledge available to whoever sought it - then we should light a fire like a beacon amidst the darkness'.

Raif Clearsight smiles.

'But perhaps you're right, we should not intrude upon the hospitality of our host. Come my friend'. With that, Raif Clearsight tugs Halabur's sleeve gently to lead him away from the book.

[Arranis Thelmos]

Halabur's eyes widen, Holy-- he begins in shock. Guys... This is a book on making demonic pacts. That's a bad thing, right? Why would Tahlruamy keep this?

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Untrained Knowledge (nobility) check: (1d20+4)[5] on Tahlruamy.

Edit: I rolled so bad, I'll say my character isn't even pronouncing Tahlruamy's name right.

[Marlowe]

"Prince? We don't know even if he has a title. But he can manhandle the Steward of Saltmist in front of monarchs and get away with it, which means he's nobody we want to anger. We were told to present ourselves. That doesn't mean we have a warrant to go through his underwear drawer."

Verossa takes one step forward. "Perhaps if you gentlemen are tired of trying to get us all killed or reprimanded we might continue the late discussion? It's nice you two have the spare tin to waste on side bets with each other, but we need to sort out assets and purchases, not asses and doofuses."

Her head turns slightly to address Halabur, "Speaking as a Hexblade, I haved never heard being a Binder was a treasonable offense. In any event, he may well be studying the methods of the enemy. Whatever it's about, I can tell you that it's not yours and none of our business."

[Malak'ai]

Halabur:

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You know nothing about him, you have only just learned he exisits

[Malak'ai]

After waiting, alone in the tent for whats seems to be an inordinate amount of time, the tent flaps open to reveal the Elven Lord, carrying a pile of saddles. Dropping them on the ground at your feet they spill over, revealing four of medium size and one smaller.
As he walks past you he reaches up and pulls a bag from his shoulder and throws it towards Verossa without turning. "Right now, I hope you've got that out of your system. It's going to take a lot, and I mean A LOT of effort to placate Belkenstair. He's threatening to pull his forces back to Saltmist. That wouldn't bother the Council, or me, too much except we need his ships. Without them the Covenant has the advantage over us at sea."
Moving over to the stretcher he finally turns, you see his face shows a slight hint of a smile, "Though I did enjoy seeing that pompous fool shown for the egotistical pig that he is. Unfortunately, because of your little escapade, I was not able to return to Rubyleaf to gather some of the things you requested. In the bag is what I was able to grab here in camp."
Sitting down, he looks you over, "Where's the other one? Drayner?"

[Marlowe]

Don't be a smartie. Don't be a smartie. Don'tdon'tdon't.

"Sir", Verossa stepped forwards. "The honourable gentleman regrets his absence. He was forced to feel with a sudden attack of--incontinence, such as he regularly suffers at times when he is not fearless exposing himself to personal danger."

Stupid girl.

Bluff:(1d20+7)[21]

[D_Man_7733]

Drayner opens the tent flap, a little hastily, and clips up his cloak once the flap is open. "sorry for being late, I got a little... sidetracked, Drayner smiles to himself briefly before continueing."There was something Nialise had to tell me." Drayner runs quickly over his apparel, checking that his cloak is properly clipped, bedroll tied, belt pouches in place.

Before he starts speaking again, he readjusts his pants as quickly as is possible, hoping that nobody notices.

"Did I miss anything?" Drayner's eyes drop to the saddles "heh... well this is a less-than-pleasant change." He walks to stand in line with the others, watching Tahlrumy, and looking around the tent, to get used to his new surroundings.

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Spot: (1d20+1)[14]

I don't think I lied in any part of my speech.

[Marlowe]

"Hope you washed your hands." grinned Verossa out of the corner of her mouth.

[D_Man_7733]

In response to Verossa, Drayner whispers to her out of the corner of his smiling mouth. "Wouldn't you like to know."

[Marlowe]

"That's a no then is it?"

[Malak'ai]

Tahlruamy looks straight at Drayner as he enters, listening to his explaination, "Well I hope your feeling better Mr Drayner," he looks back to the tent flap as it rustles again as the Halfling woman walks in, "I'm sure Nialise was just briefing you on some important... parts of the mission." he continues, eyeing Nialise strangely. She just smiles and walks over, sitting on the stool next to the desk.

"Anyway, now you've all arrived, I'll get to the point." Tahlruamy starts again, "The mission you've been given is one of upmost importance. We need you to not only get behind the Covenant's lines and cause problems for them, but you also need to find out what Altaranis Mosoleon's plan actually is. So far all we know is that he's gathering power for something." he finishes, looking you all over again.
"How you do this is entirely up to you, but I can not stress the importance of this enough.", sighing and running a hand over his face, "I'll try to answer any other questions you have as candidly as I can, but there are somethings I just cannot reveal. Incase you fail. I hope you understand." he says as he leans back again, his face now looking drained, his shoulders sagging as through under a great weight.

Drayner:

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You see a camp stretcher, that Tahlruamy is now sitting on, with one chest at the foot, an armour stand with a set of very finely crafted and ornate full plate armour of a pale silver with golden inlays in the shapes of leaves and vines all over it. A stack of books of all shapes and sizes with various runes and inscriptions on the covers, a small one open upon the lecturn in the corner and finally a small camp desk, covered in numerous pages of writing in all different languages.

[D_Man_7733]

Drayner sighs slightly at Verossa"actually yes, it may be a shock to you, but I view my hygenic condition rather highly"

When Nialise enters Drayner flashes a brief smile at her before adressing Tahlrumy when he finishes. "well, as was my question to begin with, how may we contact you during this mission if we find anything. What resistance can we expect, and do you have a recommended point for us to head for?"

[Marlowe]

Verossa nods."Understood, sir. I've seen what they do to prisoners, and in what order they do it in. I've no intention of failing, or surviving failure. And I hope to speak for all on that.

So, O'Tyrant Mausoleum's gathering power. This some "harvest-the-souls-of-the-innocent-to-power-a-ritual-that-will-summon-something-to-eat-the-world" gambit? Or do we suspect him of being original?"

Carefully, she fishes the bag off the blade of her Glaive, being careful not to tear it.

[Malak'ai]

Lifting his hand a little, pointing towards Verossa, "The answer to your question Mr Drayner, is as before. The pendant is in the bag. It will allow you to communicate to me directly up to three times a day, though you will need to keep your reports brief. Where you go beyond Blossomwood is up to you, and what you may encounter, I have no idea. We have not had word from any of our scouting parties in weeks. As for your enquiry Ms Carmine, as I said, your guess on what Mosoleon's plan is is as good as mine at this stage, though I have not ever heard of a summoning ritual that would require that number of souls." the Elven Lord answers in a wary voice.

The little Halfling Woman jumps up, moving over to his side, mumbling quietly as her hand starts to glow, touching it Tahlruamy's back, causing him to arch forwards for just a moment before he sits back up, looking as fresh as if he had just woken up from a good nights sleep.

[D_Man_7733]

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Knowledge: Arcana (what just happened with Tahlrumy and Nialise) (1d20+2)[13]

please be high, please be high.
EDIT:

Also using detect magic, and looking ALL over the tent (from my current position), but focusing on Tahlrumy and me. (I am getting a feeling about this)

Raising an eyebrow at what just transpired between Tahlrumy and Nialise, Drayner begins to speak. "Well that answers my questions, unless anybody else has any questions? I guess the last thing to ask is... what's our cue to cross the border? Once that's all done we can make our leave" An unusual seriousness creeps into his voice towards the end, and he waits eyes locked on Tahlurmy, occaionally darting around the room.

[Malak'ai]

Drayner:

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You come to the conclusion she used some sort of healing magic on him.
Also as you look around with Detect Magic you see a few of the larger books glow, one really old one seems to show up very strongly.
The armour also shines, so bright that it starts to hurt your eyes.
As your gaze moves further, you see not only the chest glowing dimly but also a few of the rolled up parchments on the desk.
Also, like you would expect, the tent it's self is showing signs of being enchanted.
The bag Varossa is holding shows signs of being magical.
When you focus on Tahlruamy, you see what you did before, him glowing from head to foot. The two swords criss-crossing his back still show the most power with their bright crimson glow.

[Wordplay]

'Indeed, I look forward to trekking through the Blossemwood'. Clearsight chimes in.

When the war's over he adds mentally.

Raif Clearsight continues to think. Curious fellows. They disapprove of the stratagems of Master Halabur and myself. Then tell bare faced lies with the truth. Incontinence- incontinence indeed. Yet we and Halabur make a game of it, that's the difference. And a game is unsettling when it's too true to life- it strikes near the heart of the truth: all this is itself a game of illusions and lies'.

Or perhaps they're worried we don't play the game well enough. Interesting. Also, we play the game for different things. I for souls and truth. Halabur, partly for amusement, which is the only sane response to life. Dame Elenor, unless I'm much mistaken, plays it for a particular lie. I wonder what the others play for?'

[Arranis Thelmos]

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Knowledge: Arcana (what just happened with Tahlrumy and Nialise)(1d20+10)[20]

I guess we have horses, so we will travel soon?

[Malak'ai]

Halabur:

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Though you can barely hear what the Halfling chanted, you know a Lesser Restoration spell when you see it. Your best guess to what happened was that she washed away the fatigue that Tahlruamy was suffering from.

[Malak'ai]

The Elven Lord laughs as Halabur mentions the horses, "No my little trickster. They" he says as he points to everyone else, "have horses. You. You have a pony." he finishes, eyes shining with mirth.
"I know some of you have a aversion to riding", he looks straight at Verossa, "but time is of the essence. As I told you earlier, the Ironstand Dwarves will be making a push against the Hand's forces. That thrust will start in two days with probing attacks to get the enemies attention and draw their forces. In four days, the main attack will happen and that's your opportunity to get across and make your way to Blossomwood. It is your decision if you carry on by horseback after you reach the battle lines, but you'll need to endure their discomfort until then."

[Arranis Thelmos]

My little pony! Halabur cries in glee.

OOC: Yeah. I soooo went there.

[Wordplay]

'Mmm, yes there's good eating on one of those. My thanks, my Lord. I'm sure m'Lady Carmine can provide us with a recipe, and perhaps another one of her charming dinner anecdotes about her past dinning companions. My own repetoire is sadly limited'.

Clearsight looks thoughtful for a moment.

'Both in anecdotes and the culinary arts, I'm afraid'.

Clearsight smiles wryly.

'Just as we escape Lord Belkinstair, I find that we're to swap the company of one smelly ill-tempered beast for another'.

[Machuchang]

"I'm afraid I can't share that sentiment, Clearsight," Eleanora said as she tried to hide a smirk at Raif's words and failed. You give the horses too little credit. She almost said, but caught herself. No sense in taking shots at the Lord behind his back. And besides, now was the time for unity, and who would she be if she contradicted her own word?

"My Lord," She turned her attention to Tahlruamy. "I have a question. Will we be taking part in the Ironstand's battle, or will we merely be using it as a diversion?" She scanned the party. All looked strong and well-prepared enough, but in the heat of battle, she wasn't sure if she could guarantee all of their safety.