The Storm <Team Two>

[Kyeudo]

The blazing sun beats down upon the scorched surface of Perun as you cross the courtyard of Redrock Keep. The building's high red sandstone walls provide some shade, but the heat is oppressive. The guards on duty at the central tower have been waiting on your arrival and quickly escort you to the great hall where Sir Allec the Red and several of his liutenents are gathered around a large table at the far end of the room, studying the maps laid out across its polished wooden surface. As you enter the great vaulted space, the skarrn warrior straightens and turns to face you.

"Finaly you are here. I have much work for you to do, and not much time to explain. Please, come closer." He says in firm but pleasant tones.

As you cross the room, you cannot help but notice the rich decorations of the hall, with finely decorated tapestries decorating the stone walls and the mounted heads of hunting trophies hanging above each of the large arched windows, every one a dangerous animal. Amoung the ones you recognize are the heads of Giant Eagles, Manticores, and a Displacer Beast.

When you reach the table, several of the liutenents move to give you a clear view of the maps spread out upon the table. "The mission I have for you is one of great strategic importance. As you know, I oppose Carmein Del'thur, the sorcerer who slew the rightful king of this land and usurped the throne with the help of several tribes of desert nomads. Carmein's forces have consolidated their control of the White Desert and are working to invade the Rimward Mountains and the surrounding badlands."

"Currently, my men and the few nomad tribes who are allied with us have been successful in keeping Carmein's men from invading and we are at something of a stalemate, but we have reason to believe that Carmein has entered into negotiations with a dragon, intending to use it's power to break the stalemate."

Sir Allec points to the map in front of you. "This is Blackrock Spire, located in the midst of the Needles and several days inside the White Desert. It is rumored that a blue dragon of great age lairs here within the Spire, but the dragon has only been seldom seen over the years, so we do not know if it is still in residence or even alive. Neverless, tribesmen loyal to Carmien have been seen frequenting the Needles. I have dispatched several teams of scouts to see what is in the area, but none have ever managed to return and report."

"This time, I have sent several of the desert tribesmen instead of my own scouts. They know the land better than my own men and should have been able to make it to the Needles and observe the actions of Carmien's men. This is where you come in. Your mission is to make your way to the Needles as quickly and secretly as possible and escort the tribesmen out of the Desert."

"However, an army of Carmien's forces has made another attempt to invade, and so we have been forced to have one of the allied tribes head them off before they can set up a foothold in the mountains. This may make your job more difficult as the shortest path to the Needles runs right through where the two armies are expected to meet. Any questions?"

[Tar Palantir]

Bripp stands on his chair in a vain attempt to offset his short stature. In the high pitched, abrasive voice of one accustomed to command, he says, "Yes, I have several. One, how much does it pay? Two, how many puny humans will we get to smash? And three, why in the name of Tiamat don't we get the dragon on our side? If there is anything I know about blue dragons, it's that their greatest weakness is greed. If we can outbid this Del'Thur fellow, the dragon will just as gladly follow us as him. Plus, with the legendary Bripp Redscale, shaman leader of the Tribe of the Hall of Shiny Floors, suporting you, no dragon would dare to oppose you!" He puffs out his chest, showing off his magnificent red scales, unusual among his kind. Everything about the kobold, from his blood red mace to his crown made from a feathered human skull, suggested both his importance and his strange, often disturbing, taste. Despite his odd appearance, he has an aura of power and command that belies his paltry 2'2" height. He crosses his arms across his chest, his long snout turned up haughtily as he waits for the answers to his questions.

[dual_wielder]

double post

[dual_wielder]

Sir Eric Gianor wipes the sweat from his brow that had formed on the walk across the blistering courtyard. He looks at the map and frowns, concentrating hard on memorizing every detail, even though he knows he has no head for memorization. At the mention of the dragon, he shifts nervously in place.

One thing, Sir Allec. If we do happen to encounter the armies in battle, should we help our allies defeat the enemy forces or try to avoid the conflict in order to get to our main objective faster?

[Kyeudo]

(Please colorize you character's speech, Tar. It makes it so much nicer to read.)

The knight shakes his head in irritation, the red spines running along the skarrn's arms and back stiffing somewhat in irritation. Apparently he question's his lieutenent's judgement in hiring a kobold for this job.

"You are recieving more than a standard soldier's pay for your services, five gold pieces each week, plus room and board, supplies, and necessery gear, plus you can keep anything you find or plunder from our enemies. I thought you were told this when you were recruited." Allec looks sharply at the lieutenet responsible, who shrugs, as if to say "Don't look at me."

"As for the enemy, we only expect light resistance, if any, on this mission, but there are no guarantees."

"The idea of bribing the dragon to work for us is proposterous. It would take half our treasury at the least to tempt the beast, and besides that the creature is a foul beast. It reputedly enjoys slowly torturing any visitors it recieves to death."

He turns to Eric, and addresses his question, relaxing a little. "I would prefer that you avoid any confrontations with the enemy, as our allies should have more than enough men to deal with Carmien's agressions."

[dual_wielder]

Understood Sir. That is all I need to know, so I will step aside and let the anyone accompanying me on the mission to ask questions. I am ready to leave whenever necessary.

Eric bows to Sir Allec and steps away from the table, keeping just in the shade and gazing across the courtyard, apparently deep in thought.

[DeathQuaker]

Hal Stormwind, the slight silver-haired elf, listens as best he can, though cannot help but be distracted by the diverse assortment of folk he has been asked to join. He particularly takes interest in the kobold's speech, considering it with a mixture of curiosity, amusement, and genuine interest.

He then turns back to Sir Allec.

"Well, I am about as far from my home terrain as I could imagine, so I can't even think of what questions to ask. But I imagine both my eyes and sword are as sharp as they ever will be. I'll do all I can to help.

He nods toward the kobold. "Even with the dragonling among us to add his persuasive skills to the mix, I agree negotiating with the dragon seems unlikely."

[[[dual-wielder, I am having trouble reading the orange text. Can you please switch it to a darker color? ]]]

[dual_wielder]

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Is this better?

[Tar Palantir]

Bripp nodded, considering Sir Allec's words with proper dignity. He then replied, "Very well. If resources will not allow it, then we will continue with your original plan. But I must say i feel the dragon to be more dangerous than any soft skinned human, present company excepted. The dragon will eventually need to be dealt with, and bribery is much more likely to work than outright battle against such an old and powerful creature." He pauses to rummage through one of the pouches at his belt, finally removing a dead rat, which he ate noisily before continuing. "Also, if need be, I could muster any kobold tribes in the area in support of your cause. If there are warriors brave and strong enough to defeat this dragon, they will be found among my people." He burped loudly as he finished, then proceeded to pick his teeth with a thin, sharp rat bone he produced from another of his pouches.

[dual_wielder]

Sir Eric turns around at the smell of the dead rat, cringing in disgust as he watches Bripp devour it. After some of the things he witnessed on Reach, he was looking forward to a chance to prove his worth alongside honorable allies. As he looks down on the 2 foot tall lizard with a rat bone in between his teeth, he sighs... "Not exactly what I expected." he thinks to himself. He shifts his gaze back to the courtyard, now with a slight scowl on his face.

[sleepy]

Jak shifts his weight, calling sudden attention to the ghostly stillness he had been maintaining, and moves forward to a more sociable distance. His gaze creeps across the map, then he places a finger on the cluster of icons labeled The Needles.

"I would know more of this place." His finger traces a path towards the bordering mountains, where two armies are deployed. "And here, also. From you, and also from these tribesmen in who's knowledge of the land you place such faith. You call this the shortest path. Is there another?" His finger is joined by the rest of his hand, as though he could absorb the depicted terrain by feel alone, which he then withdraws to resume searching with his eyes. "My Elders spoke of lands that cook rivers into sand. This journey is to take days, perhaps weeks. Where is there water?"

[theterran]

Badael (Jaden)

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Badael is elven for Jaden, so I'm just going to call him Jaden from here on out, since I imagine we'll be speaking in common anyway.

Walking through the room, Jaden takes a particular interest in the hunting trophies...

*sigh* My council has done so much to get nature back into these places...just so people can kill for fun and sport...

Lost in his thoughts, Jaden only half-way listens to what is being proposed.

Something about a dragon and a desert...and a spire...

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BlackRock Spire? Play WoW much?

A desert...hrmm...something of that magnitude is beyond my skills to heal...I must remember to send word to the council after investigating this desert. Afterall, if it was a true desert before the sundering of the world, there is no need to 'heal' it...

After a few more thoughts, Jaden finally decides to speak up.

"While I'm a little nervous about coming so close to a dragon's lair, especially one so old, since helping you will help restore some order and let nature continue to....

Jaden looks again at the trophy heads on the wall...grits his teeth, and continues.

...flourish. I will consent to help you. Can we assume that we will have a guide to show us the way?

[Kyeudo]

"That is the shortest way across the open desert. Once you leave the Crooked Pass, a straight course across the desert will bring you to the Needles as swiftly as possible. You could swing wide of the battle site, and thus avoid the conflict directly, but that would add several days to your travel. As for water, it is scarce in the White Desert, which is why you will be taking most of the water you will require with you. There is an oasis here," Sir Allec points to a spot to the east of the shortest route, "where you could resupply with water, but it would add a day of travel to your route and put you more directly in the path of Carmien's army."

"I see my trophies disturb you. Let me assure you that each was raiding the livestock of a settlement and had to be put down. It simply would have been a shame to waste them. As for a guide, I am unable to provide you with one. Any that I might have been able to give you are needed elsewhere if we are to ever drive that black-hearted traitor off the face of this world. I can provide you with a fine map of the area, which should be sufficient for you to reach your destination. On the way back, the scouts know the area well, and should be able to guide you back, if such is required."

"Are there any other questions?"

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I played WoW for a while, but I never heard of Blackrock Spire while playing the game. Call it an odd case of convergent invention.

[sleepy]

And this Crooked Pass, the scouting reports from this region report no hostile activity? Surely such a pass is of some strategic importance? Jak's finger sweeps the mountains bordering the desert once more. Your tribesmen know of no more secret passage? No road too narrow for an army? It seems likely your missing scouts were intercepted at this place.

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Blackrock Spire has been a fixture in the Warcraft universe since Warcraft 1 in the early 90's, when it was base of operations for the Orcs. It has since been passed around like a cheap hooker and last time I loaded up WoW a couple years ago, it hosted at least 4 races that did not exist at the inception of the game (incidentally, including dragons, but black ones), two high level instances, two 40-man raid dungeons, and a huge lava lake far below the ring around the outside that served as the path. That was the best part: as a priest, I could cast Mind Control on enemy players and make them fall in.

[Kyeudo]

"The pass has been in our hands and well guarded since shortly after the overthow of the king, and obtaining it is likely the objective of Carmien's forces now. There are other, less useful passes through the Rimwards, but most of them are also patroled my our men or by the tribesmen. If my scouts were killed or captured, it was after leaving the Pass."

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I hated shadow priests. I played a tauren shaman, and ran into a few. Stupid fear/life drain combos dropped on me when I'm just trying to grind out some quest items.

[theterran]

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I was a shadow priest

[sleepy]

This is well. These other passes are marked on the maps we are to receive? My.. companions and I can decide which to risk. Now, we must know more of how we are to carry enough water to last us.

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I ran in 2-3 man teams, so I played the 24/27 holy/disc split... vastly superior for anything other than solo pk'ing. Actually, I invented it... if Nurfed still has a forum, my old Priest thread from before release is probably still stickied there. A few months later when they figured out I was right, Vhell and Tivoli popularized it, at least on Archimonde... no one listened to anyone from Discordia. If anyone remembers that name, I'll tell some stories... before my guild disbanded we were #4 game-wide on every major raid boss takedown, but our fame had more to do with our... ingenuity. We probably caused more hotfixes than the rest of the game population combined. No outright cheats, but lots of thinking outside the box.

[Tar Palantir]

Bripp puts away his makeshift toothpick and stretches, then says, "Well then, let's be off. The sooner we leave the less likely it is that word of our mission will spread and endanger us. Secrecy will be our ally." His wise words are slightly undermined by the absurdity of his feathered skull crown and bright red scales.

[dual_wielder]

I agree with our little dragon here. I believe heading off as soon as possible would be the best decision. Does everyone in the group have a waterskin or some other way to transport water?

[sleepy]

(ooc: I can't find anything in the PH that talks about drinking water management, but a full waterskin weighs 4lbs, which is about 1.8L/60floz. I'm guessing that's vastly insufficient even if there's water right up until we leave the mountains)

Jak's head swivels to focus his expressionless gaze on Erik, the first eye contact he has made since entering the room. Indeed. Yet, for travel in the desert, some measure of flexibility is in order... we may need to take the long way home. Jak turns to Sir Alekk. You offer supplies. This undertaking seems to call for the use of a mule. Will you make one available to us?

[Tar Palantir]

Bripp stands up tall and speaks, in an excited voice, "Oh, I have heard of a creature far better than a mule! It's a beast of burden used by desert people. It can go a long time without water and can walk on the sand without slipping. I think it's called a cama...cara...caramel! That's it! no, wait, that's not right. I can remember right now. But it's real! I read about it in an ancient tome in the Room of Many Books, near my former kingdom, the Hall of Shiny Floors." He obviously thinks there is nothing wrong with what he is saying.

[Kyeudo]

"The quartermaster is handling all of those details. Once you leave here, you will need to visit him to pick up your gear for this mission anyway, so speak with him if he hasn't already made sufficient arrangements."

The skarrn begins rolling up the map. "Is there anything else that you need to ask?"

[dual_wielder]

I, for one, am ready to see the quartermaster. I do not know how I will deal with this environment, and frankly, I will need all the help I can to keep cool in this blasted armor.

Eric is clearly anxious to get underway, but out of courtesy he waits by the table, waiting for the others to make their opinions heard. "Always playing the gentleman Eric. Never looking out for yourself. Just like Father would have wanted..." Eric brightened at the thought of his father, who had been the one to first introduce to the concept of a perfect knight. He was filled with new determination to make this first mission a success.

[sleepy]

A ghost of impatient contempt almost seems to flicker through Jak's expressionless face as the kobold proclaims apparent nonsense and ridiculous self-justification yet again, but he turns instead to Erik. With a slight nod, he signals his willingness to follow Erik's lead for the time being, then seems somehow to melt out of sociable range without leaving his place at the table.

[Kyeudo]

"A last instruction for you. When you meet with the scouts, ask them: 'What is the greatest danger a man can face'. They will identify themselves as one of my scouts with the phrase 'The greatest danger is the evil within', to which you are to reply 'Danger must be faced with honor and courage'. If you do not supply the proper countersign, they have been instructed to flee imposters. If you discover an imposter, capture them for interrogation if you can."

Sir Allec finishes rolling up the map, produces a leather map case, and stores the map within. He then hands the case to Eric. "If that is all, you should go see the quartermaster. He should be found in the armory just off the courtyard."

[dual_wielder]

Eric takes the case from Sir Allec with a slight bow and places it in his backpack. He then turns towards the door and says over his shoulder:

If everyone is ready then we should be off to see the quartermaster.

[Tar Palantir]

Bripp jumps down off of the chair, saying, "It's still weird having to walk with my own feet. I used to be carried on a litter by my subjects before they were brutally slaughtered by cruel men and wicked elves. They got their comeuppance in the end, though. I miss that litter. I had a gnome build an fan that fanned me all by itself, and it only blew up twice! I think I still have that gnome's nose in one of these bags here..." Rummaging through his pouches, he follows the others to the quartermaster.

[dual_wielder]

I am going to believe that you are joking, Sir Kobold, if only so that I do not ruin the group's morale before the mission even starts. Perhaps you should not tell stories of your abuse of your own people from now on. Some of us may not approve of such behavior

Sir Eric shakes his head and tries to block out the Bripp's crude stories. "That is two strikes against the Kobold," he thought. But he knew that he could not, in good conscience, attack an ally. "Probably for the best, I can't stand the thought of ruining my first mission."

[Tar Palantir]

Bripp stood as tall as he could, which admittedly wasn't very, and said, "I did not abuse my people! The only reason I have the gnome's nose (if I still do) is that he tried to poison me and got caught. I kept it as a deterrent to future assassins. And I'll have you know that everyone was much happier under me than my predecessor, Drall the Oppressor. I took good care of my people and so accepted a few token signs of their gratitude, freely given. Perhaps you should look at your own people, Mister High and Mighty. My entire kingdom was invaded by a group of humans and elves who broke into our home, stole our possessions, and slaughtered our people, down to the last kobold child! The only reason I survived was because I used my magic to hold them off until it ran out, at which point I feigned death and escaped. But I digress. My point is that it is common practice for your people to slaughter mine, when all we are trying to do is defend our homes. Who is the evil one there?" He glowers at the knight, looking simualtaneously frightening and ridiculous.

[dual_wielder]

Was I the one who salughtered your people? No. You simultaneously insult all humans for being cruel to your people and judge me as evil just for being human. I would never kill innocent beings based on their race, but you seem to be willing to judge me based on mine. The humans I was raised among would never use their people to carry them from place to place. They would never consider themselves too important to walk on their own two feet. You call me "Mister High and Mighty" and with the same breath of air proclaim your greatness and superiority. No, perhaps you were not as evil as someone deemed "The Oppresser", but you certainly feel that your comrades are so below you that they need to carry you wherever you go.