Old Ways IC III

[Matthew]

Nathros grudgingly follows the example of his fellows and stacks his sword, mace and pole-axe at the entrance. He wears his dagger, though.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah joins the others in leaving his weapons by the cave entrance. He sets aside his sword, bow and quiver, as well as the non-magical dagger from his belt. Unless our host insists, he'll leave his magical dagger sheathed on his belt, as Nathros has done. He also holds on to the dagger he carries tucked into his boot.

"We appreciate your hospitality, friend. I'm Mycah. the Beastslayer, apparently," he adds with a rueful grin. "Hopefully we can fill you and your brethren in on all that's happening in Threshold in return."

[Nevaera]

ASH

Ash purposefully forgets the hidden magic dagger in her boot, though she doesn't expect she'll need it unless a strange critter shows up unannounced.

She grins to herself as Brandon offers healing. Good move. That's sure to win us favor, even just in the offering. Why not make allies of them if we can?

Ash and Brandon seem to be in the lead to follow the dwarf called Redg.

Ash takes note of Mycah's reaction to her introduction of him and smiles, "Apologies, but your martial prowess against that location-displacement-cat-thing has stuck with me and I cannot help but to admire the results, dangerous as the situation was at the time."

Once Ash is ensures the dwarves within the cave are friendly enough and her group seems comfortable, she'll summon the rest of their allies and the horses into the cave and while explaining the situation.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna feels slightly miffed at her services being offered without her asking, but she understands why Brandon thought of it. She decides to speak up.
"I'm Alanna Nightengale, Curate of the Threshold Temple. I don't have a specific god I work in the name of, and I have the most healing ability of the three healers with the group."
She rarely introduces herself with her last name, but here it feels appropriate. She also hopes she doesn't sound like a braggart.

[Roland St. Jude]

"Och, a shiny bard," says one of the dwarves, "have a seat lad and tell us about these evil elves and the dragons in the land. Y'can get out of that fine mail if you like. Naught'll get past old Redg there," he gestures back toward the entrance, "and if they do they'll have to face the all of us."

If Redg was dirty, these dwarves were downright filthy, save for their hands and faces. They sit on stone benches around a dwarf-height stone table eating a modest meal of meat and some kind of stew.

They gesture toward some nearby stone slabs for the party to sit on.

They will, if Brandon or someone else will oblige them, eventually draw out every tale of adventure and gossip they have to share. For their part, the dwarfs talk about mining. They hunt on the nearby mountainside and mine the area for whatever can be dragged from the earth.

The hirelings file in to the cave, surrendering their weapons and hanging back to tend to the horses and guard the cave entrance.

[Matthew]

Nathros, no stranger to poverty, is nonetheless mildly out of sorts at the squalor in which these dwarves appear to dwell.

[Roland St. Jude]

"So what brings you through these mountains? We don't see many folk come through, 'specially not a whole expedition." asks one of the dwarves.

[Nevaera]

ASH

"We're headed to Verge, actually. We were hoping to be able to make the area between here and there a little safer for travel as well.
"We're an adventuring group and this sort of thing is excellent experience for our newer recruits - good practice as a team, you know?

"We've also heard of a place where a great and ancient evil lurks that, if disturbed, could unleash a great terror on this land. We hope to prevent this from happening if the one who would pursue this is still intent on trying. We'd hoped we'd thwarted their plans to overtake Threshold and the like at least enough that they wouldn't still try this. But perhaps they will anyways and we've only made them more desperate. Only time will tell."

If we're too late, then most of us may have to die trying to stop the problem from spreading... and no one save a few will ever really know from what or why we perished.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran tries to hide an expression of dismay as he sees how very dirty all the dwarves are.

Still, he eats of the food they offer him. To do otherwise would not be polite.

"Thank you for sharing your meal with us. If you ever visit Threshold, please look us up. We'd be happy to offer our own hospitality."

He tells as much as they are willing to hear, though he prefers to speak only in generalities. He does not mention which spells the party has cast, for instance, or what magic items they have.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna tries to use a corner of her clothes to clean off the stone she sits on, but it doesn't seem any less dirty. She sighs and takes a seat, politely eating what the dwarves offer.

[Battlemage]

Dural Arkenvir

Dural keeps back during the conversation, letting the rest of the group speak. He didn't have any heroic tales to his name anyway. The dirtiness of the cave bothers him and he repeatedly tries to scrub it off his clothing, with limited success.

Spoiler

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Why is there no Prestidigitation in this edition? :P

[Matthew]

Nathros lets his companions do the talking, while he observes their hosts.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran diffidently asks, "Hey, if you don't mind, do you have any tips for travelers in this region?"

"Like, are there any monsters to be wary of, above or below ground? Any hazardous areas to avoid? Nearby bandit lairs or taxation stations?"

"On the other hand... Is there any place good to stop for the night in these parts? Friendly folks? Besides your estimable cave, of course."

[Nevaera]

ASH

Ash didn't seem too bothered by the dirt. She decided that working in mines isn't likely the type of occupation where one worries much of their cleanliness.

During watch tonight, Ash spends a period of four hours feigning slumber and peers through her helmet at the goings on around the cave. She'll make her rest place about twenty five feet from the entrance. She'll not be too far from her weapons in general.
If she is questioned about her chosen sleeping arrangements she'll reply, "I'd rather have it that an enemy face a tin can first than a pin cushion."

[Kish]

Aditi follows the others' lead. She eats the offered food and doesn't speak unless one of the dwarves addresses her directly. She tries to not seem bothered by the dirt, and probably doesn't bring it off well.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah follows the dwarves answers to Bran's questions about threats in the area with interest, asking follow-up questions to get as much detail as possible. He also asks about the berserker clan specifically, to see if the dwarves know how large a tribe they were (are).

He freely answers any questions their hosts ask about the outside world, and Threshold, trying to entertain with a story or two and pay for the hospitality with the information.

[Roland St. Jude]

The dwarves caution that these are dangerous montains, noting that many orcs and goblins wander the area preying on wildlife and each other. They know of the berserkers to the east, which the they don't challenged. The dwarves stay on this side of the mountain men's territory. They once suffered an ambush by about two dozen of them, and lost three brave dwarves in the attack, but they don't know if that was the full mountain men tribe.

Along the path to Verge, they warn of great winged beast that could snatch a horse and carry it off into the sky. Not a true dragon, but a deadly wwyvern. Less than two days ahead. What lies beyond either the wyvern or the berserkers, they do not know. They've been mining and building, and hunting the area nearby for many years. But they don't go more than a day or so in any direction. (North and south there a fewer traveling paths, but the humanoids have camps and warrens.)

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran nods as he listens carefully to the recitation of local hazards.

At the mention of the 3 dwarves fallen in battle against the mountain men, he murmurs, "Sorry for your losses."

He makes a face at the mention of the wyvern. "Ugh."

[Nevaera]

ASH

When speaking with the dwarves, Ash makes mention of the giants her group avoided and the centaurs that Brandon, Nathros, and Mycah encountered. (Perhaps Brandon will remember and wish to share the words they spoke to him about them claiming and protecting the lands beyond Threshold ... and that they are a bit territorial, apparently.)

---

In the case of a wyvern attack, Ash asks if perhaps the spell casters should study one magic missile spell each, along with the usual sleep spell.

She also checks again with Alanna about the spells she can cast, "I still think your blessing spell would be the most advantageous for our journey. Anytime a large group of enemies or a formidable foe attacks us, try to cast your spell immediately before we spread out to fight. You're in the center of the group, so you should be able to reach most of us if we bunch up."

---

Ash assembles her group in the same marching order as before for the journey ahead. She thanks the dwarves for their hospitality and tells them they are welcome in Threshold should they ever seek shelter there.

Spoiler

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Alertness (DC13): (1d20)[12]

[Battlemage]

Dural Arkenvir

Dural agrees to the suggestion of which spells to prepare.

A Wyvern! Not quite a dragon, but certainly worth preparing for.

Later that evening he approaches Neela by the fireside.

"I though it was past time that we speak for a bit, just between us practitioners of the arcane arts. Our group is fine company, but some of the more specific topics of our profession are best discussed among scholars."

After some small-talk about various magic-related things, he comes to the core of the issue. Talking about the arcane makes all his usual insecurity vanish and he seems at ease.

"To increase both our power and thus make it more likely for our mission to succeed, I would suggest a trade of spells between us. I know a powerful spell to turn someone completely invisible for a potentially very long time. I would be willing to exchange it for two less powerful spells that I do not have in my spellbook yet. What do you say, colleague? Shall we expand our horizons and profit from each other's unique knowledge?"

[Roland St. Jude]

Neela speaks to Dural for a while about arcane arts. She is charming and brilliant, and at times Dural might wonder whether she is as well-educated as she seems or merely weaving a plausible theory and selling it with her eloquence. She is quite interested in his training, his master, and his goals. She seems open about her own, having been trained not by a master but by a guild in Darokin, which she describes the norm. As a member of the Darokin Diplomatic Corp, she was assigned to travel to Threshold to assist in a commercial negotiation, about which she is bound not to say any more. But she figured as long as she was in the area, she would do some exploring, and this group seemed to be successful.

She seems quite interested in the spell, inquiring about its details, but reluctant to engage in such a trade. "Given the true danger we seem to find ourselves in, perhaps it is necessary. I can offer you two spells which may prove useful." She describes a spell for the detection of evil and another that will allow one to read most languages for a short period of time.

As night falls, the dwarves retreat into the darkness at the rear of the cave, which, if investigated reveals a dwarf-sized door. The party can pass an uneventful evening in the cave.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah

The young scout again thanks the dwarves for both the shelter and hospitality and the information about the area's dangers - especially the wyvern. "It would have been an unpleasant surprise, that's for sure!"

"I'll let Ash and the spellcasters decide on a strategy for their abilities," he says, once the group begins planning for the next day's travel. "I'd recommend all the archers be prepared as we ride, and we certainly need to be more aware of our surroundings. We were lucky with that ambush and that can't happen again."

Mycah intends to ride with his bow strung and laid across his knees, and to try to watch the forest and sky more closely. It's not his home forest, and he knows he fell into old habits. A dangerous mistake in strange lands.

[Nevaera]

ASH

Ash agrees that if a wyvern attacks, the best method of defense would likely be arrows. She suggests that - if one of their own are taken up into the sky - Dural or Neela should try to sleep the beast before it gets too high. Then any injuries sustained could be quickly healed with a spell. If sleep didn't work, then perhaps the wand of paralysis.

[Matthew]

Nathros listens carefully for any hint of where the dwarves came from; he finds it difficult to believe that they are unrelated to any larger clan.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran asks, "How serious are we about this wyvern?"

"If we're just trying to avoid it, we could go on as we already are. But do any of you want to actively hunt the beast?"

"If so, maybe we could lay bait and a trap for it, you know. Maybe the dwarves know what kind of food it likes."

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna tries to not think of the wyvern as she finds a place to sleep.
We'll deal with it in the morning, she tells herself.

[Kish]

Aditi considers the prospect of fighting a wyvern with apprehension. When Brandon speaks--presuming this is after the dwarves have retired for the night--she comments softly, "It couldn't hurt to ask for any information they have that they haven't shared about the wyvern."
If any (not-in-party) dwarves are still there when he speaks, she addresses them instead, "Do you have any knowledge of what the wyvern eats--or anything you can think of at all that would be helpful for fighting it?"

[Nevaera]

ASH

Ash thinks that an all out wyvern hunt would be a waste of time and resources, but to pursue one after seeing signs of it might be worth a few hours off the trail. "I'd assume they eat large cattle when it's available. They said it was known to be able to lift a whole horse before. Probably to take it to a nest somewhere to eat or feed to it's young - if it's anything like its other avian counterparts that is. "

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros examines the rear of the large cavern and notices the outline of a door. It was well-crafted to appear to be natural and perhaps mere shadows or stains on the stone. But it was definitely a door, large by dwarven standards, wider than a typical human door and a bit wider. It was closed now, obviously, with no apparent signs of handle or knob. While the dwarves took their meals and leisure out here, apparently they slept and mined and whatever else beyond that door, which opened only from the inside or by some trick not immediately apparent.

No clan marks adorned the hall and all of the stonework was far too simple to suggest the work of any particular clan of Rockhome or elsewhere.

[Matthew]

Nathros says quietly within earshot of only his companions, "I would say we are on the doorstep here, and it is unusual to find someone sleeping outside their house. These are guards, but what are they guarding? More dwarves? Their hospitality is unusual, given our propensity for wariness. Perhaps all is as it seems, but let us take no chances in the wild."