a Very (un)Common Quest -ic

[Trivino]

Aldaer:

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As you approach the castle, you are immediately stopped by a hulking guard. He looks you up and down, stares at you, then grunts.

"What do you want, peasant?"

Rest of party:
As Jackson, Aaron, and Tommy make a dash for the pathway, the slaves take notice. Chaos quickly ensues. Slaves begin challenging nearby Orcs, while the other peasants from Ro make a run for Grul. The Orc quickly slays one of them, but the rest seem unfazed as they continue attacking Grul with anything they can. One of the women looks back with a crazed, frantic look in her soft blue eyes.

"Run!"

[Newcomer]

Seeing the others bolt, Ellie realizes it's time. She takes off after the others, and shouts to Charles.

Spoiler: Elven

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"Don't stop to carry me, race you to safety!"

She sees and avoids Tommy dropping caltrops, and decides she'll think about using hers after she gains a little more distance.

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Run action, 120 ft.

[Elrihm]

Aldaer will pull the pipe from his mouth, and look at the guard.

"I'm looking for some people. I've been tracking them, and I was told they came this way. I want to find them for personal reasons, but if you can tell me what happened to them, I can make it worth your while.", he says. As he speaks he'll pull out a gold coin, and hold it up.

[redzimmer]

Randolph

"I am not a slave!"

In a mad rush, he charges toward the one called Grul.

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Move: Head to D8, swinging quarterstaff.

Intimidate: (1d20+5)[22]

"Go!" he shouts to the others. "Remember it was Useless Randolph who saved you!"

[nersxe]

Charles runs for it, angling for Ellie so he can try scooping her up and running with her.

Spoiler: OOC

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Come on, now. He doesn't know child PCs get the full 30' run speed everyone else does. Fixed.

[Newcomer]

Ellie keeps herself a few steps ahead of Charles, which pleases her immensely. He may be bigger and have a longer stride, but she's a natural sprinter.

Spoiler: nersxe

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But he can't exactly catch up to her if she takes off first... Same speed and all...

[Trivino]

Randolph

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As Randolph charges after Grul, Grul lets out a roar and directs his attention to the oncoming peasant. About 7-8 peasants stand between Randolph and Grul, making it practically impossible for the two to interact with each other. Although Randolph does notice that Grul is slightly hesitant...

Aldaer-

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The guard scoffs at you as you hold the gold coin.

"You try to bribe me with one gold coin?! Silly peasant. What do you think I am? A peasant?"

Everyone Else:
As you continue running down the path, a quick look back shows the lone orc chasing you step on Tommy's Caltrops, slowing him down significantly.

As you continue down the path, dense forest stretches past you on either side. Besides the countless trees, the way is cleared.

Suddenly a voice calls out to you from the bushes. "Quick! In here!"

[nersxe]

Charles, blindly trusting, darts toward the voice.

[Chilingsworth]

Seeing no better options, Jackson likewise runs towards the voice.

[moskeeto]

Tommy dives into the bush, following Charles and Jackson...

[Newcomer]

Ellie starts toward the voice, but she's on her guard for its source. She has no intention to run from one danger into another.

Spoiler: Spot

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(1d20+1)[20]

[Elrihm]

"Fine. I can see you will be of no help.", Aldaer will tuck the gold back in his pocket, a hefty sum for a commoner, and leave. "Where to now...", he will think, beginning to suspect the worst, "I don't know that I want to spend the night in a city like this, but my friends are missing."

Aldaer resolves to leave the city, and set up a camp about a mile from the town, in a nearby forest. He will just have to come back tomorrow to search again. Before he leaves, he'll buy rations for five days. When he sets up camp, he'll spray acid down in junction with his psicrystal at the base of a large tree, to create a cave underneath the tree to sleep in. Hopefully the roots will reinforce the walls, and form a stable structure.

Knowledge architecture and engineering to keep it from falling in. Taking 20, so 22.

[redzimmer]

Randolph

"At 'em People of Ro! He is weak and alone!"

Bugger this, Randolph says to himself, turning towards the rest of his group's flight path.

He heads towards the caltrop-injured orc in an attempt to clear his path.

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Move to the orc who stepped on the caltrop.

Attack (1d20+2)[20]
Confirm crit if needed (1d20+2)[20]
Damage (1d6+1)[7]

[Dudeons]

Aaron grinds to a halt, casting a quick look towards the area where the voice came from. He hurries into that area with the others. After he enters, he's going to get his shovel in both hands if he see any sudden moves.

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Spot check
(1d20+3)[14]

[Trivino]

Aldaer:

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You set up camp in a tree trunk for the night, and the structure is more than secure enough to house you for the night.

Randolph:

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You take out the Orc with one amazing blow, sending it to the ground immediately. When you look back up the path, however, you notice the rest of your friends have disappeared...

Everyone else:

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As soon as you dive into the bushes, you come face to face with an Elf. To the Elf's left is a Dwarf, and to his right a Gnome. They all look at you, jaws relaxed. The Elf steps forward, his long reddish-blonde hair resting on his shoulders.

"Hello, friends. I am Elrond. The Dwarf is Kemble, and the Gnome..."

"I'm Ianben!" the little Gnome bursts out. His buggy brown eyes wide with excitement.

"Yes," Elrond continues, "I understand you were sold into slavery? Please, follow me. We have much to discuss."

Elrond turns and leads the Dwarf and Gnome away, stopping every few feet to make sure you follow.

The sun has begun to set, and it will be dark before long. Be preparing to get some rest!

[nersxe]

Charles' eyes widens. He's only seen a handful of elves in his entire life, and never a gnome or a dwarf.

Spoiler: Elven

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"Thank you for your assistance, Elrond, but-" Charles looks over his shoulder. "If you've got more allies, a lot of our townspeople are still back in the mines. They need rescue!"

[redzimmer]

Randolph

Randolph pauses to search the orc for coins and mundane items, then he looks around for the others. Seeing no one, he rolls his eyes skyward.

"Great, I put my magnificent arse on the line to save them and they all boot it," says Randolph in disgust. "Typical!"

Shrugging, he looks to see how the peasants he left behind are faring before heading into the wood.

[Elrihm]

Aldaer sets up for the night in his hand-made cave. He drags some limbs over it to disguise the entrance, sets his psicrystal to watch, and sleeps.

[Newcomer]

Ellie follows the three strangers, sharing both Charles's concern and his amazement. She has only seen these races in illustrations, and she's only seen a handful of those.

Spoiler: Elven

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"Yes, our whole village was captured!"

It is obvious from her tone and facial expressions that Ellie is particularly proud at this moment that she can speak in Elven.

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson follows the others and nods at Ellie's comment.

[inexorabletruth]

Rodney whips out his trusty crossbow and fires a shot off towards Grul as a final salute to Randolph, nods and turns tail.

Swift Action: Load Crossbow
Attack: (1d20+4)[10]
Damage: (1d8)[6]
Move: With group towards the forest.

Confirm Crit if threat:

Spoiler

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Attack: (1d20+4)[21]
Damage: (1d8)[4]

OOC, bit IC relevant:

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I'm going to assume that during the time I'm running, I have time for another swift action to reload.

"Quick! In here!"

Rodney starts at the sound and nearly falls over trying to dart away from whoever said that. He snaps his crossbow in the direction of the sound, squinting into the trees to find out who did it. He herds Ellie close to him, unsure of what to do.

When it becomes evident that everyone else is going that way, he shrugs and turns to Ellie. "Strength in numbers," he says and tiptoes hesitantly into the shrubs, still holding his crossbow out in front of him.

"-uch to discuss."
His jaw nearly falls off when he sees an elf, a gnome, and a dwarf in front of him. "Well now I've seen everything," he gasps, and only then realizes he's pointing a crossbow at one of the fair folk. He doesn't lower it, but he does relax his posture some. The group seems to trust the strangers as they lead him further into the woods, and no one seems to notice, or maybe care about, Rodney keeping his crossbow loaded and pointed at the elf, so he contents himself that this is a fair compromise and follows the group quietly. However, he makes note of his surroundings as often as possible so as not to get too lost, in case he has to make another break for it.

Survival (Untrained): (1d20+1)[14]

Once it seems apparent that they're a safe distance away from the slave camp, Rodney tries to break the ice. "So... what's an elf, a gnome, and a dwarf doing in a forest near a slave camp at this time of year?" His tone is jovial to disguise the accusatory nature of the question.

Diplomacy: (1d20+5)[24]

[moskeeto]

Tommy does a double take at the sight of the Elf, Dwarf, and Gnome. He has to remind himself what they are, as he has been simply living in Ro with Humans his entire life. Tommy followed the trio, not really worried about any threats from them. As Charles and Ellie began speaking in Elven, Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Can someone translate please?"

[Chilingsworth]

Sure Tom.

Charles thanked them for helping us, and Ellie told them that our entire village was captured by the orcs.

[Trivino]

Randolph:

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You manage to find 3 gold pieces on the Orc, as well as his club and leather armor. As you make your way back to the camp, the fighting is still going on. Grul has disappeared, and most of the fighting is working its way towards the dark mines on the far side of the camp. You casually make your way towards the forest and wander, eventually settling in for the night... You will be well-rested for tomorrow.

Aldaer:

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You are resting, and will get a full 8 hours of sleep.

Everyone Else:

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As Elrond leads you through the forest, he listens as Charles and Ellie voice concerns about the people they had left behind.

"With night upon us, I'm afraid that will have to wait until morning. At this point, they will either be okay or they won't. It won't matter if we're there or not," Elrond replies in perfect Common. "As far as our purpose for being in the woods, we are simply hiding. We... have alot to discuss, but that will have to wait until morning."


As Elrond finishes speaking, you find yourself entering a small camp. All different races walk from tent to tent, occasionally looking up to see who was entering their camp. A fire crackles in the middle of the campground, where a Half-Orc smiles as he pokes the fire with a stick. Elrond points at a nearby purple tent.

"That is where you will be spending the night. If you need anything, let me know. If not, I will see you in the morning, and we can discuss the issues at hand."

[nersxe]

Charles stiffens at the sight of the half-orc. Orcs, half or not, have been the source of too much suffering lately for him to take another one easily.

"No, I don't think this can wait," Charles says, switching back to Common as well. "At the very least, we do need to know what your intentions are toward us. The last people who were supposed to help us sold us into slavery."

[Dudeons]

Aaron looks about and see three figures standing before him. He's shocked by the sight, but keeps the surprise contained with a simple raised eyebrow. He looks them over as they speak, paying particular attention to the elf. One of the rumors about him that he'd taken to believing was that he was partially elven. The being before him made him see a similarity or two, giving his mind something to mull over as he walks with them.

Then his surprise only increases as he follows the group to a camp filled with non-humans. His calm drops noticeably and he takes a moment to gather his wits. He eventually pulls himself together and heads for the purple tent, giving plenty of space to the half-orc in the center and any others he sees.

[moskeeto]

As Tommy walks into the camp, his eyes are immediately drawn to the Half-Orc sitting by the fire. He felt his blood boil as he watched the creature poke the fire with a stick. He looks over at Elrond immediately.

"You have a half-orc?"

[inexorabletruth]

Rodney nods his accord with Charles, but gives a friendly wave to the half-orc. His time spent in taverns getting rowdy with half-orc travelers has taught him a thing or two about their ways, and (to Rodney anyway) it gave this odd group more credit if they'd welcomed someone like like a half-orc in to their fold.

"Yeah, I think a few answers'd be nice, friend. Besides, I don't think I'm gonna sleep much tonight anyway. There's been a lot of… runnin' for my life, ya know? The blood's pumpin'."

"To hell with your tents, elf. I'm tired of bein' told to go here, run there, be sold to this guy. We've been taking a 10' pole up the rear end since those damned orcs rolled through our village and no one's so much as extended the courtesy of a reach around or leave a little change on the dresser. I've had it with orders. I'm with Chuck here. We deserve some answers!"

He has disarmed his crossbow by now, but it's still not slung back onto his back.

Diplomacy if that's in order: (1d20+5)[6]

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson was heading to the tent when Rodney had his outburst.

He stops, stunned, and having a very hard time withholding his laughter.

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Seriously, that was hilarious!

[Trivino]

Elrond passes a shocked glance at Rodney.

"A reach-around? I'm not aware what that is... Regardless, if you are all going to be so insistent, I am left with no choice. Years ago, the true king of the Waelti kingdom was overthrown. The new king, King Onri, has been far from a fair king. Choosing to alienate the peasants living on the outskirts of his kingdom.

However, rumor has it that the former king lives. No one is quite sure where, but we do know that the former king is in hiding, waiting for the moment when he can reclaim his throne. We... we intend on finding the former king and restoring the throne."