Adventures of Eliria [IC] (3.5)

[Techwarrior]

OOC

3:00 P.M. Backroom of the Roast Boar Inn, Darren

A group of adventurers, heroes, and assorted others have been gathered to this time and place. Each was given a scrap of parchment letting them know when and where to gather by a middle 'man,' a mysterious poison dusk that vanished in the blink of an eye after giving the message. None of you can recall much about the lizardfolk, but you all had been warned that this was how you would be given the time and date.

A full nine sits at the ten seats of the long wooden table in the backroom of the Inn, one of the lesser known inns of the Great City. The head of the table is mysteriously empty.

To the right of the head is a warrior garbed in the obvious overtunic of Heironeous. A longsword rests at his waist, and a pack sits at his feet.

The other eight seats are occupied by a monkey, four humans (although one seems a little darker than the others DC 12 Knowledge (The Planes) identifies Marros as a Tiefling), a shifter, a half elf, and a full elf.

One of the humans wears a nondescript brown tunic over light mail. A longbow is on her back, and she has a longsword at her side. The elf wears black leather, and has a single short sword at his side. Neither speak.

After a moment of silence, the first human, garbed in Heironeous' garb, stands.

"I want to thank all of you for coming here. I hope that we can swiftly solve the predicaments facing us and will be able to return home swiftly and safely."

[DracoDei]

Markus Vincent

"Indeed. Surety first, speed second." says the heavily armored man with the holy symbol of Auronia hanging around his neck... for some reason he has placed his weapons on the table in front of him. This could be considered vaguely threatening in the case of the crossbow, were it not for the fact that the device is neither cocked nor loaded at this time.

Spoiler: Spot DC 20

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His hands seem to be slightly moist... including the BACKS of them, so it isn't nervous sweat.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Pum

She shifter smiles and nods at the warrior. She looks as if she is not quite comfortable in this situation. Whether it is (part of) the company, the location, or something else is unclear. "Perdi...Preda....hmmm, I guess it is important people talk for problem."

[ShadowySilence]

Marros peers at the gathered company and his stomach ties in a knot, he rarely left the confines of the Foundation, and even rarer still did he adventure with others. This however, was a matter of importance it seems, a quest given to him by the High Archivists themselves... and he could never refuse a chance to see the outside world.

He gives a half smile at the other's speech and then chimes in "Yes, safety is a key issue, but I believe all present seem quite capable so that should leave us well off."

He sips on a bottle of wine which he carries with him to calm his nerves, he wants to seem confident to the others, so he makes his best attempt to seem somewhat aloof and aware of the situation.

He eyeballed the warrior's crossbow, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was not armed.

[TETanglebrooke]

Perhaps you could enlighten us to the specifics of the predicaments you wish us to deal with. Mimic asked calmly as he looked around.

He'd watched most of these people enter this room using a different face before he decided to enter. He was very interested in seeing what someone who could find him despite his face would want.

[Zaydos]

Markrev sat calmly, the metallic sheen of chain armor only partially concealed by his traveling cloak. Blue energy forms a belt around his waist, darker spots across it and a twitching tail ending in a spiked ball expanding from it. Plates of similar energy hover over his shoulders and arms, ending in spectral scythe-like blades that extend over his fingers, beneath these plates more solid claws of blue energy hang forming an insulating layer over his hands. Cobalt energy forms metallic seeming boots around his legs. His brown hair is lightly touched by silver, and his blue eyes seem to have metallic flecks across their irises. His eyes scan the people gathered around, noting the armored man's hands before settling finally on the speaker. A club hangs at his side, but he seems to barely remember its existence.

"Yeah, what's the problem you've got yourself?" he says, a masculine voice, filled with just a hint of arrogance and pride.

Spoiler: OoC

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Swift action put all his essentia into Manticore belt since he's not stealthing while sitting in the inn. Take 10 on perception, making the DC 20 for Dracodei's spoiler with a 25.

[JanusJones]

Monkey scratches himself, then clambers on the table and peers at the assembled adventurers. "I am the handsome monkey king! I am not here to talk! I am here to vanquish evil, right wrongs, and punish the wicked!"

He spots an apple on a nearby plate as he hops about, and stops suddenly, sitting down and wrapping in in his long fingers.

"... and eat fruit," he mumbles around a sloppy mouthful of apple flesh. "No monsters here, anyhow. Disappointing!" He eyes the tiefling suspiciously, but continues smacking and sucking and crunching until the apple has disappeared completely, at which point he begins grooming some of the remains out of his fur.

[Techwarrior]

The warrior stumbles awkwardly over words for a moment, he clearly doesn't know enough about what is going on.

The door behind you opens.

"I am the reason you are here. My name is Aandilar Vacasian."

The man wears the light brown tunic common to the Desert's inhabitants, and you can see the symbol of Pelor hanging from a pendant about his neck. He holds a walking stick in one hand, and a pewter cup of water in another.

"I have been studying the ancient texts, and have recently gained access to the Prophecy of the Nine."

Aandilar slowly begins to walk around the room, each step echoing with the thump of his walking stick.

"Each of you are here because the world has need of someone of your talents in this up and coming threat to our world."

As he finishes this last statement he sits at the head of the table, and sets his cup on down on it. He smiles warmly at everyone, then continues.

"I believe Erin here to be the Chosen One the Prophecy of Nine speaks of. The details of the prophecy are difficult to understand at times, but the prophecy is clear on the details of the Chosen One, if not much else. Now, the prophecy makes it quite clear that we will need to begin recollecting the Legendary Five's Materials of Light in order to successfully thwart this threat."


Aandilar pauses for a drink, then continues, looking to each person when he mentions them.

"In my adventuring days, I discovered the location of one of the Lost Tombs here in the desert, but we did not explore it fully. There you should be able to find some clues as to the whereabouts of the relics, and possibly the other Tombs.


I have gathered the six of you to protect Erin and collect these relics. I will stay here and attempt to decipher the locations of the other Lost Tombs, and possible locations of the Materials. My companions will begin scouting out a few rumors. Sharin Dalian,"


The human woman nods, grim-faced.

"Is an expert tracker, guide, and wanderer. She will cross the Sviri Desert, as we believe one of the Tombs is located in the Steppes. Veryn Ta'lir,"

The elf smiles mischievously, almost with a hint of viciousness.

"Will infiltrate the renowned Thieve's Guild of Adrilanka. It is rumored that some of the higher ranking member carry some of the Materials as trophies of past exploits."

Aandilar looks back to the group as a whole.

"Pum, Markrev: I understand the two of you have great skill surviving in the wilder regions of the world. Sun, tales of your work describe you as a great acrobat, slayer of evil, and have been known to bypass snares and other traps with ease. Marros, your mentor recommended you himself when I asked after someone with knowledge of the most obscure lore, and of reading ancient texts. Markus, the Undead fall before you, and the Deathless love you. All of you must be swift, but more importantly, you must be careful."


Aandilar turns to Mimic with a smile.

Spoiler: OOC, All

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Aandilar is about to use the name of Mimic's Half Elf guise. I will note this by putting [Mimic] in italics in his speech. Once I have the actual name, I will probably edit that name into these first few posts.

TETanglebrooke: Get me the name of your guises ASAP.

"Tannis, you are an acrobat like Sun, only instead of mastering the physical arts, you have mastered the social graces. Your skills will be needed before the journey's end."

[ShadowySilence]

Marros smiles as his name and mentor are mentioned, it wasn't often that he was an important part of something... or anything for that matter. This was all a rather grand speech this Aandilar was making, he wasn't sure what to make of it all, his master hadn't filled him in on the details at all, simply the location of the meeting place.

Some things sounded quite dangerous... he already knew first-hand how deadly seemingly "unattended" ruins could be, but thieving from the Thieves Guild... that would be quite something.

Although he trusts Aandilar, he wants to cross-reference what he is describing, so he attempts to remember anything he can about the Prophecy of the Nine, the Legendary Five, and the Chosen One.

He closes his eyes for a moment in thought.

Spoiler

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Knowledge Rolls: (Rolling History for all, rolling one for each subject if applicable, otherwise I will re-roll one single roll for them all if that is preferred)
Prophecy of the Nine- (1d20+9)[29]
Legendary Five- (1d20+9)[22]
Chosen One- (1d20+9)[16]

[DracoDei]

Markus Vincent

"Ah, so our speed has more value than a swift return to more comfortable environs... makes sense based on what you have said.

I should hasten to clarify to the rest of you that the Deathless may love me, but I'm more of their big brother rather than their parent. In other words, I still require support from my betters now and again to maintain my craft at its fullest capacity."

Spoiler: Internal monologue

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I'm best he could find? His research must not have much support if he can't locate someone who can reload when a deathless falls... Still, it doesn't preclude him being right, and covering all bets is safest. If this Erin really is the prophesied one then perhaps I shall find myself rising to the occasion much more quickly than would normally be possible.

[Zaydos]

Markrev begins gruffly, "I can keep us from getting hungry, but," he pauses looking at Aandilar, "What kind of threat does the prophecy talk about? I'm not exactly the most learned about prophecies. If you're hiring us to guide your expedition it's best if we know what might be coming after us."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Pum

Pum listens to the impressive man that just entered, but soon enough it is obvious she has troubles keeping focused. Chances are that, if you ask her in an hour, she'll just remember prophecies and tombs. In the meanwhile, she manages to entertain herself by following the cracks in the surface of the table with her nails, trying to find a path so that her left finger never crosses the right finger. She nails that after only three go's. When the man speaks her name, she looks up: "Hai, Pum", and when he mentions her skills she confirms "Yes", while nodding and looking down.

[Techwarrior]

Marros

Spoiler

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Knowledge (History)
Prophecy of the Nine (DC 25):
The Prophecy of the Nine describes the next Great threat to face the world of Eliria. It describes an agent of the Nine Hells the likes of which have never been seen before. Copies of the prophecy are zealously guarded, lest they fall into the wrong hands. The fact that Aandilar has read it at all is an extremely great showing of trust of someone very important and powerful.

Legendary Five (DC 7)
The Legendary Five are the five heroes of the Last Dragon War.
(DC 12)
The Paladin Talneir is one of those, and sacrificed himself on another plane of existence in order to stop Vecna.
(DC 17)
The others of the Five are rumored to hail from all the corners of the world, and though rumors exist of descendants here and there, great scholars know the actual names of the Five. History has decided those names must fade until a later time, and so scholars have allowed them to do so.
(DC 22)
Each of the five carried great instruments of power, some of which have been secreted in these Lost Tombs Aandilar speaks of, dedicated to the Five by the Disciples of Legend.

"The prophecy is.. difficult to attempt to understand. It describes a new threat to enter our world. A spawn from the Nine Hells the likes of which have never been seen before. It is unlikely that you will have to deal with that so soon. I would expect that you will only need deal with the traps and creatures that inhabit the Tomb, and any desert creatures and inhabitants that you meet on your way."

[TETanglebrooke]

OOC: Half elf face = Tannis. Dwarf face = Flint.

I've always found that the gods like chaos too much for prophecies to hold much weight. Preventative measures however I strongly support. Mimic smiled charmingly.

[JanusJones]

Monkey makes a great show of listening intently to the priest, nodding sagely at odd moments and puffing out his chest and strutting back and forth across the table when recognized.

"Yes! Monkey is a powerful warrior, a great smiter of foes and righter of wrongs!" He then promptly sits, cross-legged, on the table near his seat, arms folded across his chest, back straight, looking very very serious.

He looks progressively more confused, however, as the conversation continues unabated. He stares from under his overhanging brow at each speaker in turn, and finally leaps to his feet and waves his arms.

"Great danger! Horrible prophecy! Mighty evil! Great heroes! Traps and tombs and monsters! Enough talk - swiftness begins with action!" He leaps to the light fixture overhead and swings, leaping a good ten feet to clear the table, rolling to the door and springing up. He looks prepared to dash out, then pauses a moment to turn, looking impatiently back at the seated gathering.

"The elf and human have places to go ... where do we travel? A fine blade rusts when left sheathed! A warrior's skills waste with disuse! I am ready!" This he accompanies with several mighty thumps of his tiny, furry chest.

[TETanglebrooke]

Don't be too hasty friend, lest you end up with a snare about your neck.

[Zaydos]

Markrev grins at Tannis's comment, and looks at Aandilar, "So we just have to go tomb robbing to stop Hell from breaking loose, doesn't sound too bad." His eyes glance towards Markus as he says, "So seems you're expecting undead in the tomb, and you mentioned traps, so I'm guessing it was made to keep people out. Anything more to the social graces comment? Just the people of the desert or was there a more specific need for them in your mind?"

[Techwarrior]

Aandilar smiles grimly at the monkey's antics.

"The Tomb is more than three days walk east from here, but about two days by camel."

Spoiler: Survival 15

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Aandilar can give detailed directions to the place he speaks, allowing any to succeed at guiding the group there. A check of 20 would grant a +2 Circumstance bonus to any Survival checks I ask for to avoid getting lost while on the journey there or back.

When Markrev asks after the need of a socialite, Aandilar smiles warmly.

"There are many unfriendly tribes in the Desert, and many rumors place the Materials in the hands of less friendly groups. For instance, I've heard rumors that a powerful Thri-Keen by the name of Tars Tharkas uses the blade used by the Shadow Dancer. Do not underestimate the usefulness of a silver tongue. It can open more doors than even the strongest of Adamantine."

[Zaydos]

"I will not question that, but I'll put my faith in adamantine more often than tongues."

Spoiler: OoC

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Gonna take 10 on the survival check if I can, if not
(1d20+7)[19]

And I don't think I didn't see what both you and TET did there.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Pum

Pum is interested in the specifics concerning the route and possible perils. When he mentions where to travel, she interjects. "You can tell more of the road?", followed by a small silence, when she remembers something: "Please."

Spoiler: Survival

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Will take 10 for 21, if allowed.

Otherwise: (1d20+11)[17]

[JanusJones]

Don't be too hasty friend, lest you end up with a snare about your neck.

Monkey's brow lowers. "Me? Caught? HA!" He turns a quick backflip. "What snare can catch the mighty Monkey?"

He waves a long hand in the direction of Mimic. "And this one talks sweetly, no? So we talk and linger for what purpose?"

Spoiler

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(1d20+8)[23] for Survival. I'll add a bit should I succeed!

[TETanglebrooke]

Some snares are figurative, for instance if we do not take proper precautions we could walk directly into an ambush. Mimic smiled patiently. Allow me an hour to talk and linger around town and I am sure I can find some information about what awaits us. If this is the closest city to our destination then anyone setting up there would come here for supplies.

[ShadowySilence]

Marros watches the others squabble, he felt that both sides had a point, swiftness and action vs. preparedness and readiness, yet neither alone would see them to the end of their ventures.

He was already fearing things were becoming strained among the party, he wanted to find a way to bring resolution. Being a man lacking in physical or social prowess, he turned to his font of power, stories and history.

He thinks for a moment and then remembers an old fable he was told by his Master as a child, it was the Tale of Flame. He stands up and gathers everyone's attention as his Master once would do "Ahem, our arguing over logistics of one stance or another does us no good. Our bickering reminds me too greatly of a tale I know, and if we are not careful we may meet sad fates by our disagreements. The Tale of Flame, three flames once dwelled in a cave. They all craved to go out into the light, but the winds blasting into the mouth were too strong for them to make it out. Finally, one day they decided they were tired of the cave, and that they would face the wind or die trying. The first flame, the hottest, biggest, and fastest of all claimed it could brave the wind and survive. So it went, and halfway through, the wind blew it out and it was no more. The two remaining lamented, but were not discouraged. The next, a wily and crafty flame, decided it would trick the wind and hide itself so that it could not be blown out. It covered itself in a wall of stone, making it half way out before it ran out of air and it too was extinguished, for it left no holes in its armor. The final flame lamented again, but still was not discouraged, for this flame although not crafty or strong was perceptive. This flame, seeing the mistakes of its friends, built for itself a shell which was free enough, yet not too open, and this flame made it out. Thus the moral, do not jump into something because you believe your strength above it, but also do not smother yourself out of fear and preparedness. Be flexible and aware, yet be not afraid to press on."

He looks at the crowd, too absorbed in his telling to care whether they were listening or not, finally as he finished he looked about "Now, I hope from that tale we too can all learn something here. Our spirit's flames are not so great that we could not be snuffed out, so we must find common ground here lest we succumb to the trials ahead."

[JanusJones]

Monkey sits for the story, and finally looks amused. When the man is finished, he hoots and slaps the floor.

"A story-teller! Stories are good for long nights. But what did the flames use for fuel in a cave? Trees don't grow in caves. And why wouldn't the flames join together to make one fire that was too big to be blown out? Also, that crafty flame wasn't too bright - ha, that's a joke! - the wind doesn't have eyes, so it can't see; why would anyone hide from it? And how does a flame build a shell - flames don't have hands, and they'd burn anything they tried to touch ..."

Monkey scratches his head as he ponders these deep conundrums. He finally looks up. "Monkey supposes this is what his master called 'people stories.' People sometimes don't make any sense at all." He nods, decisively, to himself.

Looking over at Mimic, he grins, his big canine teeth hanging over his lip. "Good that you're a talker, too. Monkey is a mighty warrior and dodger of snares - no hunter can catch him! But talking?" He rolls his eyes and blows air through his cheeks. "People like talking. Monkey likes fighting and thinking and sneaking!" He hops to his feet, excited again.

It's at least apparent to all assembled that he meant no harm and thought no ill of anyone. If anything, it seems like this sort of thing might be par for the course for the simian.

One thing seems certain: if asked to sit still much longer, he might literally begin climbing the walls.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Pum

Pum listens to the tale intently and appears to enjoy it. Then, when the monkey starts talking again, claiming he does not like talking a lot, she interjects dryly: "Pum thinks you talk a lot, Monkey."

[JanusJones]

Monkey nods sagaciously, "Master always said I must have started talking because there were too many words in my head." He grinned at Pum. "How did you learn to talk, and what kind of beast are you? We don't have any like you on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Pum

Pum shakes her head. "Pum no beast. Shifter. From the forest." She smiles, satisfied with her clear statement. "Uncle Raldo learned my speaking. Raldo says Shifter not beast, but embrace the beast inside."

[JanusJones]

"Well, you smell like a beast. Much better than humans." Monkey waves a hand in front of his nose, rolling his eyes. "And you aren't all pale and naked - so indecent!" He scampers over and climbs the back of Pum's chair, where he perches and begins grooming her hair. "You have a lovely coat!" He looks a bit disappointed as he searches. "Nothing good to eat in there, though."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Pum

When Monkey starts pucking Pum's hair, she responds as if bitten. She stands up, shoving back her chair and turns around. From the depths of her throat a low growl sounds, much lower than may be expected from a lady, actually more akin to that of an agitated wolf. "Pum not touch you, you not touch Pum." Then, she calms and sits again. "Monkey and Pum are strangers. Don't touch strangers."

[Zaydos]

Markrev watches the happenings with the monkey with a little bit of disinterest. He glances at Mimic, "I think if you want to ask about town it would be best to go ahead and get started. The monkey looks like it might tear up the inn if we wait too long." He glances at the monkey, "Leave the girl alone. Why don't you tell me where you come from? Are there more of you?"