FoUT: The Misadventures of Andrew Markham. (inc)

[Andrew Markham]

Pushing the lizard aside, Andrew removes it from his mind and takes a close look at Rufus's leg. Beginning to panic, he says aloud, "Oh jeez, how bad is it? What do I do? I have no idea how to help you with this. Should I get you back to your house?" Andrew scrambles through his pouches and comes up with a bundle of healing salves from the Mintauran. "Okay, this ought to do something. Let me put this on you."

Andrew wraps one of the salves around the injured leg and makes sure to be thorough. Then he applies one to his own open wound to ensure he'll have the strength to help Rufus get home.

CLW on Rufus: (1d8+3)[10]
CLW on Andrew: (1d8+3)[8]

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

I'm feeling better already, though I still need to get this hand looked at. How about you? Are you ok? I know he got you pretty good there. He wiggles his knife free of the root and sheaths it. Then he picks up his bow in his left hand. He drapes the bow across his shoulder, and grabs the lizard by the tail. I want a closer look at this thing. Never seen nothing like it around here. You say you have these down in the south, by the coast?

The two of you chat as you limp back towards his homestead.

[Andrew Markham]

"Yeah, I'm okay. Never been so close to dying before though. I was really worried we were done." Andrew looks around at the shattered pieces of his favorite walking stick. "Well, so much for my favorite walking stick. And I might need to clean my fish knife." He removes the small blade from the lizard and re-sheathes it. "At least we got what we came for. I've seen and heard of lizards, but haven't seen anything quite like this before. We should take a close look at it. Can we do anything useful with it?"

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Useful is a relative term. What did you have in mind? as the two of you reach the house he begins to string the lizard up and skin it in similar fashion to the earlier deer.

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew watches the skinning process closely, while trying with effort to keep the contents of his stomach contained. "I don't know...I'm a merchant, you see, and I always try to look for something useful when I learn something new. What sorts of things will you do with this animal?"

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Well, it has a nice heavy hide, I suppose it would make a good bootleather or something of the like. And if the meat isnt tainted we'll cook it up. The bones can be ground for the garden and the innards go to the dog. Waste not, want not, my father always said.

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew smiles and says, "I think I'd like the idea of having this guy as a pair of boots. He caused us quite a bit of trouble. Mind if I buy that hide from you? Or would you like to keep it for yourself?"

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

"As far as I'm concerned, you've earned it. Save your coin for another walking stick since you busted your last one up back there. And when you get back to town tell Olaf he has my thanks.

[Andrew Markham]

"Thanks!" Andrew extends his hand for a handshake. "Do you think you might teach me again later on? Cause you see, as a merchant, I travel by myself a lot, and before I leave this city in a few weeks, I'd like to learn a few things about hunting and foraging and defending myself from animals to make it safer for me to travel."

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

"Sure, come back any time. I'll be glad to show you the ropes. " he returns your handshake and bids you adieu.

The journey back is relatively uneventful. You do notice the sun setting a little earlier than expected due to the mountains blocking the horizon to the west, a red hue settling across the clouds as it does so. When you reach the Inn the dining room is empty, save for a man at the bar. You notice that this is the same man that was at the bar last time you entered the dining room.

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew wishes he had a second chance to enter the inn, as he only now realizes the state of his appearance. His wound is bandaged, but there is a great deal of blood on him, and he is carrying a 3 foot long lizard carcass over his shoulder. "I'm tired," Andrew thinks to himself as he stands there. "Should have realized. Oh well, let's make the most of it."

Andrew approaches the bar and nods in that respectful male way to its sole other occupant. He then sits and faces the bar while folding the lizard skin in half on his lap. Andrew would take it up to his room, but his legs are sore from a day's work, a trip up the hills, a fight to the death with a lizard, and another trip back down the mountain again. Andrew allows his tiredness to seep into his voice as he asks whoever's tending the bar, "Can I get a glass of...well, whatever's decent and open? Thanks...I've had a really long day."

Andrew looks at the man sitting at the bar out of the corner of his eye to gauge his reaction. Andrew wasn't shooting for a specific effect, and has no idea how common this sort of thing is in town. Now's a good time to find out.

Sense Motive: (1d20+8)[20]

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

The man gives you a sideways glance and continues to drink. He honestly seems sullen and well drunken, so his reaction to this or any stimuli is probably muted. The young lady who showed you to your room is tending the bar and she brings you a glass and an open bottle of wine. (With the skin folded in your lap, and the wound on your leg both being hidden behind the bar she only sees you as a bit sweaty and tussled.) "Long Day?" She asks, pouring the wine into the glass.

[Andrew Markham]

"Ohhhh yeah...very long day," Andrew replies. He sighs wistfully and pours himself a decent glass of wine. "Thank you," he tells the woman. Andrew takes a few minutes to really relax and savor the wine. Then he stands up, swings the skin back over his shoulder, and heads up to his room.

Once there, he puts the skin with his other things and sits down with his pouches. On assessing things, he is startled to find a bag of silvers he had completely forgotten about. "Well, there goes my silver problem," he mutters to himself. Andrew begins mixing his bags of coin with good quantities of both silver and gold, leaving the larger part of the silver in its own bag. One particular pouch he makes sure has 2 parts gold to 1 part silver. Andrew wants to be able to make the right impression at the right time.

There's one last thing Andrew knows he needs to do before he sleeps. He prepares three pouches for his inevitable meeting with Barq. One contains three pieces of metal with Barq's symbol on them; one contains the fragments of sky rock left over from Olaf's wiring process; the last contains the pieces of dragon hide Andrew collected. With these, Andrew plans to spin a story of truths, half-truths, and outright lies to make sure that humans know the name 'dragon', and will always fear it.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

With his affairs in order, Andrew draws in a deep sleep. The events of the day have taken their toll and left him exhausted.
Morning comes and the day progresses on. Sales go pretty much as expected and Andrew finds himself bored more often than he would like.

[Andrew Markham]

With the extra time, Andrew goes over his story repeatedly. The part that troubles him most is defining the role of the Mintauran and Shook. He decides to try and gloss them over to concentrate on the sky rock and the dragon. Those, at least, he has definitive proof of.

Andrew makes a mental ranking of his objectives:

1. Spread the idea of "dragon", and make it negative. It doesn't matter if people actually believe the story, as long as it's retold and spread. When people recruit for the dragons, this will make it harder.

2. If necessary, spread the knowledge of Mintauran and Shook, and put it out that they are opposed to the dragon. Andrew hopes that the rumors will be a stepping stone for his expedition to Mintauran ruins, if there are any nearby. If it comes up, mention that a dragon attacked their temple, and they are PIST.

3. Gain attention. Unfortunately, Andrew knows he has no way of controlling whether the attention he gets is good or bad, but he wants eyes on him for when the dragon's armed men come looking for him and the others. Andrew hopes that he can "hide in plain sight", by being the source of the rumors that lead the dragon's armed men to the "dreamers". Also, having a strong reputation can increase trade, one way or the other.

4. Lie about where the Mintaurans are now. If it comes up, or if people come looking for answers, direct them to the desert.

5. Seek out leads about where the rest of the armed men are. Do the soldiers from the mine have families? Where was their funding coming from? Rumors about the destruction of the mining expedition will flush out new leads.

After spending the day anxious about what comes next, Andrew takes a deep calming breath and goes to speak with Barq. "Hey Barq, when you're done with your work, you wanna go have a drink? I'm buying."

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

After working all day Barq knows he only has a few more finishing touches to complete his masterpiece. It will likely be complete tomorrow so there should be no harm in winding down a bit this evening. "Why not? I'm about done here
anyway"
After closing up shop, the two of you head to the Brown Bear Pub where you notice that tonight most of the patrons are sitting around the tables. You are waited on by a friendly older waitress who takes your order and brings your food while the two of you converse.

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew lets the conversation wander into smithing for a while to let Barq talk about what he loves. Partway through the meal he pulls out the pouch with the star rock fragments. "Hey Barq, I bet you've never seen an ore like this one before," Andrew says with a smile. He puts the pouch on the table and allows Barq to inspect the remaining fragments of the star stone. "Yeah, I found it in the middle of a mining site about a week away from here- well, what was left of it anyway. See, one night my traveling companions and I looked up into the sky and we saw this streak of fire falling down from it. This Mintauran- kind of a huge beast person, if you've never heard of them- said that the Umber- they believe the world is alive you see- was striking down a great evil with the might of the heavens. So we went looking for where the thing landed, and oh boy, there certainly was evil afoot there," Andrew says while chuckling wryly.

"But you probably don't really care about that. The point is, that's where I found the stone, and I thought I might make a good profit with it. It sure is amazing, isn't it?" Andrew says, gesturing towards it. Andrew hopes that Barq is smart enough to make the connection to his "special client". Time to toss the dice.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Barq listens intently, following along with your tale. He interjects briefly from time to time.
"Sure is a fine material, too bad you don't have more of it. A pound of this could buy you a house around here." he says while inspecting the small bits of remaining metal.
"I remember the fire in the sky"
"Oh, you mean the savages?" following your mention of Mintauran.
"Where did you say this mine was again?" After you've finished this part of the the story.

Your inflection rises at the mention of fire falling from the sky, beast men, and great evils. You get the attention of almost 3/4 of the bar patrons at the immediately adjacent tables. Barq is following what you're saying with a curious glint in his eye. The bar patrons are showing genuine interest and a few of them seem to be hanging on your every word.

[Andrew Markham]

"Well, minesite was about a week from here...I'd say straight south." Andrew shakes his head in genuine dismay. "It's a shame what happened to those men...especially their leader. Name was...Zeel, I think? I would not wanna die that way." Andrew pauses for a moment, looking intently at his plate and thinking sadly about the deaths of those men. He doesn't have to watch Barq's expression for this; surely the name will hit home. "I never did find out if any of them lived around here. Their families ought to know, if they did."

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Barq slams his hand against the table in shock (not anger).
" Zeel? Gomer Zeel? Dead? What...? What happened to him? ....them? Did your savages kill them?" a bit of anger peaking in his voice at the end. "I knew him. You must tell me. Are you sure he's dead? All his men? I.... I.... Can't believe it. "

[Andrew Markham]

In genuine compassion, Andrew says, "I'm very sorry, Barq. Only one man survived. He was hired from far away, and I made sure he had enough coin to get home safe." Andrew waves his hands and says, "Let me tell you the whole story. I...I have to admit, it's going to sound ridiculous, but I have proof."

Andrew begins his tale. "The Mintaurans and I reached where the fire in the sky landed. It was a HUGE hole in the ground, and the ore I showed you was in the middle of it. We found one survivor in the woods nearby. He told us this had been a mining site until it had been crushed by the fire in the night. We dug and found tents and bodies beneath the ground, confirming it was a mine site. He also said that "Commander Zeel", as he called him, had gone into the tunnels deep below the ground and been...changed. We examined his body and...well..." Andrew takes a deep breath, preparing his audience for the strange thing he is about to say. "His neck had grown red scales, like a lizard."

Andrew looks intensely serious as he continues, "The Mintauran said now they knew a great evil lived here, for this was the work of their most ancient foe. They called it a..."dragon". The dragon, they claimed, could draw the unwary to it and give them a sickness to make the victim turn into their slave. It would mark the victim with scales somewhere on their body, like Zeel's was. You call the Mintaurans savages, and no one knows that better than I, for when they saw the scales, they flew into a rage. Their company swore to strike down this evil, and went deep into the tunnels."

Andrew now allows his voice to swell, and begins exaggerating the story slightly, as a man who is in his cups would tend to do. "They were so swift I could not catch them before they found the creature. From ahead of me I heard the savages' cries of fury and a beastial cry of rage that shook the ground I stood on! The tunnel lit up with a flash of fire, and I felt a wave of heat! When I reached the chamber, half the company was dead, but so too was the dragon. It was a beast with red scales at least twice the size of a man, with huge wings!"

Andrew now dares to look around the room, acknowledging the people who he hopes are listening at this point, then turns back to look at Barq. "I know this sounds like a minstrel's tale, but look at this." Andrew lays the pouch with the dragon's hide before Barq, but doesn't open it for him. "The savages began tearing off the beast's hide, as a ranger would do for leather. I knew that other humans would never believe the tale without something to show for it, so I asked for pieces of my own. Here they are, in this pouch."

"In any case, the Mintaurans who had survived said they had avenged what had been done to Zeel, and stopped the disease from spreading further. Apparently slaying dragons prevents others from catching this horrible disease. They then parted company with me, saying they were heading southeast to a desert, where another of these dragons slept. I was glad to see the back of them, for I never want to witness such carnage ever again."

Andrew takes a moment to sigh, before looking Barq directly in the eye. "So I am sorry, Barq, if you have lost either friendship or profit from this. Perhaps this might ease one of the two." Andrew pulls out the pouch with the metal fragments and puts it before him. "In truth, I had hoped to gain some profit from these, but they belong to whoever forged them. Might that be you?"

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Barq calms himself and listens, a little more sceptial but not unconvinced.
"The scales I've seen. Just thought it was some sort of jewelry made from fish or something since Gomer and his men were west water folk. You say it was some evil disease? Is it catchy?"
By this time a few others have turned their attention to you, some even leaning or standing closer to your table to hear and see better.
"These monsters from deep below. My mother used to tell stories of them. I always thought it was just a story to frighten us children to keep us out of the mines." on of the onlookers pipes up.
Barq takes a look at the first pouch, opening it to find a chunk of greening meat and the small corpse and hide of the tiny white dragon. "What is this? Certainly not a monster twice the size of a man, and I thought you said it had red scales?"
He looks at you questioningly, setting the white scaled hide on the table.

He waits for your answer then says "He wasn't a friend, but he's brought me a fortune in trade. I had gotten right used to living the good life. Guess those days are over." he pauses then continues. "Any sign of a fellow named Pike down there?" he says with an obvious air of concern, bordering on dispair.

The crowd gathered around you seems, at the very least, highly entertained. Even if some of them don't buy it they are all seemingly enjoying the tale.

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew explains, "I'll admit, a lot of this is just what I was told. The savages said that dragons would draw you in, and then you'd get the scales and you'd be its slave. They're not all red either- they mentioned green ones and blue ones and white ones. So you actually have to meet the dragon yourself to catch the sickness, but it slowly eats your insides until you become more like them than a man. You say you've seen more of them?!" Andrew recoils at the words. "They're people I'd stay away from if I were you."

Andrew shakes his head in genuine dismay at the greening lump of meat. "It's been 10 days- I never thought my evidence needed to be kept fresh. Well that piece USED to be red." Andrew scoffs. "Should have made them give me some of the scales! Well, the big dragon had two little white ones with it, and they gave me the whole hide of one as a gift. At least I can show you that and tell you that you'd be hard-pressed to find another creature with scales like those. Well, after they killed it, the Mintauran savages chopped off the big beast's head and took as much of the skin as they could pull off."

"Pike...Pike...well, I'll admit we weren't too troubled with getting people's names as they had been crushed by the star rock. The survivor was named..." Andrew thinks for a minute to pull the name from his memory. "Jared...no, Jorad. Kingfisher! That was it, Jorad Kingfisher, said he was from Doran. I definitely didn't hear anything about a Pike. Were they your special clients?" Andrew hangs his head a little. "As one merchant to another, Barq, I'm really sorry to have to tell you about all this. But I'm gonna stick with you until we can get your normal business up and running again." Andrew pushes the pouch of metal pieces a little closer to Barq. "I guess that means these pieces of metal are yours then? I have quite a few more of them actually, more than a few pounds of metal. They're yours."

"I know I've said a lot of things that seems preposterous," Andrew says in general, allowing others around them to hear him, "but I plan to go looking for more proof that dragons are real, cause I've seen them with my own eyes, and they're dangerous. This town lives on digging into the earth, and if these things are lurking there, we ought to learn how to deal with them. You know, the Mintaurans have been around a long time, and they've left some of their cities empty. I've been to a few before, and if there's the ruins of one nearby, I'd like to organize a trip out there and see what we can learn. Otherwise you all ought to know," Andrew looks into people's eyes and emphasizes his next words greatly, "Stay away from the men with scales. If they try to hire you, or your brothers, or your friends to do something for them, know that there's danger there. It's just not worth it."

Diplomacy(to convince people with the last paragraph): (1d20+17)[26]

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Looking over the broken pieces of weapons and armor you've brought up, Barq says
"That's my mark alright. I forged these over the past year. It's sad to see so much work destroyed and lying on a pub table. Whether it was a burning rock from the sky or a monster from deep below, something very powerful did this. Barq's steel doesn't break easily.

I've never heard of a savage city, always thought they just wandered around alone."

The men will sit and listen to you spin your yarns for another hour or so, adding their own quips and questions here and there. You're points are driven home for the most part. (Are you ready to move on? Or did you have something else to do here?)

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew thoroughly enjoys the evening at the pub. He takes the time to try and learn people's names where he can, and promises to return another evening. Before leaving, Andrew lets Barq know that he'll bring the rest of the steel to work in the morning. Andrew gathers up the star stone fragments and the dragon hides before leaving, leaving the steel fragments with Barq. He makes a note to figure out something to do with the dragon meat, and have a stern talk with Dhra next they meet.

Andrew heads back to his own inn, where he heads straight up to his room. He makes a mental note to check on his tab in the morning and fill it. Andrew knows that now that he has started the rumors, it's time to add fuel to the fire of his growing reputation by flashing the coin more frequently. Andrew lays down for bed. He grins up at the ceiling to release all the glee he couldn't show in the pub. Yes, the plan worked, and now Andrew knew he couldn't fully anticipate the consequences. Would it be taken as only rumor, or would it cause a panic? Something inbetween? Andrew figured that conversations in the mine would be interesting for the next few days. Paranoia might even cause the miners to demand higher wages...but Andrew decided he might be over-thinking things too much. There were certainly decent odds that Barq's store would get some extra business for a few days due to this.

As Andrew drifted off to sleep, he allowed visions of the worst case scenarios to dance around in his head, and began planning for each. What if the dragon's armed men showed up? They had been using Barq for a full year to build a stockpile of weapons and armor that had to go SOMEWHERE. The defense training would have to be stepped up...and that was Andrew's last thought as he drifted off to sleep.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

As you are putting away your things you notice the white scale hide is missing, gone from the spot where Barq had laid it after examining it. You look around the room but your search is fruitless. Keeping your voice calm and non accusatory, you begin chatting up the locals who had gathered around to hear your tale. Four of them said they saw a man holding it for a moment and were able to give you similar descriptions. Two others, after hearing your description were able to identify the man as Derrek Sowsod, a farmer from the valley just south of town. By this time however Derrek seems to have slipped out of the pub.

You make it back to your room fairly uneventfully, though you hear a soft giggle in passing as you start down the hall towards your room. It's not alarming, so you pay it little attention and continue to prepare for bed (As you describe in your last post.) In the morning there is a scrap of folded paper lying on the floor near your door as if it had been slipped under during the night. The edges are frayed, it is wrinkled and the folds are creased and dirty as if this paper had been folded and carried, perhaps in a pocket or something, for quite some time. The scent of a woman's perfume is noticeable, but not terribly strong, on it. As you unfold it, you see an image of yourself. It is a poster that reads
"WANTED:
Alive
Andrew Markham
To be tried for the crimes of horse theft and grand larceny.
May be travelling in the company of savages and foreigners.
Considered very dangerous. If seen contact local Magistrate.
REWARD: 100 Gold Doubloons
Offered by Admiral F. Pike, Doran"

Folding the Poster back up and storing it away in one of your pouches you head downstairs, a bit wary. When you speak to the hostess about your tab you find that you have 1 gold doubloon remaining since you have not been frequenting the dining room regularly.

[Andrew Markham]

"Here, I'll be staying a bit longer," Andrew tells the hostess. He pulls 5 more gold coins out of his pouch of pure gold and hands them to her. "Got anything for breakfast?"

If there's a breakfast available, Andrew takes his time eating it and watching the patrons of the inn's common room. There are two possibilities: either the note came from someone who slipped into the inn, which means they would have been seen by someone, or the woman who's perfume he smelled is already staying at this very inn. Considering she would have to have come from Doran to deliver the note, he suspects the latter. So Andrew keeps an open watch on who comes down from upstairs as he eats, drinks, and is social with whoever is about.

After breakfast (or if none was available in the first place), Andrew heads out to Barq's to see if he can help get Barq back on his feet. With him, Andrew brings all the pieces of steel he had planned to sell in the first place. Andrew's agenda for the day is to help for a little while, then see if he can find a magistrate or authority figure to go with him to the farmer's house. Odds are that Derrek Sowsod isn't a villain, but a man in need of some quick cash. Andrew knows he'll have to get there today if he wants to prevent the sale of the white dragon hide.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

"Very well, and thank you."The hostess says, making a notation next to your room number on her booklet. "Help yourself." She says in response to your breakfast query, motioning to the dining room.

Millie is once again tending the tables, and as you enjoy your breakfast you see the wealthy looking family, though they are more casually dressed this time. They take a table in the back of the room. The daughter chooses a seat that gives her a view of your direction though she seems to be reading a book of some sort.

The old man with the facial tattoo was there when you arrived, but midway through your meal he finishes up and leaves the Inn.

After your meal, you head to the market to find Barq's shop closed up for the day. You are able to leave your steel stock for him behind the counter (if you want to).

You leave Barq's smithy and find the magistrate. You make your way toward the valley to the south and find several acres of terraced plots that the magistrate identifies as Sowsod farm. The terraces are planted with rice, the plants are short and beginning to dry. When you approach the house the door is half open. The Magistrate knocks, which causes the door to creak open a bit further, but there is no answer.

[Andrew Markham]

Andrew decides not to leave the steel pieces at Barq's shop. He's not surprised the shop is closed today; he will have to pay Barq a personal visit sometime soon.

Andrew's hackles rise; this is either a trap, or the farmer is dead inside. "Hold on just a second Sir, I'm worried. Someone else may have been here." Andrew does a check of the door for traps, then peers through the partially open door for clues.

Search: (1d20+9)[10]
Spot: (1d20+4)[7]

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

The magistrate waits a moment at your suggestion, but when you don't seem to find anything he decides to check on Derrek. "Stay here, or stay close. The choice is yours."

Spoiler: Stay where you are

Show

You start to get bored, glancing around the farm you notice the short dry crop, as if it has not rained enough and the plants are stunted. You also see that the door of the chicken pen is hanging open and the chickens are running about all over the yard. There is a small stall that appears to be used as a makeshift stable, but it is empty.

Spoiler: Enter the house

Show

You enter, close behind the magistrate. As you look around, the place looks either like it has been recently ransacked, or that someone packed quickly and left in a hurry. Drawers are left open and half full, some clothing is lying on the floor. There are dirty dishes left to be washed. There is a lamp with no wick, as if it had burned out of oil and consumed the wick once it dried. There is mud tracked in through the door that has not been cleaned.