Perilous Reclamation 2 (IC)

[Mourdos]

The Mountain will walk out to the slaves with whoever join him, leaving his weapons behind, at his height he is scary enough without them. Walking down casually towards the slaves he smiles in his best reassuring way and waves at them, taking measured paces. " Good evening. The Mountain welcomes you back from your weary days work. The Mountain is here because the Ogres that ran this mine are dead, as is the Mage who ruled them. You are now free people, tonight, celebrate with us! "

The Mountain will give the people the moment they probably need to mutter or cheer. " If you wish to stay here and continue your trade as a free people then The Mountain and his friends will help you build real homes. If you wish to go somewhere else and learn something new, then help with be yours for the asking! "

[Tarmikos11]

Aklo takes it upon himself to collect some sign of the death of the leaders of the tribe, settling on Sheenan's Ear and the sword of the Oni, before following The Mountain out to meet the gathering of former slaves, presenting the exhibits of death and saying "You are freed now!" in a warm tone, his volume high.

[ZarchAlDain]

The slaves just stare at them, and at the ear and sword, then mutter back and forth between themselves for a while. It seems like nothing he is saying is really making any sense to them and they are not really sure what to believe.

[Tarmikos11]

Aklo stabs the sword into the ground, before focusing his magic on making it so he can understand the languages of the world, wondering what language they speak.

[Mourdos]

The Mountain looks at the people with sadness. One should earn their keep with the strength of their own back. " You appear not to know what I speak of.. then let The Mountain tell you what it is to be free.... but first, do any of you know what it is that The Mountain is saying? "

[ZarchAlDain]

They seem to be speaking a mixture of some words of giantish, some of orcish, some of common. One of them replies to The Mountain haltingly. "We know some. You want food from field?"

[Tarmikos11]

Aklo looks at the Mountain for a moment, saying "They might be catching... Maybe a third of what we're saying. We need to get Maurice." before handing The Mountain the severed ear, running back into the Fort in search of Maurice, actually yelling for him.

[Mourdos]

" Yes we want the food from the field, food is good as it lets people live. The difference is that we will not force you to grow the food. The food you grow is yours, you own it. You can eat it, you can give it away, you can trade it for other things that you want. If you do not want to grow food then you can try and do something else. "

" The Mountain knows that it is scary to be told that what you do is your choice, to have none give you orders. If you want us to keep doing what you are told then we can tell you to keep farming, until you come to understand the choices that are now available to you. Tonight we will have a big fire and will will sing and dance, come join us and be merry. "

[Theoboldi]

Due to his response to Aklo's screams being to yell in fear, Maurice is swiftly found inside the mine, helping with its evaluation. Upon hearing the news that he is needed to deal with the slaves, he immediately drops everything, and heads back to the fields with Aklo.

Waving the former slaves a greeting, he tries to put on an at least somewhat confident posture, greeting them with a firmly spoken version of giantish. "Good evening, dear people of these fields. As my friend over here-" he points a hand at the Mountain. "-has been trying to inform you, the people that you've been calling masters have been killed. Uh, all of them.

As for us, we do not plan on making you into our slaves, however we can offer you work, as well as new and better places to eat and sleep. All things that you create with your work from now on will be yours to do with as you please, too."

[Mourdos]

Franklin has been pondering for some time on this issue of magic so unused being sent across the seas because it is too big for use. Especially for little people such as himself. Working with Davri down in the deepest darkest dankest depths of Luckfalls (a ground floor workshop) they have been trying to change the side of items of magic to fit new wielders or wearers. They research has led them to realise that in addition to the expensive magical ingredients, they need something with the right magical properties to act as the catalyst to make the change permanent.

Thus Franklin heads off on Lucky to see the Fairies by way of Landing, having learned of a fey who has exactly what they need. If someone wants to join him, let me know.

Knowledge Nature for Atomie: (1d20+15)[35]

[ZarchAlDain]

Atomie are miniscule, green-skinned humanoid that usually wield a needle-thin rapier. A pair of dragonfly wings holds the wee creature aloft.

They have control over size, being able to shrink both people and objects for a period of time. Franklin believes that the rapier of one of these creatures would be able to act as a catalyst for the reaction, however it would need to be freely given, traded, or won from the Atomie or it would lose it's potency.

These nimble creatures adore swordplay and practice with their blades endlessly. Atomies often travel their lands seeking adventure tinged with mischief. Sensitive to bullying and oppression, Atomies revel in turning the tables on a cruel mayor or tormenting dishonorable mercenary bands. Atomies, enamored with tales of epic duels and the defeat of great evils, sometimes follow adventuring parties and eavesdrop on their nightly tales by the campfire. If a warrior in the group tends to boast of his swordplay, an atomie rarely resists the urge to humble him by sabotaging his equipment or invisibly reducing him and challenging him to a duel.

[ZarchAlDain]

The slaves seem to understand Maurice a bit better, especially after he repeats himself a few times. After a while they just nod, then turn around and trudge back to their fields where they start working again.

[Tarmikos11]

Aklo quietly followed after them, to see if there was a different tone to the work they were doing now rather than what he imagined would be the way they worked before, letting Maurice and The Mountain know that he was doing so. He didn't plan on being spotted by the former slaves, but if he was, he'd do his best to explain that he wasn't there to hurt them, just watch, and smile a reassuring smile as he did so.

[TorresGlitch]

Herion
Herion curiously wakes up into a shaken up outside world, putting a paus on his meticulous researching when hearing the call "slaves". He follows Maurice out in a hustle, noticing how Maurice always beats him to the punch of asking another question he stands dorment watching the unbelievable exchange.

After a while they just nod, then turn around and trudge back to their fields where they start working again.

Buffled by their reaction, Herion stands still, perplexed by their quick and humble acceptance and lack of curiosity about the situation.
He blinks, not fully understanding.

Herion takes a deep breath, thinks out a plan and walks after them.
Curious of their ways, he tries catching up with the one who spoke for the group, 90 feet away, he optimistically gambles, raging and ending it just as quickly, warming up his magical abilities, whispering in simple Orcish through 'message':

Spoiler: Save, if resisting

Show

DC 18 Will Save

"Hey there."
Giving the groupleader enough time to turn around in surprise to see a somewhat fatigued Herion wave back at him.
Once Herion is within normal speaking range he dismisses the cantrip. By now recovered from the fatigue, Herion tries to make them open up a bit, hoping he isn't to blunt.
"I see you are working hard. Still much left before harvest?"

"We could lend you a hand in a few days. Once we have gotten rid of the other evil-led Ogres."

Spoiler: Sense Motive

Show

Sensing how close the groupleader is towards the Ogres in his respons. 1+d20 (cannot roll)
(Btw. There is no winter in Landing? So the harvestseasons have less mounthly boundries?)

"And/or for a change of pace, by dusk perhaps we could take a look in the mine. It must have been far too long since anyone friendly learned what it contains."

Spoiler: Motivations

Show

Herion's motivations for the cavejourney is for the folks to see and accept the defeat of their masters so they may move on. And for the almost equally important intel he may gain about hidden cashes, traps or treasure laying around.

[ZarchAlDain]

The man Herion is speaking to just looks at him in confusion. "We planting now, is spring. We harvest later" he finally says in the same broken mixture of Orcish, Common and Giant that the others have been using. He looks a bit confused by Herion's small size and half-orc nature but his fine clothes and non-broken spirit make it clear he is no slave. "We work hard, do what you say. Harvest will be on time. Please, there is no need to beat us or chop off people's hands."

[TorresGlitch]

"We work hard, do what you say. Harvest will be on time. Please, there is no need to beat us or chop off people's hands."

Herion comes up with a quick response: "Would you chop off your friends hands?"
Herion stretches his back and arms, before breathing out, relaxed. Then, rather intellectually shares;
"Back where I come from, a small place just like this, but still different, we cared for our friends, for one and other. Helped eachother out in rough times and it made our tribe stronger.
We were free people. And we still are. With us, you can also be free."
He allows a second or two to freely pass by before finishing;
"Think about it."
And with that he closes his eyes, faintly bowing/giving a strict nod before turning his steps back towards the newclaimed outpost to continue his less productive tattoo research.

[TorresGlitch]

Amber

(On the morrow after the burglery)

As she shops her wares at the marketplace, politely making conversation, she asks what sort of person Cabal is as she hasn't yet had the pleasure of meeting him and what sort of wares explorers have been satisfied with after shopping at Cabal's shop.

Once returned to the Anchor, with her grosseries, meals and articles stored in her room, she buys herself something to drink, learning from actual adventurers what they frequently and rarely visit Cabal's shop for.

With a collected opinion, she heads over to Cabal's shop, hoping the poor man hasn't lost too much of his merchandise as part of the burglery to be forced into closing down his shop.

Cabal's Shop

Opening the door to Cabal's shop and steping inside the alchemical paradise, she takes a moment to browse, as she is mesmerized by the wide range of alchemical supplies he has crafted and his crafting genius. Being slick, she awaits him to take first contact...

Spoiler: Her interests...

Show

If asked, Amber will show interest in the following potions,
ranked as follows:

"Blur" Potion
"Invisibility" Potion
"Certain Grip" Potion
"See Invisibility" Potion
"Long Arm" Potion
"Expeditious Retreat" Potion
"Crafter's Fortune" Potion

[Tarmikos11]

When questioned regarding the reward for his efforts, Traril finds himself an opportunity to take Cabal aside, before showing him the flask of Rocks and Acid, and explaining what it is, saying "Tis an odd brew ah discovered on a lark, an ah'm runnin' low on materials fer it. Somethin' bout livin' in them caves made it easy. In place o' a more normal reward, can ah enlist ya in helpin' me get a-hold a more o' this?" and showing Cabal the materials he had for the two more doses he could prepare.

(( OOC: ))
---=---=Traril's Mutagen=---=---
1 part THE STRONGEST ACID available.
2 parts Mixed Poisonous Mushrooms
1 Part Iron-Rich pebbles
1 Part Zinc-rich pebbles

Mix in flask, let rest 2 days, then shake every hour prior to use.

[ZarchAlDain]

Cabal isn't sure if he has a Blurr potion ((1d3)[2] - on a 3 he does). He does have an invisibility potion though.

Cabal takes on look at Traril's ingredients list and then says in disbelief, "You DRINK that?" he provides the ingredients and workshop space and the two of them mix up some more of Traril's special brew but he spends the whole time shaking his head. When Traril finally sips the end result he is clearly expecting the Dwarf to drop dead on the spot.

[Tarmikos11]

Rather than drop dead, Traril seems to grow stronger for it, the stone armor he wears audibly groaning as his limbs thicken up and his eyes glaze over a bit, a sort of wild, distant look to him in general. The effect wears off quickly, though, such a small dose lasting only a few seconds, before a smile grows on his face and he says "Thank ye, Ah'll be payin' ya fer next time Ah need more materials." with a hearty chuckle, collecting his freshly made, non-infused mutagens and sliding them into carefully chosen pouches of his backpack, leaving about... 5 gold felt reasonable, he went with that, he left 5 gold on the counter in the meanwhile as he made his way out.

[Theoboldi]

Lance

With the burglary prevented and his family having become a little safer, Lance decides to pay Cabal a visit after a peaceful night of sleep. Sneaking away from any potentially rolled up and sleeping halflings, he heads straight for the Alchemist's shop. His entry occurs with his usual lack of subtlety.

"Morning, Cabal! Heard you had a little vermin infestation last night, hope it didn't cause too much trouble."

While he does put some effort into making sure that the shop isn't damaged too badly, it's all but obvious that Lance is looking for some sort of reward, and when offered a potion he'll gladly spring for one of Invisibility.

With everything said and done, he'll resign himself to the thankless task of getting the captured criminals settled in at Luckfalls, accompanying the guards that bring them there on their journey. If he sees her again before leaving town, he waves Marr goodbye, all the while keeping an eye out for signs of Johnson in the crowds of Landing.


Upon his return home, Lance will send any guards of the countess back home, taking the criminals into his own custody, before heading to Franklin's office to discuss what he has just done. He knocks on the door in short, but rather loud bursts, hoping to get his attention. "Franky? Hey, Franklin! I'm back! And even arrested some people for once!"

[Tarmikos11]

For reasons not quite within his understanding, Traril gets the idea that he owes that one elf an apology.. He didn't know much about elves, but he had guesses, and figured the gesture would be appreciated, and so, he found himself the largest concentration of elves in Landing, figuring that'd be a reasonable assumption to make that an elf would be with other elves, mumbling "Birds o' a Feather... Birds o' a.. Bah, screw it, Ah know what ah mean." as he finds his way to the Elven compound, not the dirtiest he'd been in a while (The rainy thief-chase helped with that) but not cleaning up on purpose, either. He was used to being dirty and scruffy, didn't even know what a Razor was, save for a horrible instrument of torture used to remove the very history from a Dwarf's body. He arrived at the compound about mid-day, oddly sober for his tastes, and a bit sore from all the running, but, to hell with it. He was gunna do this.

The guards at the gate give the dwarf a quizzical look.
"The pub's back that way, two streets down."

"Aye, ah know tha', ah'm no' here fer drink. Lookin' fer an elf, owe 'er an apology." Traril replied.

"That's a very kindly thought of you. What would her name be?"

"Called 'erself... Somethin' 'long tha lines a' Thranue. Can' remember how she said it. Wore a hood, carried one o' them fancy curved swords, did magic." He replied. "Figured ah'd find 'er here."

The first guard quickly sneaks a glance at the other, who shakes her head. "There's nobody here by that name, master dwarf. That's just an elvish word for "traveler"."

"Huh.. Sounded like a fake name.. Mind if ah sit an' think a bit, give ya more info as it comes?" He asked.

"By all means." The elf looks around the inconveniently seat-free street.
"Would you care to come inside?"

Traril was about to start making a back-rest out of weapons, but, he pauses in the middle of stabbing his sword into the ground and says "Aye, thank ye kindly." and continues to disarm at this point.

"I will look after your weapons, master dwarf."

Traril nodded his thanks, grabbing the blade of his sword and yanking it out of the ground, piling his weapons in the arms of the Elven Guard, saying "Ah figure ya'd rather no' have a crazy dwarf runnin' 'round wit' sharp things in yer house." with a snicker, and heading inside once he was shown the way.

The other guard opens the door, her expression clearly indicating that the lack of sharp things doesn't change her opinion of the crazy dwarf running in her house.

As soon as Traril found himself a convenient section of something to lean against, he sat down, stretching his legs and just... Kinda thinking, passing along details about the Fake-Named Traveler as they came to him.

The entrance hall is tastefully decorated and brightly lit by the numerous windows. Traril find something convenient to lean against, despite it not being meant to be leaned on. It only takes a few minutes of thinking and waiting before a door opens along a side corridor, and the familiar-looking hooded elf comes out.

"Oi! There ya are! Ah wanted ta talk to ya." Traril said as he stood up, rolling his shoulders and making his way over at a pace respectful of the environment.

The hooded elf smiles at Traril and gestures him to follow her. "Let's keep the volume down, and not disturb the others."
The elf steps back the way she came, holding the door open for Traril.

"Oh. Aye, right." Traril said, following along and keeping his tone lower, mostly out of respect for the elf he was seeking rather than the other people there.

The small room is crammed full of bladed weapons, racks of experimental arrowheads, thieves' tools, laboratory equipment, arcane charts, small cogs and gears from pulled-apart gadgets and other miscallaneous items. The grappling hook is being reattached to a coil of silk rope. A very narrow bed is lifted upright against the wall, as it would take up all the remaining floor space. A worn practice dummy is pushed into a corner, the neck shredded by garrotte and several vital areas patched over so many times there's not much left of the original fabric.

"I would've cleaned up had I known to expect guests. Would you care for some tea?"

Traril looks at all of this clutter, a smiling growing on his face and him saying "Ah like yer style. Hadn't thought ya'd live like this.. Figured ya'd pack light." before nodding his head, making sure not to touch anything. He knew how he got about people messing with his stuff, so.. Respect for another Pack-rat.

"Oh this is just something to occupy myself. Nothing here I would miss if I had to leave suddenly."
The elf picks up a bundle of sowing equipment from a chair and offers the now-free chair to the dwarf.

Traril started to laugh a bit, saying "If this's how ya occupy yerself, Ah'm ashamed ah hadn't come an' talked to ya sooner." and settles himself into the chair carefully, the chair creaking under the weight of him and his armor.

"I have to say I am a bit surprised that you did at all. What brings you here, master dwarf?" The elf briefly hesitates over which flask to place over the small flame.

"Ah felt ah owed ya an apology." Traril replied, "Ah can' say ah've ever had someone assume ah was somethin' ah'm no', but ah know ah'd hate it, and ah don't doubt it irks ya as well. So.. Ah'm sorry ah assumed yer a man."

The elf smirks as she pours out reheated tea. "Oh I'm sure you've occasionally been mistaken for a man as well."

"Oh absolutely!" Traril says in a joking tone, "Ah'm always hearin' "Sir, ya need ta put that chair down." "Sir, don' hit mah son wit' the counter." "Sir, tha' flask o' acid on yer belt's gunna kill ya." an ah'm just tired o' it." before pausing a moment and realizing what he was just implying, then shaking his head and sighing.
"Oh, wai', tha's them assumin' ah care." Traril adds with a snicker.

"Well, I didn't take your mistake personally, by any means."
"So apology accepted."

"Ah'm glad ta 'ear tha'. Havenae clue how workin' with ya in tha future woulda gone had tha' been bad blood." Traril took a swig of the tea once it was poured, seemingly ignorant to the heat of it.

The tea is quite dreadful, actually.

Traril drinks acid and poisonous mushrooms on the regular. He doesn't care.

"I don't think there was any risk of there being bad blood. But it was very thoughtful of you to come visit."

"Ah'll be honest, ah'm no' normally the apologizin' sort, but ah respect ya." Traril nodded his head, "An ah figure i's a bad plan ta piss in tha mixes o' those ah respect."

Traril then knocked on his head, saying "Takes real kidneys." with a chuckle.

"I believe the dwarven kidney, like the human and elven kidney, is located a bit further down. Between the ninth and tenth rib, in fact."

"But I do thank you very much for coming. It will be a pleasure working with you in the future."

"Aye, ah'm lookin' forward to it." Traril said as he rose to his feet, before taking a final look around, zeroing in on the target dummy and adding "By the way, if'n ya need a sparrin' partner, ah'm no' hard ta find, an' ya might get a li'l more from yer practice from somethin' what moves."

"I prefer to fight unfair. And that's not something that sparring prepares you for."

The elf continues with a smile: "I can attempt to murder you in your sleep if you wish."

Traril gave the Target Dummy another glancing over, noticing the damage to the neck and whistling a bit, then saying "Ah'm no' sure anyone would like wha' would come o' that."

"Let's not give that a try, then."

Traril laughed a bit, saying "Yer welcome ta try, bu' yer helpin' pay fer tha damages."

With that matter settled, Traril gave The Hooded Elf a nod, saying "Good talkin' with ya, Traveler." and giving her a knowing wink as he made his way out.

[TorresGlitch]

The Ancient Thome
Herion has not yet read the Thome said to grant its reader a glimpse of one's deathscene so that one's fate may be rewritten.
Only a few days has passed since he lay his hands on the mythical piece. By being in constant motion without a save morrow to wake up to, with sieges to resist and infiltrations to be executed, the masterpiece's visions remain hidden to Herion.

With no time over for reading the grim masterpiece while he turns Ogres over, searching for magical tattoos, he offers to loan it to Dougal, Aklo or The Mountain.
Perhaps they have 8 hours to spare before night falls in the newly claimed outpost.

[nahkh]

Dougal Badrick
The western fort

Dougal had spent a couple of days recovering from his wounds at the fort while the occupying force cleaned and reinforced the fort. During those couple of days the scouts reported/ that the ogre force in the pass had broken up and was fleeing west in small groups. Dougal wanted to give them chase but couldn't sit in the saddle unaided. Three days from the battle he was back on his feet, pacing anxiously around the fort, expecting the ogre mage to retaliate at any moment.

Sir Roschdale and Dougal agreed that the trap door inside the mine was a security risk that needed to be checked out. What followed was a three-day effort from Dougal, Thorik, Herion, Davri, Maurice and the Mountain to explore and secure the cave behind the trapdoor. The space turned out to contain the ogre adept's secret laboratory where he had apparently been conducting vile and reprehensible research to infuse further magical power to himself. Lizzy, the Mountain's trustworthy serpentine companion died fighting off four of the laboratory's defensive constructs. Eventually the enemy was beaten and the laboratory secured.

Deep within the laboratory as the group was examining the library, Dougal was trapped inside the ogre adept's experimentation chamber, and was forced to undergo the adept's latest round of experiments. The result transformed Dougal into a raging behemoth. In a berserk fury he lashed out at Thorik who ran to aid him, grievously wounding his long-time friend. The party subdued Dougal and interrupted the transformation, allowing him to regain his senses.
Shocked by his transformation, and unwilling to subject anyone else to danger, Dougal followed Davri back to Luckfalls to be examined and tested. Perhaps there Dougal will find answers about what happened to him, and if he's likely to harm others.

[TorresGlitch]

Unknown mat
This mat Herion came across in one of the storage rooms in the mine will be rolled together and brought to Herion's room at the Anchor. There, it will inspire him during meditations to prepare spells and act as a stimulis for his newfound interest in magic. It is, in other words, to Herion representative for his devotion to further involve himself and learn more about the magic from the unknown.
The mat's unknown motif combined with its possibly shady background hidden in darkness inspires him to continue searching, exploring and developing means of further utilizing the magical powers from the 'unknown'.

Thome/Book of visions
A day after exploring the cave, Herion takes himself some time to read through the "thome of deathvision".

The grim message makes him suffer a horrible night's sleep, full of terrors and mindspinning hidden messages warping and turning his selfawareness, reality turning into fiction and fiction turning into reality.

On the following morning thanking Thorik for the enlightening experience (*in rougher words), then expands its influence by offering it to Aklo or The Mountain before returning to Landing.

[Tarmikos11]

Once the group who'd gone under came back up for the last time, Aklo looked them over, noting the presence of a long, armored length of dead weight and shaking his head a little, just.. Kinda watching them for a long while, taking solace in the fact that Lizzy would be moving to another life, and finding an opportunity to catch/pull aside his Kindred Spirit in the troop of oddities he traveled with, finding Maurice once he was by himself and quietly sliding up next to him, saying "I've been meaning to have a chat with you, do you have some time?"

In response, Maurice just nodded, his demeanor even more timid than usual. His eyes darted over to the dead animal every now and then.

Aklo glanced over once more as well, patting Maurice softly on the shoulder and saying "The end of one life is the beginning of another, and to my knowledge, Lizzy has lived up to her Dharma." in a comforting tone, "Her next life will be more pleasant and fulfilling than this one, and lead her ever further along her path to self-perfection."

"Hmm." Maurice continued his nodding, his thoughts not entirely on the situation. Tatle clambered up his shoulder, showing sympathy by playing with a few strands of his hair. "I.....I hope so. To be honest, I feel like this might be my fault, Aklo."

Aklo thought for a few moments on that, before asking "Do you think you're ready to explain how this happened? Or do you still need time?" and idly rubbing Maurice's shoulder, before noticing what he was doing and letting his arm drop after a moment or two.

"No, no! It's, well, it's alright, Mr. Aklo...." The half drow raised an eye at how quickly Aklo dropped his arm, but the hastyness of it did manage to bring a slight smile to his face.
However, he quickly returned to a more serious expression. "Down there, we were surrounded by these creatures. Constructs, intelligent ones, using secret tunnels everywhere to ambush and surround us."

Aklo nodded quietly, making an attentive audience of himself.

"Eventually, we were cornered between a group of them and a gigantic flesh golem. Some horrible monster made off.....made entirely off stitched together corpses. Such a horrific sight......" Maurice paused for a moment, regaining his composure.

Aklo seemed to wince a little at the thought, a bit of guilt showing in the way his shoulders slumped a bit.

"We had left Lizzy somewhere behind us, in the darkness. She had only the light from our torches to see, nothing else. The poor animal. And between, her and me, a group of the constructs suddenly appeared to attack Mr. Herion. It was quite frightening....."
"And, well, as they approached us from two tunnels, and up ahead Mr. Dougal and Thorik were barely holding off that....horrible abomination.....I blocked up their path. Two web spells, destroying their approach."
"And, well, Lizzy was all alone on the other side, the light of our torches not reaching her any longer. I'd hoped she would flee under these circumstances, but she stayed and tried to fight the constructs that went after her...."
Maurice sniffled slightly.

Aklo sighed softly, before nodding his head and saying "I knew I should have gone with you guys..." and slinging his bow across his body, adding "But, unfortunately, that's not how things went, and I'm glad to see we didn't lose anyone else."

Maurice covered his mouth, eyes widening ever so slightly. "Why, that'd have been horrible! How could we afford to lose any of these people?" Tatle, sitting on his head, mimicked his owner's body language, giving the situation a rather bizarre undertone. "I-If it's alright with you, Aklo, I'm glad t-that you stayed at the surface. Everything was so close and narrow down there, they'd have gotten to you far too easily!"
"A-And that, I couldn't, i-it would have been terrible!"

Aklo put his hands on Maurice's shoulders, saying "Breathe. Relax." and starting into exaggerated deep-breathing, for the sake of demonstration.

Maurice took a few deep breaths, as Tatle watched the strange half-elf interaction with great bewilderment. "R-Right. Excuse me, Mr. Aklo. I'm just, I wouldn't want to see anything happen to any of you."

"I wouldn't either." Aklo replied, "But.. I know how risky our profession can be, so I've kinda decided on some losses that I'd consider acceptable." He admitted, sighing a little. "I hate to see anybody, or anything die that didn't bring it onto itself, but, my beliefs combined with the acceptable losses thought make it easier to bear."
"Also, you don't need to call me "Mr. Aklo" all the time, I would prefer you just call me Aklo."

"Of course. Sorry." Maurice avoided making eye contact for a moment. "I'm just not....used to talking to people outside my family as....please, don't take this the wrong way......as equals."

Aklo's nose twitched a bit, obviously an involuntary reaction, before nodding his head and saying "I can understand, but we ARE equals." with a reassuring smile. "Hell, I think of you as my superior in some regards, but, that's what comes from experts of different skills coming together."

"You really think so? Please, I'm no expert. Not like Miss Davri or the Mountain. I'm not even close to mastering the third level of magic, and I'm only an apprentice in the alchemical arts." Maurice stopped himself from depreciating himself too much, giving a faint smile over his own sillyness. "Nevertheless, thank you. Too bad my abilities haven't been enough to prevent this death."
"But, still. Thank you."

Aklo sighed a bit at the further mention of death, saying "There are times when nothing can be done without risking much more than would be gained. I'm glad you handled it the way you did."

"Well, then I'll be too. I can't turn back time and redo it, after all. Thank you for the kind words Mr.-...uh, Aklo. Thanks, Aklo."

Aklo nodded once more, saying "No thanks are needed." before going silent for a moment, then opening his mouth to speak again, before going silent once more, seemingly lost in thought.

Maurice, having a sudden gut feeling that something is wrong, asks "Aklo? Is anything the matter?"

Aklo snapped out of his thought, saying "No, no. Nothing wrong. I'm just.. Trying to figure how I'm gunna address the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"By all means, go ahead and say it. Honesty is the best policy, after all."

"Right, right.." Aklo said, before taking a deep breath, then pausing in the middle of it, and settling on hugging Maurice, and saying "As bad as it is to pick favorites, I worried about you the most, and I'm so, so glad you made it back okay."

After a short moment of surprise, Maurice returned the hug, albeit not quite as strongly. "Why, thank you. I, uh, had no idea. I haven't heard that too often before, that I'm the one someone worried about the most....."

"Well, I care about you a lot." Aklo held the hug a moment longer, seeming to have lost a bit of the more calm composure he had before, his heart-rate picking up at the same rate his calmness left.

That exact moment, Tatle took the opportunity to give Aklo's hair a harsh tuck, much to Maurice's surprise. "Stop it, you silly monkey! Now's really not the time to play around!"

Aklo grit his teeth a bit when his hair was pulled, pulling away from the hug and glaring at Tatle, saying "Someone just lost out on Candied Fruit.." while rubbing the spot his hair had been tugged at, deciding he was overdue for a hair-cut.

After reprimanding his monkey for a little bit, Maurice turned back to Aklo. "Oh, I'm so sorry for his behavior. He can be very eager at times." An akward moment of silence later, he added "I care too, Aklo....."

Aklo started to grin a bit, simply saying "Good." in a warm tone, not entirely sure where to go from there. He looked content, though.

Maurice kept silent for a while, before clearing his throat light to get Aklo out of his trance. "I, uh, have to talk with the others before we go to sleep. Miss Davri wants to speak to me about exchanging some of our spells, and we need to consider our plan for today. I-if you want to, we can keep talking tomorrow. I'd like to, anyways...."

"Right.. Right. I just needed to address that." Aklo said, still smiling, but his smile retracted a little bit. "Please do keep me posted on what the plan is, I'm just gunna.. Y'know, go back to Ogre Watch with the Rangers."

"I will. Sure enough. You won't have to worry about me, Aklo." With everything said and done, Maurice heads back towards the rest of his group, leaving Aklo to his own. This all went very well for him, everything considered.

Left to think through what he was feeling at this point, Aklo seemed a little lost, going back to the post he'd kept with the Rangers and just... Kinda keeping a passive eye on things. Content, but confused.

[Theoboldi]

In the days after their return to Luckfalls, Maurice and Davri will spend a lot of time working together to ensure Dougal's continued survival, as well as to decipher the many notes left behind by the now dead ogre adept. During this time, the two of them learn many new things from each other's notes and experiences, and both find themselves with a huge amount of new spells at their disposal.

Maurice stands to possible learn not only the alchemist formulas of Disguise Self, Shield, Enlarge Person, Bull's Strength and Eagle's Splendor, but also the witch spells of Blood Money, Comprehend Languages, Grease, Identify, Mage Armor, Mount, Ray of Sickening, Remove Sickness, Summon Monster I, Verity's Helpful Scrying Replay, Blindness/Deafness, Blood Transcription, Fly and Loathsome Veil.

Davri, on the other hand, stands to learn the witch spells of Charm Person, Mudball, Enlarge Person, Sow Thought, Unseen Servant, Web Bolt, Command, Web, Summon Monster II and Euphoric Cloud.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I don't know how many spellcraft checks you're gonna want for this quite extensive list, but here's one on Maurice's part, at least. Assuming that his Workbook helps on it....

(1d20+18)[35]

[ZarchAlDain]

You're going to need to make a spellcraft roll per spell since any you fail you can't try again until you level up.

[ZarchAlDain]

A day has passed after the clearing of the Ogre Adepts workshop, when the cry goes up from the walls "OGRE!".

Everyone still in the copper fort rushes to the walls and they see a slightly nervous looking ogre walking down the path holding up a white flag on a stick and waving it tentatively.

When he gets close enough to be heard he stops and bellows out "The Red King wishes to parley with the new holders of Copper Tribe's Lands. Will you negotiate or shall there be war between Ogres and Invaders?"

Sir Roschdale turns to you all with a furrowed frown on his face. "What do you think?"

((OOC we're not doing a full session on Wednesday, however I'm happy to do the Parley with the Red King as a mini-session then. Alternatively we can do it as a Skype session Monday or Tuesday evening and turn it into a Maptools one on Wednesday if things kick off. It's mostly intended as a talky encounter but you never know what's going to happen...))

((OOC I'm also happy to do a mini timewarp on this since people have said "when they return to luckfalls, when they get back to Landing, etc" and so they haven't left yet))

[nahkh]

Dougal Badrick

Dougal had surrendered his weapons and armor, and volunteered to be locked up for the safety of everyone else. He was pacing back and forth in a small room in one of the barracks when the ogre was sighted.

Thorik comes up to Dougal's improvised cell. "hmmm, Tseems word of our victory 'ere has reached the red king, Apearantly he's nearby ta parley" the Dwarf furrows his brow "Its still an evil creature an I wouldn't be suprised ta see it strike during such a parley. but at tha same time... our goal 'ere was ta set up an advance base nay ta eradacate every last ogre on the continent"

"I know that. I think we should go and see what he has to say. If they do try to ambush us-" Dougal looks pained. "I need to be there. Do you think you would trust me to carry arms? I don't want to hurt anyone on our side."