Dusk Eclipse's Eyes of the Lich Queen IC

[Kish]

"An ancient site?" Scholar repeats. "I'm intrigued, but one thing I want to know first. What made you choose us?"

[Dusk Eclipse]

Soren finds himself shifting more upright on his seat and paying more attention with every word Sur'kil says. His eyes grow a bit wider and he fights to keep the smile off his face. A treasure hunt, with adventure and riches at the end? The guys at the Finders Guild always come back from things like this with the coolest stories, and a few of the Cyrian plays were about stuff like this. Maybe now he'll have something of his own to sing and dance about too!

But try not to sound too eager, it's something he's learned. "Where are we going and what are we looking for?" he asks.

"Must be pretty old then", Kaarna says and leans back in her chair, throwing her gaze at the ceiling. She quickly weighted the terms of the contract in her mind. One thousand gold for sure and old ruins... who ever knew what they might have. A grin rises to her lips, life was already dangerous to begin with, so why not go looking for it? She lowers her gaze back to Sur'kil and sits up. "Alright, unless you're going to tell the place is at the bottom of an ocean, I'm in."

Sur'kill smiles at Soren's eagerness, and can't help but chuckle at the Shifter's answer "No, miss Kaarna, I can tell you in good faith that you are not going into the bottom of the ocean." he takes a drink from his goblet, "However I can't tell you the destination, at least not right now. Once en route, I can fill in as many details as I know.”

"An ancient site?" Scholar repeats. "I'm intrigued, but one thing I want to know first. What made you choose us?"

“Those in my profession make it their business to identify up-and-coming adventurers and explorers. Your activities have not gone unnoticed.”.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Sur'kill smiles at Soren's eagerness, and can't help but chuckle at the Shifter's answer "No, miss Kaarna, I can tell you in good faith that you are not going into the bottom of the ocean." he takes a drink from his goblet, "However I can't tell you the destination, at least not right now. Once en route, I can fill in as many details as I know.”

Why can't he tell them now? Is it that much of a secret? "When will we be going, and can we tell someone first?" Soren asks.

“Those in my profession make it their business to identify up-and-coming adventurers and explorers. Your activities have not gone unnoticed.”.

"What's your profession?" he asks. And what's he done? Sure he's helped out on Finder Guild missions, but Blake's the one with the dragon mark, not him.

[Dusk Eclipse]

"My profession? I'm a simple scho.... academic with special interest in the Age of Demons, as for when will you leave, I have booked 6 places in the lighting rails that departs this afternoon."

[rypt]

Athard turns a sidelong glance to the half-elf. "Athard Cen," he says shortly before turning back to Sur'Kil, his interest clearly piqued by the discussion of coin.

"Five hundred up, five hundred when we return, with additional dispensations contingent upon the recovery of your relics." He nods as though he finds these terms satisfactory. "How confident are you that your relics are there?"

Sur'kil's unwillingness to disclose their destination does not sit well with Athard, but it sits well enough for a thousand galifars plus incentives.

"Six tickets for the five of us? Who's missing?"

[CWater]

Sur'kill smiles at Soren's eagerness, and can't help but chuckle at the Shifter's answer "No, miss Kaarna, I can tell you in good faith that you are not going into the bottom of the ocean." he takes a drink from his goblet, "However I can't tell you the destination, at least not right now. Once en route, I can fill in as many details as I know.”

"You're coming with us?" Kaarna sounds honestly surprised.

“Those in my profession make it their business to identify up-and-coming adventurers and explorers. Your activities have not gone unnoticed.”.

The shifter raises an eyebrow and rubs her chin. What is she supposed to think about that?

"My profession? I'm a simple scho.... academic with special interest in the Age of Demons, as for when will you leave, I have booked 6 places in the lighting rails that departs this afternoon."

"I'm sure you are." One side of Kaarna's mouth twitches slightly upwards.

But the rails! Now that would be a new experience. She had seen the lightning beasts of course, but had never gotten on board before.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Athard turns a sidelong glance to the half-elf. "Athard Cen," he says shortly before turning back to Sur'Kil, his interest clearly piqued by the discussion of coin.

"Soren Lowell. Nice to meet you!" he says with a smile, sticking out his hand. It's almost reflexive.

"Five hundred up, five hundred when we return, with additional dispensations contingent upon the recovery of your relics." He nods as though he finds these terms satisfactory. "How confident are you that your relics are there?"

Sur'kil's unwillingness to disclose their destination does not sit well with Athard, but it sits well enough for a thousand galifars plus incentives.

"Six tickets for the five of us? Who's missing?"

"You're coming with us?" Kaarna sounds honestly surprised.

"Yeah, who's the other person?" he asks.

Though wow, the lightning rail! It's been nearly two years since he was last on it, and this time they'll actually have nice seats! And treasure hunting, mystery, and adventure! "I'm in," he says.

[Kish]

He's evasive. Unsurprising, but I wonder why. Nothing of Scholar's thoughts shows on her face.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Athard turns a sidelong glance to the half-elf. "Athard Cen," he says shortly before turning back to Sur'Kil, his interest clearly piqued by the discussion of coin.

"Five hundred up, five hundred when we return, with additional dispensations contingent upon the recovery of your relics." He nods as though he finds these terms satisfactory. "How confident are you that your relics are there?"

Sur'kil's unwillingness to disclose their destination does not sit well with Athard, but it sits well enough for a thousand galifars plus incentives.

"Six tickets for the five of us? Who's missing?"

"Confident enough that I'm willing to pay you" Sur'kil replies with a slight smirk.

"You're coming with us?" Kaarna sounds honestly surprised.


The shifter raises an eyebrow and rubs her chin. What is she supposed to think about that?

"I'm sure you are." One side of Kaarna's mouth twitches slightly upwards.

But the rails! Now that would be a new experience. She had seen the lightning beasts of course, but had never gotten on board before.

"Soren Lowell. Nice to meet you!" he says with a smile, sticking out his hand. It's almost reflexive.

"Yeah, who's the other person?" he asks.

Though wow, the lightning rail! It's been nearly two years since he was last on it, and this time they'll actually have nice seats! And treasure hunting, mystery, and adventure! "I'm in," he says.

He's evasive. Not unsurprising, but I wonder why. Nothing of Scholar's thoughts shows on her face.

"Me and my daughter will accompany you on the rail, at least till we reach Korranberg, I have other business to attend there"

[rypt]

Athard shakes his head dismissively. "It's easy to be confident when all you're risking is gold. We're risking blood, so the least you could do is tell us why you believe your relics -- if they were ever even there to begin with -- haven't already been plundered by another independent researcher." He rolls his eyes with these last words, making it clear that he isn't entirely sold on Sur'kil's nebulous self-presentation.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Soren pauses--an idea's suddenly come to him. "Hang on, you asked us, not the finders guild. Do you even know my brother has the dragon mark? Or is that why you asked me, because I'm unoffixially affiliated with the guild? This is something you just found that you want secret, isn't it?" Awesome!

[Dusk Eclipse]

"I see; you are very perceptive mister Cen, very perceptive indeed, the information that convinced me to finance this expedition is quite new, I heard of it just a couple weeks ago, so I'm fairly certain the relics are still there." he crosses his hands in front of himself "And in the remote case that someone else has already plundered them, then you still would get your pay, a win-win situation don't you agree?" he finished with a smile

Edit:
"Yes, mister Lowell, that is the reason I asked you to come here; I'm in need of discretion."

[CoffeeIncluded]

Now Soren lets himself grin. "Will you be giving us any healing items or ways to contact you or anyone else? And once we get it will you tell us why you need to be so discreet?" he adds, letting his curiosity get tje better of him.

Spoiler: Guys

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I think Soren is too inherently trusting and excited to use sense motive or anything unless someone prompts him--if you don't like that please tell me.

Anyway, I'm convinced and Athard is gonna be great as a foil. Everyone's looking awesome.

[CWater]

Kaarna quickly stuffs some more food into her mouth; never say no to a free meal after all. Once the shifter gets the last piece gulped down, she stands up. "Okay, lighting rails in the afternoon. I'll be there. Anything else we should know?"

[Kish]

Scholar watches and listens and doesn't eat.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Soren takes a long sip (more like a swallow) of coffee. When he's done he says, "I'm in."

[Dusk Eclipse]

Sur'kil smiles "That is wonderful to hear" he stands up and retrieves a small chest from the back of the room, he places it on the table and shows it, you all see four small pouches. "Here are 250 gold pieces as the first payment, I'll give you the rest once we are in the lightning rail" he waits until everyone picks their money before continuing "Now, I'll be expecting you in the Lighting Rail station an hour before sundown, please do not be late" with those words he stands up and leaves the room "Oh and don't worry about paying for the breakfast, it has already been taken care of"

Spoiler: Guys

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Feel free to RP between you, or if you want to fast-forward to the lightning rail just tell me.

[CoffeeIncluded]

"Thanks!" Soren says as he takes a small sack of gold and another pecan pastry.

Once he leaves, Soren turns to the others and asks, "So, do you think we should do any shopping or anything before we go? Where do you think we're headed?"

Spoiler: Everyone

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I'd love to roleplay (though I'm about to head to a meeting for a bit), but Soren wants to say bye to his brother too, if that's okay? If not we can fast-forward or something?

[Kish]

Stowing her money, Scholar heads out with the others. Outside, first glancing around to make sure no one is obviously following us or eavesdropping on us, Scholar comments, "It seems likely that they want us to succeed at least initially; if they knew of anything we'd need they would have told us. Do you have enough to buy anything that you'd want for adventuring and don't have yet? I don't."

[CoffeeIncluded]

"I have money, but I'm saving up for something," Soren says. "And I have a lot of survival gear." He looks at the four of them--Scholar the tall warforged, Kaarna, the small and lithe shifter, Athard, covered in scars, and himself. "We're probably going to get in fights if we're treasure hunting at the edge of Khorvaire. So that means we need to learn to work together and know what each of us can do, right?"

[rypt]

Athard's pouch disappears beneath his cloak as he stands to leave. Too bad this wasn't a lunch meeting instead of a breakfast meeting. A bottle of wine for the road would have been far more preferable to a scone or some fruit.

Where do you think we're headed?"

"East," he says before taking a bite out of an apple, the weight of the coin in his pocket seeming to restore a bit of his appetite. He takes his time chewing and swallowing before he continues. "Darguun or Valenar if we're traveling overland. Maybe Qbarra by sea." He takes another bite.

"We're probably going to get in fights if we're treasure hunting at the edge of Khorvaire. So that means we need to learn to work together and know what each of us can do, right?"

"Right," Athard replies with a hint of condescension. "And why don't you start."

[CoffeeIncluded]

Athard's pouch disappears beneath his cloak as he stands to leave. Too bad this wasn't a lunch meeting instead of a breakfast meeting. A bottle of wine for the road would have been far more preferable to a scone or some fruit.




"East," he says before taking a bite out of an apple, the weight of the coin in his pocket seeming to restore a bit of his appetite. He takes his time chewing and swallowing before he continues. "Darguun or Valenar if we're traveling overland. Maybe Qbarra by sea." He takes another bite.

Soren pauses to look at Athard. "Why do you think east--oh, because we're going through Korranberg, right?"

"Right," Athard replies with a hint of condescension. "And why don't you start."

If Soren notices Athard's condescension, he doesn't make a mention of it. "Well, my brother taught me how to use a bow, and I'm also a bard. So I know magic like this, well stronger but I don't want to use the stronger magic right now." With a twist of his hand the half-elf conjures up a few floating lights that circle the party and around Athard's head. A few seconds later they're accompanied by a haunted ghostly sound. "Oh, and I can put magic into my music too!"

Soren turns on his heel, pulls his scarf free and drapes it around him as if it were a sash. He spins and turns, dancing to the beat of the now-bobbing lights, and as he dances the other three find themselves filled with a brief sudden surge of courage.

Spoiler: Everyone

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Soren uses the cantrips Dancing Lights and Ghost Sound, then uses Bardic Performance (Dance) and Inspire Courage (+2 bonuses) for one round.

[Kish]

"Somewhere that isn't inhabited anymore, likely," Scholar says. "I study multiple kinds of magic."

[CWater]

"Kid, we already got paid today. No need for a street performance." Kaarna smirks and playfully punches Soren with her elbow.

"I do what witches generally do. Put curses on people and make them scream. Should I do a demonstration too?" She takes a look around, as if looking for a suitable victim.

Spoiler

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She's not being serious obviously.

[Kish]

"One question. What languages do you speak?" Scholar asks her new companions. "If we have any other than Common that we all know, it might be useful to talk without necessarily being understood by anyone around later."

[CoffeeIncluded]

"Somewhere that isn't inhabited anymore, likely," Scholar says. "I study multiple kinds of magic."

"Really? What kind?" Soren asks, perking up.

"Kid, we already got paid today. No need for a street performance." Kaarna smirks and playfully punches Soren with her elbow.

"I do what witches generally do. Put curses on people and make them scream. Should I do a demonstration too?" She takes a look around, as if looking for a suitable victim.

Spoiler

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She's not being serious obviously.

The half elf folds his arms. "Hey, I bet my performances are more fun than yours. So Athard, what are you good at?"

"One question. What languages do you speak?" Scholar asks her new companions. "If we have any other than Common that we all know, it might be useful to talk without necessarily being understood by anyone around later."

"Um, well I know Elven, and I can read and write Draconic though I'm a bit rusty at speaking it, and I also know Orcish."

[CWater]

"One question. What languages do you speak?" Scholar asks her new companions. "If we have any other than Common that we all know, it might be useful to talk without necessarily being understood by anyone around later."

"My mother taught me Sylvan", Kaarna snorts, "Hasn't been any use to me yet. Learned some Goblin while growing up, and I guess I can say I've picked up some Elven on the way too. Just don't ask me to do a poem in it."

A grin slips to the shifters lips, "I can also swear and insult like an Orc or Gnoll, although...", she considers this, "That's probably not a very smart thing to do."

The half elf folds his arms. "Hey, I bet my performances are more fun than yours."

"Most likely", Kaarna snickers, "Speaking of your singing, if you're feeling helpful, there is something I could use your help with.."

[CoffeeIncluded]

"Hey, I can help you do poetry in elven. Well, I can show you how to sing to it and singing is sort of poetry set to music, so..." He does a sort of a half shrug that is cut of at her second question. "Sure, what is it?"

[CWater]

"I have something to feed Veca. It requires concentration, and your music... helps", the witch admits, reluctantly.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Soren looks at Kaarna with a slightly alarmed expression. "What are you feeding her?"