The Forgotten Forge, Group 1 [IC]

[esorscher]

Wrench's eyes widen at the revelation, followed by the whirring of gears and a blinking of the gleaming eyelids that it possesses to artificially comfort those who would be concerned by the lack of blinking. "I would encourage you to recommend to the members of your house associated with such matters an education campaign to make such knowledge widespread. Among the less experienced of your flesh-and-blood brethren, particularly the criminal element, the evidently false notion that warforged can be scavenged for parts remains."

[TheDragonmaster]

The vassal mimics the silence of their host for much of the journey, watching the landscape fly by, but when Selene strikes up a conversation with Wrench, the halfling listens curiously to his story, and in turn, to hers. Over these last weeks Elle had learned to trust the people now sitting huddled next to her in the cart with her safety; perhaps, too, it was time to trust them with getting to know her as well? A sardonic smile creeps onto her lips as the soldier turns to ask her of her involvement in the war, and although she does not turn to show it to the others, the sentiment carries through in her voice.

"Did I serve as a healer during the War? One could say that... I have certainly sown together more warriors than some who did serve on the battlefield, but only as they were returned home in shreds. I was too young to run off and join the war effort when my family moved to Sharn, even if I had wanted to, and soon thereafter, I found my true calling. My allegiance is divided enough without offering my service to reclaim the throne of a kingdom forgotten by all but the elves."

There is no reason to tell them of my family though... they do not have to know. It is none of their concern.

At the mention of politics, however, she turns to meet the taller woman's eyes, an ember in her gaze that the others had not seen before.

"As for the Houses, I donned the robes of the clergy to get away from all of that."

After a pause, she turns back to looking at the passing landscape, letting out a short sigh.

"Unsuccessfully, as it seems."

[Kish]

"Darguun's good for profit. Not many Dragonmarked," Failin replies to Selene's question. He doesn't seem to need to concentrate to keep the cart moving, but he falls silent after that regardless.

Hours later, apparently in response to Elle's words, he comments, "Could stay in Darguun."

[JonRG]

Kara mostly just sits and listens, the better to learn about her allies. She agrees to train at some future point when Selene asks.

[RaggedAngel]

"I would encourage you to recommend to the members of your house associated with such matters an education campaign to make such knowledge widespread. Among the less experienced of your flesh-and-blood brethren, particularly the criminal element, the evidently false notion that warforged can be scavenged for parts remains."

Selene nods seriously, clearly intent on doing just that. "The shops and smiths of House Cannith are relied upon by nearly every rung of society. If we make an effort to spread the word about what happens to warforged after their destruction, it should reach a great many ears." She reaches out, clapping Wrench on his shoulder. "I don't have a lot of clout beyond what my 'mark earns, but if this mission is successful then I imagine that will change rather abruptly. It's all the more reason to succeed."

"As for the Houses, I donned the robes of the clergy to get away from all of that."

After a pause, she turns back to looking at the passing landscape, letting out a short sigh.

"Unsuccessfully, as it seems."

Selene leans back at that, a hint of a smile appearing as she does. "I can't blame you. I'm not really one for politics, but my mother and father spend every moment of their lives obsessing over half-imagined slights and overblown posturing. And that's inside of our own House!" She shakes her head, bemused. "I wish more people had your mindset, Elle. I've enjoyed working with you."

[TheDragonmaster]

"I would not make a habit out of it... the ones I tend to work with are the grievously injured and afflicted."

Keeping her eyes on the horizon, the halfling delivers her reply in the same dejected tone.

Besides, someone like her could never understand...

[Kish]

Three and a half days after the land cart set out, twilight descends on Darguun as the cart closes on Rose Quarry. The wall of dead-grey mist that forms the border of the Mournland can be seen in the distance. The sight seems to make Failin nervous and sad at the same time. As the land cart crests a small rise in the land, a vast plateau, bounded to the west by a narrow canyon, stretches before you. The quarry extends for at least a mile, and the nearby village spreads across the plateau--at least, what's left of it. Anything made of wood has been burned to cinders, leaving a handful of stone facades, rock foundations, and chimneys behind. Though warm weather surrounds you, the village appears covered in a layer of ice that glitters in the light of the rising moons.

You also notice another source of light. In the southern part of the village, a fire glows in a large pit, which is surrounded by four large tents. Figures move around the makeshift campsite. "Were you expecting company?" Failin asks.

[TheDragonmaster]

Elle watches the quarry and the village ruin with curiosity as they close their distance, particularly fascinated by the covering sheet of what must be glass or something similar. She shifts her curiosity to the small encampment as Failin points it out, but does not immediately reply to his question, assuming the other members of her little group has an idea of how to approach this new development.

[JonRG]

Kara's hand moves to the hilt of her short sword. "No... We weren't."

[RaggedAngel]

Selene tightens a few straps on her armor, having loosened it a little for comfort while traveling. She slips her shield on, securing it firmly, and then takes her trident in hand. The unusual weapon looks comfortable in her hand, as if it was meant to be there.

She gazes out over the strange, glittering town, her eyes narrowing. "This is on the edge of the Mournland, so we have to expect that something strange might be going on. It could be freezing cold over there, or the temperature that ice melts might be completely different. We should use caution, especially with magic."

She watches the tents for another few moments. "Well, we've arrived at our destination. We have to go in there, the only question is to our approach. Failin, I'm going to assume that you'll want to stay here with your land cart. That's fine, but stay close in case we need to bail out. I assume that we've bought enough loyalty for that, at least. You won't be in undue danger."

She turns her attention to the others. "As I said, we need to go in there, but we should do so quietly, and attempt to approach from the cover of what remains of the buildings. I don't see any movement aside from the tents, but we should still be cautious in case they've posted sentries. We don't know who these people are; they may just be Cyrian refugees. We should attempt to figure out their identity before this can become a fight. If anyone has preparations to make or spells to cast, do it now. Otherwise, we should move out."

[esorscher]

Fire, Wrench thinks, Not warforged, then. He is relieved not to have encountered any agents of the Lord of Blades this early in their expedition, but concerned nonetheless. He has no preparations that would aid him in stealth, and does not wish to expend any for combat that may not come. "Let's not be the ones to instigate, either."

Sneak: (1d20+5)[21]

[TheDragonmaster]

"Approach from cover, perform threat assessment, got it."

The vassal straps on the backpack and picks her crossbow from the floor, keeping it at the ready. Before moving out to follow Wrench, she spends a moment of deep focus, calling upon the guidance of the Host to reveal her a brief glimpse of the future.

Spoiler: OoC

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Omen of Peril is Cast at CL3, giving it a 73% chance of success.

Stealth Check - (1d20+7)[15]

Spells Prepared:
Orisons: Detect Magic, Guidance, Light, Mending
Level 1: Bless, Endure Elements (D), Obscuring Mist, Omen of Peril

[RaggedAngel]

Selene nods, keeps her weapon low, and moves as carefully as she can toward the strangely-shiny ruins.

Spoiler: Stealth

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(1d20+2)[19]

[JonRG]

Kara gives an approving nod, then skulks after her teammates.

Spoiler

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Sneak: (1d20+8)[12]

[Kish]

"I'll be behind the rise," Failin says.

The strange camp is at the southwest end of the village. No one there seems to have noticed you yet.

Spoiler: Elle

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You see an image of your group approaching the camp. The people in the camp seem initially unaware of you, then they abruptly spin to face you. Hordes of skeletons suddenly pour out of the camp to overrun you--far more, you realize consciously, than could ever have been in it. The last thing you see before your vision ends is your own body falling lifeless to the ground.

Spoiler: Perception 15

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You count sixteen horses, two covered wagons, and seven human-shaped figures. Judging by how the firelight reflects off their gear, they're wearing helmets and chainmail armor. None of them appears to be maintaining a watch.

Spoiler: Perception 20

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The helmets have a distinct half-faceplate design. Two skeletons stand in the shadows by one of the tents, as though on guard duty.

Spoiler: Perception 12, separate from above

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You hear a periodic ringing sound, like that of a pick striking stone or ice. This sound seems to be coming from the north end of the village.

[RaggedAngel]

Selene mutters under her breath to the others as a strange sound reaches her ears. "It sounds like they're mining or picking their way through ice or stone to the north. Perhaps it has something to do with the ice covering the town?"

[TheDragonmaster]

The ill omen leaves Elle deeply reluctant to stray near the camp at all; though she had misinterpreted the last vision she had called upon, this one seemed fairly obvious. The dark imagery was concerning for another reason too though, perhaps this close to the Mournlands her prayer had not been answered by the Host at all, but rather by a member of the Six.

The halfling tries to brush her worries aside as she lays a bolt on her crossbow and closely follows the others, trying to stay small and speaking in a low whisper when answering Selene.

"Whatever it is they are doing, I suggest extreme care when approaching. At best I am expecting the servants of the Lord of Blades reached Rose Quarry before us."

[JonRG]

Kara nods, though she hasn't heard anything so far. "Whatever it is, it can't be good."

[esorscher]

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry for holding us up, thanks for the nudge.

Perception: (1d20+6)[12]

Wrench fixes his gaze on the horizon, attuning his metal ears to any sound nearby. "Let's press on, carefully," he echoes, gesturing to the party to move toward the town, and taking a position toward the rear with his crossbow in hand.

[RaggedAngel]

As the group approaches the encampment, Selene begins to grow more concerned about being seen. She brings the group to a pause with a building between them and the camp. "We're way too visible moving all together like this. Kara, I don't want to volunteer you, but you're a lot better at going unseen than the rest of us. Do you want to see if you can get a better look at what's going on?"

[JonRG]

Kara nods and skulks forward, trying to keep to the shadows and stay quiet.

Spoiler: Sneakity Sneak

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(1d20+8)[27]

[Kish]

Spoiler: Kara

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Up closer, you see six humans gathered around the fire, and four skeletons armed with scythes standing in silent vigil nearby. The humans wear tabards emblazoned with a green claw over chainmail. Northwest of the fire, in a clearing between the tents, a man in banded mail appears to be chanting or praying. You cannot be sure how many more people are in the four tents set up around the fire. You count sixteen horses and two covered wagons. No one seems to be watching for intruders. You might be able to ambush them, though it's likely they would become aware of your group well before some of your clumsier companions reached melee range with them. It does occur to you that as long as you gave the camp a wide berth, you could probably avoid contact with them entirely.

[JonRG]

Kara bites back a curse. She drinks in all she can about the camp, then makes her way back to her allies. "We got Karrns," Kara says quietly. Got at least seven humans, one was prayin' or something. Four skeletons. There could be way more people than that, since sixteen horses seems a bit much for seven people and two wagons. Oh, and they had some weird symbol on their tabards, like a green claw or somethin'." She traces the symbol on her chest to give the others a better idea. "I don't think we can get the drop on them, not with Lady Clanksalot here." Kara jerks her head in Selene's direction. "But! They're not actively watching for intruders, so if we give 'em a wide berth, we can probably skirt around them, and best case, be in and out before they notice we were here." She grins at her allies. It felt good to be useful.

[esorscher]

"A wide berth it is, then." Wrench says. The symbol is unfamiliar to him, but perhaps someone else recognizes it.

[RaggedAngel]

Selene glances down at her chain shirt, then over to Wrench. "I suppose I can be the loud one. But I feel like I should warn you; if your description is accurate, it looks like we're dealing with the Order of the Emerald Claw. They're a Karrnathi extremist group, close ties to the Blood of Vol. The king of Karrnath has disavowed them, but they never seem to do anything he'd dislike, if you get what I mean. Very dangerous, absolutely willing to kill. We should avoid them unless there's no other option."

Unless anyone has something else to add, she'll lead the party away from the Order members, toward their objective near the center of the town.

[Kish]

A strange layer of glass covers much of the village. It coats the ground. It cascades from the shattered stone walls. Toward the center of the village, one or two buildings appear to be more intact than the rest of the ruins around them. Two other sights leap out at you as you look around. First, you can see the occasional forms of burned dwarves buried within the glass, their expressions twisted in fear and pain. Second, someone has been breaking the glass around some of the ruins, shattering it as though searching for something that may have been trapped within when the glass cooled and hardened.

Your footing is somewhat precarious as you make your way over the glass coating the ground. You hear a screeching sound of glass scraping across glass ahead of you.

Spoiler: Perception 10

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You make out two dwarf-sized figures moving slowly toward you.

[RaggedAngel]

Selene peers into the darkness, concerned with what might be approaching. "If we have to fight some kind of glass-elemental in a town covered in glass, I can't imagine the noise will go unnoticed..."

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20-1)[1]

[esorscher]

"I've heard of carmelized strawberries, but carmelized dwarves? Who would want such a thing?" Wrench says, surveying the scene with a careful eye.

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20+5)[7]

[JonRG]

"Sounds delicious," Kara jokes before spying the two creatures skulking towards them. "Got two dwarves headed for us," Kara whispers sharply. "... Think they're dwarves anyway."

Spoiler

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Wrote this last night, but didn't realize I never hit post. XD

[RaggedAngel]

Selene peers into the shadows, not able to make out the figures other than some slight movement. "Well, you said there were skeletons in the camp, right? I'm not a fan of approaching anything slowly walking toward us from the darkness, it might be more of those. We should try to lure them away from the town, at least; whether or not these are people or undead, we don't want to fight them too close to that big camp."