Ansalonian Adventures IC

[Gorgon_Heap]

The man takes stock of each of you and considers his options, then springs up, taking his hand off his leg and yanking on the netting at his back.

Darrik's arrow plunges directly into the small cut, and Twentyfingers freezes, turning to look at the weapon protruding from his thigh in astonished horror. He cries out lowly and sags on his wounded leg, dropping the knife and babying the limb, sweat on his brow.

You approach and surround him closely, standing over him to compete the quick victory. He's breathing heavily. "Oooowwwwww. WHAT? If you're friends of Robert's what can you possibly need from me? I didn't even know he was a knight!" he seethes.

[Fishybugs]

Tarina Davenledge

"Well he is. So there. We're just looking for him, so anything you may know will really, really help us." She pauses a moment to wait for a response, then a realization hits her. "If you don't know anything, then why did you run after we told you what we wanted?"

[Gorgon_Heap]

Staring at her as if she's an alien, the man says, "In my experience nobody looking like a band of thugs comes calling for a good reason - especially not asking after somebody you had ... er, recent dealings with and left ... unsatisfied." He takes a breath against the pain and mutters something incomprehensible in the native tongue and shakes his head. "But then it looks like I was being lied to the whole time. He's a knight of some kind. Makes sense, the way he spends money. And here you are carrying holy symbols. You're not from the Steel Legion, eh? You and he sure ain't Solamnics.

"I swear it was just business and nobody came to harm. Why, I told Robert it was a done deal and he went running off after the damned thing anyway. What do knights need a sculpture so bad for anyway? Ain't he got enough?""

By this time a Nordman is leaning out of the pilothouse chittering at you all in an affronted tone.

[Majin]

"Kinda funny that a knight was lying. Anyway, where did Robert run off to?" Darrik says.

[Fishybugs]

Tarina Davenledge

Tarina leans over to Koshal and asks, a bit indignantly, "Do I really have to heal him? His friend punched me in the face." She reaches up and feels her cheek and nose, which are still tender. "Is it straight?" She keeps prodding at her nose as she turns to Twentyfingers and asks, "Where did you send him to? We need to find him before he gets hurt."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Blinking rapidly in confusion, the man doesn’t seem sure what you meant. “Hurt? What are you talking about, woman? I’m bleeding here are you’re worried about that lazy weasel? I thought you said you know him. Robert’s lazy. He doesn’t do anything dangerous. Is somebody else after him? … Is there a reward?”

He seems to notice the angry houseboat resident and says something back to the man. They exchange words for a minute and the man steps away from his window.

“I’ll tell ya; he threw a tantrum and ran after the Cat in the capital. North Keep. Haven’t seen him since.”

Koshal and Darrik have either traveled or been looking at maps all their lives, and they are both certain North Keep is nowhere near your current location - it's far inland.

You also become aware a number of patrons from the tavern , curious how the fight ended and what it was all about, are walking down the boardwalk, talking amongst themselves excitedly. The two gambling dwarves, the kender musician and nearly a dozen human men (and the barmaid) are about forty yards away and closing. Unsurprisingly, fifteen or twenty other passersby on the docks, on their ships or in their homes are watching out of interest or boredom as well.

[Deathkeeper]

I shrug back at Tarina.
"No, you don't have to heal him. Actually, given that the guards called him a known criminal, it would make far more sense to just haul him to them and drop him off at his proper steel-barred home. His information doesn't seem particularly helpful, after all. It's certainly going to be a long walk without any leads if that's all he has to say." I say with a shrug.

Spoiler

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Roll intimidate? (1d20+4)[17]

[Gorgon_Heap]

The man narrows his eyes at Koshal, but seems unfazed by the threat. The owner of the boathouse rushes outside and onto the dock, passing through the watching crowd in a rush.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work, bully. if you're done trying to kill me - or not killing me - then you ought to just get out of town. I'll tell you; An art dealer from a shop called Chinda's Collectibles paid top coin. That's where Robert would be going." He shrugs painfully. "There. You fix this now, healer?"

[Majin]

Darrik eyes the crook a bit suspiciously. He'd probably have no reason to lie, but you never know with thieves.

Spoiler: OOC

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Insight to see if he's talking the truth: (1d20+4)[21]

[Fishybugs]

Tarina looks to Koshal, then to Darrik. She leans over and whispers, "I've never actually healed a wound with the weapon still in it. Do I pull it out first, then heal, or heal as I'm pulling it out?" She then realizes she isn't speaking to anyone who may have more information on the subject than she does and decides to fake it.

She leans down to Tomas and says in her most compassionate, reassuring voice, "Thank you. See? We told you we just needed some information. When someone wants to ask a question, it's easier to not get shot first." As she is speaking, she slowly moves her hand to the arrow shaft protruding from Tomas' leg. "This won't hurt too much. Probably." She suddenly pulls violently on the arrow.

Spoiler: Strength check

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(d20+1)[3]

Her hand slips off the arrow from the nervous sweat on her palms but otherwise nothing happens, except Tomas seems to be complaining a little louder.

"Umm. Ooops. Umm. Tarina lets out a nervous giggle. "Let's try again. Koshal, can you pull that out please?"

[Gorgon_Heap]

Spoiler: Darrik

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Not only do you guess he's not lying, you think he's both relieved and smug at having given you the news.

Tomas squirms in pain. "What in the Abyss? Don't you know what you're doing? I always wondered how worthless those trinket medallions actually are." He goes quiet as if struck with an epiphany, but he keeps his thoughts to himself.

[Deathkeeper]

I heave a heavy sigh before putting a hand around the arrow.
"Gods, Miss. You didn't learn any better way to do this? If pulling's what you want..." I say...

Spoiler

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Are we sure this couldn't be done with a Medicine check? Not that Koshal has that. Also, going to assume I can add Proficiency on strength checks. Subtract two if I'm not.
(1d20+5)[9]

[Gorgon_Heap]

"Hurk!" the man says through grinding teeth. he slumps back against the pilothouse, breathing easier while looking at you all hatefully. Then he peers past you into the crowd, where now about twenty people mill about and talk, and he sneers unpleasantly.

Three guards push their way past the watchers with the boat owner, but they don't appear to be in any rush to apprehend the brigand. Or help you either, in fact. It's the same bunch you saw earlier. The lead guard, the one you spoke with, smirks unpleasantly and shouts something in the local tongue. Tomas replies angrily. The guard says something short and his fellow guards and a number of civilians laugh.

The guard points and parts from the crowd, hopping over to the boat with practiced ease, and stands among you. "'Ello there, strangers. See you caught your villain. I trust the violence is done, eh? Can't have you making a spectacle and not actually kill the man, eh?" He grins nastily.

Tomas Twentyfingers mutters under his breath and curls his lip bitterly, but is otherwise indifferent.

Spoiler: OOC

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No Strength check needed from anybody. It was totally a Medicine roll, but I'm not going to stop anybody from roleplaying - it's been kinda light. I assume it's maybe just something she saw done once on a cadaver, so it's mostly nerves throwing her game. Speaking of, I mention the North Keep thing because I think y'all forgot your ship is due to leave in a day and a half.

[Majin]

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt!" Darrik says as he watches Tarina fumble with the arrow.

"Sorry about the arrow, but you were acting really violent. And speaking of which, I think I can still use that!", Darrik says to Twentyfingers and snatches the arrow back.

"Nope, we're done with violence for today officers. I think you should just lock him up?". These guys were giving him a weird feeling, very different from the nice and professional guards of Palanthas.

[Fishybugs]

"We're very done with violence today, officers. Let me just heal him up a little bit and you can have him." Tarina grabs her holy symbol, lays a hand on Tomas and mumbles a few words to Mishakal.

Spoiler: Cure wounds

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(d8+4)[7]

[Gorgon_Heap]

Tomas eyes Tarina suspiciously as she places her hand on him, still hurting from his treatment, but relaxes as her healing light first stanches the dribble of blood and then stitches the hole in his thigh muscles closed. The guard snerks and spits into the water with unapologetic crudity, and then helps Tomas to his feet. They appear distinctly unhappy in each others' presence. "Well, lets get you off, then," the guard says, prodding the crook along with the haft of his spear. He adds something in the local tongue, to which Tomas responds acidly. He turns back to you all before hopping back across to the dock, "A real treat. Don't call again. And tell Ser Robert he can expect more of the same consideration since he's gone and lied to me for so long. Unless he wants to tell me who is lord is. I'll take that."

The guard follows Tomas Twentyfingers across, saying, "Oh, aye. I'll take it, too. Hehehehe. Off you go, you scum." They walk off together, and each is approached by observers from the crowd.

People begin to disperse - the gambling dwarves and waitress return to their bar; stevedores go back to work; the boat owner is perplexed and disappointed and very much wants you off his home; and the kender woman waits patiently, drums in hand, for your approach.

"Hullo!" she says happily. "I'm Smokey Fluebristle. That sure looked exciting. Is this your first time in Pentar? You're looking for a missing knight? That sounds like a great story. North Keep's quite a ways from here. I'm a travelling player. What do you do? You look like warriors!" For a tiny kender girl she's very attractive, and her voice is clear and pleasant rather than loud and shrill. In fact, her accent is thoroughly local as well. She's wearing loose cloth in orange and yellow and a leather skirt, all in layers, but somehow still shows off her thin neck, shoulders and midriff. She's forgone a topknot in favor of long brown dreadlocks.

[Majin]

Darrik watches as Tarina heals Twentyfingers' wound. "Ooh, I should learn how to do that".

"Oh, hello! I'm Darrik Proudfoot. Nice to meet you!" Darrik says, twirling the arrow in his hand. "Nah, never been here. Or in North Keep for that matter. I like traveling, but it's a big world I guess. But a bard? You must have seen a lot! Have you been to North Keep?".

"I think we're mercenaries right now. Sort of. Just doing a favor for a friend back in Palanthas". Darrik looks at Twentyfingers and the guard. "What was the deal with those two? Seems like they have some history".

[Gorgon_Heap]

Smokey's eyes widen. "Mercenaries? That's a dangerous line of work, Darrik. But you look like you're a really good shot with that bow. Oh, North Keep is wonderful! So big and so many things do and so many people. I guess Palanthas is like that too.

"Oh, them?" She shrugs, absentmindedly tapping out a beat with her fingertips. "Twentyfinger is a crook. Sakkid just likes money. 'Hey, you want to know about this person? Gimme coins and I'll tell ya!' What a jerk. I bet he's not going to take Twentyfingers to the jail, either. Why bother? He gets out faster than even the most respectable kender would."

[Majin]

"Yeah, I've practiced a lot. If the Keep is anything like Palanthas, I bet it'll be interesting!" Darrik says, putting the arrow back into the quiver.

"You think he's gonna bother us?Some Palanthas guards can get really upset when people brawl. Oh, and do you know any good blacksmiths? I think I lost my sword"

[Fishybugs]

Tarina watches Tomas being unceremoniously hauled off by the guard and feels sorry for him momentarily. I'm sure he'd be a good person if he had just been born somewhere he could have been loved. As the kender woman approaches, Tarina is at first suspicious, but Smokey's pleasant attitude helps her relax and just listen to the two kender speak. After their brief exchange, Tarina pipes up, "We should probably be going, Darrik. You're welcome to join us, Miss Smokey, if you would like to travel to the North Keep. We should get Darrik a weapon, she says as she looks into the water. "How much do you think we would have to pay someone to go down after it?"

[Gorgon_Heap]

"I don't know any blacksmiths," Smokey says regretfully. "But there are plenty of shops around. I'll be happy to show you to a few I've been allowed into.

"Oh, thank you, miss. I'd love to, but I promised some people I'd be here next week to play for them. Maybe when you come back and you're not in such a hurry we can have a proper conversation and you can tell me about your adventures?!"

It's now sunset.

[Fishybugs]

Tarina thinks of the apparent long trek to North Keep and sighs. Her meager housing in Palanthas now seemed palatious next to whatever terrain she would be sleeping in on the journey. She looks to the north, then toward where their ship is moored.

"Well. What do you guys want to do? We know what happened to Robert. We didn't tell Gravvik we would chase him across the world. He just wanted to know what happened, right?"

[Deathkeeper]

I cross my arms.
"No, he wanted his cat back. Or whatever that thing was. That's the thing we were supposed to find. We can go back and tell him we need more arrangements, or we can go chase Robert and pay for passage back later. But just telling him another location ain't gonna cut it for paying off his debt. You and I both know he's stingy that way."

[Majin]

Darrik nods. "That's just like him. He'd just send us back, so I say we go to North Keep and find Robert and the statue. We'll save time and get to see new places! I bet we can find another boat to take us back to Palanthas. I've always wanted to try one of those gnomish contraptions, but they're pretty rare, I guess the just explode too much".

[Fishybugs]

Tarina nods as she listens to the men, and even becomes fascinated in Darrik's description of the gnomish boat, but definitively decides not to try one when she hears about the frequent explosions.

Okay. North Keep, she says, without a lot of excitement in her voice. She looks back toward where the Clampherdown is moored. "It's a long ways home. You're sure we can get another ride?"

[Gorgon_Heap]

Smokey happily chats with you for several more minutes, and you get the impression she’s lived her entire life in Nordmaar but is well traveled and well informed. For starters, she tells you North Keep is much farther away than you suspected – it lies about 100 miles southeast of Pentar, at the heart of the giant Sahket Jungle.

“But there’s lots and lots of people traveling between here and there. I always find a caravan and ride along. Plenty of teamsters are willing to give me a seat in exchange for my music. Five days on the road gets really boring.” She gives you the names and offices of several caravan companies and wishes you well, asking you to find her and tell her about your trip when you return.

[Majin]

Darrik waves off Tarina's worries. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out".

"Five days, that's not too bad", Darrik says cheerily. "Thanks for the advice. We'll be sure to find you on the way back!"

After Smokey has left them, Darrik turns to his companions. "I think going along with a caravan sounds good. It'll be way more interesting than with just the three of us at least. And they probably know good routes".

[Fishybugs]

Tarina says her goodbyes to Smokey, and listens to Darrik's opinion on the caravan. "Will that slow us down at all? It seems like a caravan would move much slower."

[Majin]

"Ehh, it's not like a day or two will make any difference". Darrik pauses and tries to think about arguments that might work better on responsible folk. "And there's a chance someone on the caravan might know Robert, if he travelled with them. We can also ask people about North Keep. And if we manage to get a ride on a carriage, it'll be much comfier than by travelling on foot. I'm not much of a singer, but I'll see what I can do".

[Fishybugs]

Tarina looks to Koshal, "What do you think? Maybe we can become caravan guards in exchange for free passage?" She then looks to Darrik and winces, "Maybe you should sing."