Enter the Hero (IC)

[Skjaldbakka]

The Map:

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I'm going to go with the map of Rome, because I'm not a particularly skilled cartographer. Northern England is the last hold-out of the fey and the "pagan" elves and halflings. Scandinavia and Eastern Europe are a frozen sheet of ice, a side-effect of the last great war with the ancient wizards (according to legend, when they were about to lose the war, they pooled all of their power to trap the land in ice, so the invaders would forever be denied access to their secrets). Those few who have made their way across the great glacier have traveled across a great deal of frozen tundra, until they finally found the homeland of the gnomes, great alchemists and inventors.

The southern continent is a vast uninhabitable desert. There are a few cities on the northern shore, but the desert to the south is treacherous, and none have succeeded in crossing it.

Past what we call the middle east is a great swamp, full of evil creatures. No-one has successfully traveled through the swamp or made peaceful contact with the savage humanoids that dwell within the swamp.

This adventure begins in England, an area where there are many who still sympathize with the pagans and still respect and fear the power of the fey equally to the power of the church.

You are currently in the small village of Rosenfield, a town within a day's travel of the Wall of Antonius.

EDIT: The homeland of the gnomes is not China, but that section of land between the caspian and the black sea, to the north of those mountains. No-one has gone as far as China.

If you have any questions about an area, feel free to ask and I will make something up for you.

The Heroes:

Seribro

Reym

[Seribro]

With a soft smile on his face, Seribro wished Renkinna a good morning and asked for his breakfast. Along with a mug of ale he sat down at one of the tables and made himself more comftable. He had little plans for the day so perhaps he wood take a strawl along the creek in a bit. Would he require his swords for that? Most likely not. But then again, the church was moving onward and although unlikely, it was not unthinkable that he would run into a scouts party. Better safe then sorry. And it was a nice day for some out door practicing. The passion came naturally and chivalry part of personality. But technic was something one had to train and maintain. And he couldn't really deny he enjoyed the feeling of putting the blade into motion and then to feel the weight of the steel taking over and actually guiding the hand instead by sheer momentum.
As usual Seribro began loosing himself to daydreaming once again. But what did it matter? It was sunday, and a beautiful one at that.

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Still in his room, Reym examined himself in front of a small, wall-hanging mirror. His wounds were healing nicely; the gouge from the front of his chest all the way over his left shoulder and partway down his back was just turning the pink of skin healing. The pockmark under his right arm, on the other hand, didn't look quite as good; the huge splinter that had been removed from there must've soiled it before they could get it out. He sighed. In his experience, that meant more pain, and longer healing time.

He was interrupted by the toll of the breakfast bell. He was staying in Renkinna's inn, and so he followed Renkinna's rules. Renkinna's rules sometimes had a way of changing without your noticing, but there was one rule in particular that would never change; Food. In that one word lay the traditions of that inn since before its current owner was born and probably for a full century before that. Much, much more than the literal meaning of the word, it held the universally understood laws of the Inn regarding cuisine. The Food will be delicious. The Food will be plentiful. The Food will be on time-- and you'd better be too. Those who cook The Food will respect it, and those who eat The Food will respect those who cook it. There is never too much Food. The list went on. But most relevant to him at that moment was the fact that all those disrespectful and foolhardy enough to be late to any meal would be dealt with in the most severe way a hobbit knew how; dish duty. Though he knew that Renkinna always ended up breaking down and sending the unlucky soul off to do more appealing chores while she finished the dishes herself, he did not want to anger the powers that be, and he always enjoyed the marvelous fare at the inn and did not especially want to be any later than he had to be.

Throwing on a soft, homespun shirt on his way down the stairs, he hurried off to the dining hall to join the jovial morning bustle.

[Skjaldbakka]

Picture of Renkinna:

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Yes, she has blue hair, but this is not unusual for halflings in this setting (halflings are descended from the Fey)

Renkinna walks out of the kitchen carrying a tray of ham and cheese sandwiches, and a pitcher full of a dark bitter gnomish drink. It tastes horrible, but it pries your eyes open. After she sets the tray on the common table, she walks up to Reym.

"I have some errands to run today. Could you keep an eye on things for me until I get back? Thanks, I appreciate it"

With that, she heads out. She is gone for several hours. She did not say when she would be back, but you are beginning to worry, as it is getting into the afternoon, and she there isn't anything set out for lunch. Renkinna isn't the type to forget something like that, which leads you to believe that she didn't plan on being gone this long.

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Reym stood on the roof of the inn looking out in all directions from the peaceful tavern in search of the bright blue hair and cheerful dress of their beloved inn proprietor. Where a beautiful summer's day had been before, thunderclouds were beginning to form on the horizon. Never himself able to distinguish chance from omen, Reym was nonetheless filled with foreboding at the extended 'errand run' this day of all days.

Some of Renkinna's hired hands and trusted pupils had taken it upon themselves to put lunch together from what she had told them of her plans and the little preparation that she had done beforehand, but the air was heavy with doubt. To be sure the little woman was the heart of the inn, and even though they did not know for certain that anything was amiss, they could all sense it. Something was definitely wrong.

[Skjaldbakka]

As day turns to night, and the clouds begin to darken over Rosenfield, a halfling man enters the inn. He has the look of a hunter about him. "Is Renkinna about? I was expecting her to come by today."

[Seribro]

Seribro shoke his head and looked around for a servant to ask.
I haven't seen her myself since this morning. I have been out in the woods most of the day, but when I returned it were her servants that were making dinner, its nothing like her to miss a meal or have someone else cook it for her. They did say she was out, but... You think something might have happened to her?
He scratched his arm for a moment, something he always did when he was feeling a bit nervous. He did not have a deep bond or anything with Renkinna, but he did like her a lot simply for being who she was.

[Skjaldbakka]

"That is not good. We should form a search party. She won't do well in this weather without shelter. Who will come with me?"

[OverWilliam]

Reym

"You have my aid. But answer one question; who are you to her that you would head out into what appears to be a gathering storm on little more than unusual behavior?"

[Seribro]

"I'm in. And what he is to her... Well lets not get involved to much into their private lives shall we? what happens in a halflings bedroom is not mend to be shared with tall folk such as us, don't you agree? Now, if she was heading for your be - ahem - homestead, what route would she have been taking?"
Seribro finishes up buckling his swordbelts and does his best to get his face back into a more serious frown.

[Skjaldbakka]

The hunter's face turns a bright shade of red. "It isn't anything like that! We-we're just friends! I was worried is all! I don't know which way she would have taken. We should ask around in town first, and try to find out who has seen her last."

With that, he heads out the front door, fumbling a bit at the door, as he is quite flustered at the moment. He manages to compose himself as he picks up his bow and quiver at the door, and head into the marketplace.

~

The shops seem to be closing up for the day by the time you get to the market. There are a few shops that are still open. A soldier is impatiently standing barefoot outside of a cobbler's storefront. There is a man with a cart making his way along the path towards you, with a few baskets of fruit. The halfling walks up to the man with the cart.

"Hello, have you seen Renkinna about? She's one of my kind, with blue hair, and a crescent moon hairpin."

"Ah, Renkinna. Yes, she bought a basket of apples from me this morning. Haven't seen her for hours though." The merchant replies.

Reym:

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You notice the soldier quickly slip something into his pocket as he overhears the halfling speaking.

Seribro:

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That soldier overheard the conversation, and you are fairly certain he knows something, something he feels guilty about.

[Seribro]

Seribro puts up a gentle smile and walks over to the soldier standing alone.
"Good day sir. Could you spare us a minute? We are looking for a friend of ours that has gone missing. She is a halfling about this high, blue hair with a nice moonshaped hairpin, going by the name of Renkinna. Seen her lately by any chance?"

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ready action: if he tries to run for it, grab him by the arm or uniform. if not possible, then chase him.

[Skjaldbakka]

"No, I haven't seen anyone that matches that description today. Is there anything else I can help you with, citizen?"

You can both easily tell that this guy is nervous, and probably lying. He knows something.

[Seribro]

"Really? You did not catch up anything about her? That is odd cause you see, I could have sworn you turned explicitly our direction as we mentioned it to the merchant. And why, if I may be so bolt to ask, are you not wearing any shoes today? Is that part of the new uniform?"
With an amused expression on his face, his eyes turn down to the soldiers feet.
"Or perhaps they needed some cooling air? Is that it? Did it become to hot beneath your feet?"

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Taking full advantage of his companion's confrontation and the soldier's attempt to hide his panic, Reym made his way around behind the soldier all but completely unnoticed; in fact, the only person who truly did note his move was Seribro himself. Carefully edging his way closer, the nimble-fingered thief slipped his fingers into the soldier's pocket after the item he seemed to want them not to see...

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(1d20+8)[26] VS DC20

[Skjaldbakka]

@Reym

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You pull out a moon shaped golden hairpin.

"I'm barefoot because this cobbler has my shoes. The only reason I'm even in town is to get the repaired. Now go away, before I run you in for disturbing the peace!" He places his hand on his longsword.

It begins to rain.

Here is a rough map:
Just copy the stuff in spoiler, and post if here, to get the map.

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*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s 5 -5q 44 rs 0 *s 0 -5j 32 rs 0 *s 8 7p 2z rs 0 *s -3 -6p 3r
@rs 0 R *s -3 -7h 2n rs 0 S *s -3 -68 4j rs 0 H *s 8 8c 3n rs 0 *s
@8 71 2y rs 0 *s 8 5u 6f ij 0 *s 8 6d 5o qh 0 *s -1 3c 2o rs 0 0
@2w 2o 3c 2o 3c 1k 2o 1k 2o 2o 34 2o *s -1 5c 1o rs 0 0 2o 1o 2o
@-c 4o -c 4o k 5c k 5c 1o 2o 1o *s -1 50 3c rs 0 0 30 1c 50 1c 50
@3c 30 3c 30 1c *s -1 5c 4c rs 0 0 2o 30 4o 30 4o 3o 5c 4c 2o 4c
@2o 30 *s -1 20 20 rs 0 0 20 -o 20 20 o 20 o -1c 20 -1c 20 -g *s
@-1 20 3o rs 0 0 0 1o 20 1o 20 3o 0 3o 0 1o *s -1 20 5c rs 0 0 0
@3c 20 3c 20 5c 0 5c 0 3c *s -3 77 3a rs 0 S *s -3 8h 40 rs 0 R *s
@-3 7t 39 rs 0
*END -o2fllp

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Half shocked and half grimly unsurprised, Reym glared down at the simple, but all too familiar hairpin in his palm with a solemn 'I thought as much' expression on his face. Holding it up behind the soldier's shoulder for Seribro to see, he shot him a 'Sure enough' look and waited for him to decide what to do next.

[Seribro]

Seribro's eye catches the crescent moon but he doesn't allow his eyes to actually focus on it, fearing the soldier would notice it.
"Disturbing the peace you say? Good man, all I did was ask some questions. There is no law against such a thing, now is there? Neither did I threathen you in any way. Oh and just so that were on the same page, drawing a weapon would be a very unwise idea. Not a threat either, just good advise. Not that such advise is really necessary, seeing that were both civilized gentleman. I mean, it is not that I believe a good sir such as yourself would ever do anything to a defenceless little lady. I just hope that your willing to fulfil your duty as a protector of the people and help us find out what happened to her. I mean surely a proud and righteous soldier such as yourself would not hesitate to join the search when a person in his town has gone missing, am I right? Now come and tell us what has happened."
Seribro's face remains friendly through out the entire argumentation, but at the last sentence it changes very subtle as to add a bit of 'I'm serious' to it all.

[Skjaldbakka]

"Well, I'm not about to go traipsing about barefoot in the rain looking for some feykin. If you want to waste your time looking, be my guest, but I'm not going to help you."

With that, he turns to step inside the cobbler's shop.

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Reym sauntered forward to Seribro. "'Some feykin'? There's as many halflings in this town as any other. Some City Guard." Rey did not bother to disguise his disgust. "At any rate, we know he's in this somehow, he's in up to his neck." He shot a glare after the retreating soldier. "What do you want to do with it?"

[Skjaldbakka]

You hear the door to the cobbler's shop get slammed shut by the wind as the guard enters the store. The halfling that was with you walks up.

"So, did the guard know anything?"

[Seribro]

He knows plenty al right. But it seems he will not answer us nicely. Lets try a some more direct approach, shall we?
The sound of metal sliding against metal rings through the shop as Seribro draws the white hilted bastard sword. Then he enters the shop right after the soldier.
I tried to be polite, sir. But not only do I dislike your lying, I despise even more the way you talk about our friend.
Seribro places his swordtip on the mans shoulder to put some more wieght behind his words.

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(1d20+7)[27]touch attack, no damage

My friend here found her hairpin in your pocket. Where did you get that hairpin? No more lies or I will do something to you that I will one day regret most likely.

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Reym attempted to protest against the ill-advised method of approaching the man in public but was too late. Muttering a druidic curse under his breath, he rushed into the shop with a hasty "Keep anyone else from coming in the shop, ok?" to their ranger friend, and was inside. Immediately hurrying over to the terrified cobbler, he tried his best to keep the man from panicing and calling the rest of the City Guard down on them. "Do not be alarmed-- this man is connected with the disappearance of our good friend. We need to learn all we can about her as quickly as we can, and that is all we will do." He sent a glare at Seribro's back. "Isn't that right, friend?" he said, carefully avoiding the man's name. "If everyone co-operates--" he shot at the guardsman, "No one will be hurt."

[Skjaldbakka]

"You dare threaten an officer of the church! You are under arrest!" He draws his sword and takes a swing at Seribro.
To-Hit:(1d20+4)[17] Dmg:(1d8+1)[8]
That will be 2 non-lethal, thanks to your leather armor, and 6 lethal dmg

The Initiative Order:
Guard
Reym
Hunter
Unless you shout for help, he stays by the door.
Cobbler
"Please don't hurt me, I'm just a humble craftsman," he whimpers as he hides under a table.
Seribro

Note: Picture an "adventures of robin hood" era english guard, and that is what this guy looks like. Guy in Chainmail, with longsword.

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Reym spat another curse and dove in to attack the soldier. Constantly aware of the danger of reinforcements, he quickly decided that the only realistic course of action was to quickly subdue the soldier before he could summon help.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Seribro]

Seribro gracefully places one foot a step back and catches the blade of his opponent on the guard of his own weapon. He pushes it aside takes in a swing himself
attack roll:(1d20+7)[24], damage (1d10+4)[9]

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my AC is 18, I use the "armor" spot on the AC calculation for hero's defense bonus rather then AC from armor, so its valid. And you cant claim I'm flat-footed, I allready made an attack before he even drew his weapon, even though that one was a touchattack without damage

The quick response probably caught the soldier out of balance for it easily surpassed his defence and managed to get a clean hit against his flank.

Surrender now and we will spare you. You are outnumbered and outclassed and will find little love for your church in this village. We mean you no real harm, but you know more about what happened to our friend. Speak up and we will let you go. Remain silent and your hand will never wield a sword again.

Edit: sorry, meant flank as in his side. English is not my native language and typos are easily made

[Skjaldbakka]

"You'll have to do better than that!" The guard seems rather stalwart, and seems to shrug off your blow better than you would expect. He makes a wild lunge forward at Seribro.

To-Hit:(1d20+4)[21]
Damage: (1d8+1)[7]
That will be 2 non-lethal, 5 lethal damage, as he stabs for your heart, and you knock his blow aside, although not with enough finesse to avoid the tip of the blade cutting into your forearm.

The Initiative Order:
Guard
Reym
Hunter
Unless you shout for help, he stays by the door.
Cobbler
The cobbler continues to hide under the table.
Seribro

OOC: I'll let that fly for now, but you'll be rolling intiative for future dramatic gestures that give you a mechanical advantage. What is a flan? I put the defense bonus in the misc. slot on my character sheets. Also, he doesn't seem to be parrying so much as relying on his armor to protect him (low defense bonus and all from being a minion)

[OverWilliam]

Reym

Finally seeing what he wanted to see, the guard in a fit of overconfidence and 'righteous' fury, stepped away from the wall that had been protecting his flank since the fight began. Reym exercised little caution in moving around behind him, knowing that because of his own lack of personal interference with the guard, he probably had not really classified him as a threat to begin with. Seribro had done all of the antagonizing that the guard had taken offense with, and Seribro would continue to be the focus of the guard's attention. Counting on the guard's single minded attention, he attacked the guard from behind...

To hit: (1d20+3)[19] (1d20+3)[18] Dmg: (1d4-2)[1] (1d4-2)[2] Sneak Attack: (1d6)[4] (1d6)[5]

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The damage rolls went weird somehow... I copied in the results of the below formula rolled in the other thread.
Dmg: [roll]1d4-2[/roll] [roll]1d4-2[/roll] Sneak Attack: [roll]1d6[/roll] [roll]1d6[/roll]

[Seribro]

As Seribro notices Reym stroll by, then suddenly turn around to join the fight, he can not help but show a slim grin.
"Your armor may protect your skin and your swordhand more capable then I thought, but to think you stand much of a chance would be foolish non the less. Why do you refuse to tell us what we wish to know?"
attack(1d20+9)[12], damage (1d10+4)[5]
With a little to much enthusiasm, Seribro takes a second swing. This time blade merely scrapes the rings without actually hurting the soldier even the least. Silently he curses for his lack of concentration. Surely he couldn't blame the scratch on his arm for it. If such a minor annoyance could influence his swordplay, then how would he ever hope to beat the ranks of the church?

[Skjaldbakka]

Reym steps up behind the guard and brings the pommel of his dagger down hard on the guard's helmet. With his other hand, he drives another dagger into the small of the guard's back. The dagger doesn't cut through the maille, but the guard still cries out in pain, and swings wildly at Reym with his longsword.

To Hit: (1d20+4)[13]
Dmg: (1d8+1)[3]