Return of the Runelords, Book 1: Secrets of Roderic's Cove [IC]

[lostsole31]

Wrath Shall Reign!

When one runelord rose from his slumber, the frontier nation of Varisia shook with his power, and it took a band of heroes to save the world. Yet there remained six other runelords, and now the most wrathful of them all has woken! As the runelords waken one after another, the dangers and perils faced by past heroes pale in comparison. When a mysterious and fearful ghost manifests on the streets of Roderic's Cove at the same time the town's gangs use the runes and legacies of ancient Thassilonian tyrants for their own ends, a new band of heroes must rise to save Varisia, and perhaps the world, from the return of the runelords!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Character [Player]	Speech Color	AL	Faith	Race [Ethnicity] (Gender ID)	Side #1	Side #2	Campaign Trait
Alandra Hightower [mbressler]	Fire Brick Red	CN	Shelyn	Human (f) [Azlanti] (formerly male Taldan]	Dread 3 [Nightmare]	Mesmerist 3 [Cult Master]	Accidental Clone
Bořivoj ("Bořek") Brennan [NPC]	Blue	LG	Order of the Godclaw	Human (m) [Kellid-Taldan-Varisian]	Fighter 3 [Armiger]	Paladin 3 [Iomedean Enforcer]	Scion of Legend
Feiya [NPC]	Golden Rod	CG	Desna	Human (f) [Tian-Min]	???	Witch 3 (Iconic Witch!)	Intrigued by Thassilon
Ranghen [NPC]	Green	CN	Nocticula	Triaxian (f) [Winterborn]	Cleric 3	Ranger 3	Close Allies [Ziggy]
Rodrigo Anselmo Rodriguez y Syi-ting d'Oppara Nuevo [NPC]	Violet	?N?	Pharasma	Human (m) [Taldan, Tian-Shu]	??? 3	??? 3	Spirit Touched
Zygaxaryxon ("Ziggy") [NPC]	Saddle Brown	C?	Nocticula	Copper Dragon??? (f)	???	True Dragon 3	Close Allies [Ranghen]

[lostsole31]

Oathday, 6 Rova 4718 AR
Weather: 70/ 55 F. Clear, calm, & dry.

It is a beautiful early morning at the Circle Market. Alandra Hightower, with only a handful of gold remaining to her name (though that is still a hair far better than some commoners), has come to the Circle Market to prepare for a day of busking. So beneath a beauty like herself, but survival comes first. She is eyeing some very attractive wooden bowls when a pretty little knife catches her eye at the stall next to the bowler. Nothing for court or even worth enchanting, but in asking about it, she finds that the vendor is looking to clear out some of their merchant and is willing to part with this knife for 2 silver coins .. an insane bargain.

True she can call forth weaponry, but this is a knife. A very useful tool for a variety of day-to-day transactions. it is both slender and sturdy, and has a serrated portion for stripping wood.

Does Alandra buy this dagger?

[Blackhawk101]

“Oh what a lovely dagger! I simply must have it.” she claps excitedly and gives the shopkeeper her most winning smile. She will fish a gold piece from her meager supply and ask for change.

[lostsole31]

She hands over a gold, and gets 8 silver and the dagger in change. There was a slight crack on the hilt - not enough to be a penalty - but enough that the crack on the hilt is something that would have kept that dagger from ever being sold.

As she heads over to the woodworker's cart where she was looking at bowls, she thinks she sees a larger fruit bowl ... moving slightly ... only a little bit at a time towards the edge. Next to the woodworker's cart at an angle is a grocer's whole kiosk and spread, with a wicker basket of bright, shiny red apples right near the end, next to the shelf the bowl is slowly creeping towards.

[Blackhawk101]

Curious, Alandra appears to study the other bowls while keeping an eye on the possessed one.

[lostsole31]

The bowl doesn't move often or very far or very jerkily, which shows a little bit of patience. But it does move steadily, and finally part of the large fruit bowl hangs over the lip of the woodcarver's cart.

The grocer is doing business there, but after two minutes heads to the other side of their larger booth. When he does so, a curious little monstrous claw, caked with mud, reaches out and grabs an apple, pulling it under the fruit bowl.

[Blackhawk101]

“A tiny thief I think,” she thinks to herself. She continues to watch out the corner of her eye.

[lostsole31]

Alandra makes small talk with the woodcarver so as not to be too obvious. After a couple minutes, a scaly tail that - as with the claw she saw - has mud caked on it, is wrapped around an apple core, sans the rest of the apple as it seems to have been consumed. The tail is coiled several times and slowly lowers down, swings a little bit, and then unfurls like whip to catapult the apple core into a brush behind the kiosks.

The tail returns into the bowl. A minute goes by and the little claw reaches down past the apples. It is reaching towards carrots placed in a mug so the leafy heads are soooo close to the little claw, but it seems to have trouble reaching the tallest head of a carrot.

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra smiles at the wood carver. “You have such lovely wares, sir! I am having difficulty choosing one over the other!”
“…I choose this one!” she beams as she picks up the over-turned bowl at the edge of the table, quickly wrapping the bowl and its contents in the folds of her cloak.
She coos over the wrapped bundle, “Don’t worry my pretty, I will take good care of you!”
She pays the wood carver and buys a bunch of carrots too before leaving the market. She heads for a quiet place to unwrap her purchases.

[lostsole31]

It turns out that was one of his really nice, larger bowls and costs a silver, and then a bunch of carrots cost 2 copper. So, she gives a silver to the woodcarver, and then a silver to the grocer and gets 8 copper change from him. It should be noted that the wooden bowl (et. al.) seems to weigh around 10-12 pounds or so.

Once she gets to a quiet place, then what?

[Blackhawk101]

Bending down she carefully unwraps the bowl, whispering hopefully calming words.“Easy little one. I mean you no harm.”
She puts the bowl down and gives the creature some space as she examines it.

[lostsole31]

It is some type of winged reptile, and Alandra wonders if this might be some type of dragon as there is a classical dragon form, though that is a bit outside of her wheelhouse to know for sure. But dragon makes as much sense for its body plan as anything. Its entire body isn't caked with mud. In fact, only its "grabbing" claw and the tail seem to have mud caked on them. The ... dragon (we'll just use that going forward) .... is little bigger than a smaller house cat (and about 12 lb. weight) and is much leaner than you'd think a real dragon would be. The overall color scheme of its scales are a mix of russet and coppery colors, with a lighter underside.

The eyes are much larger than the eyes of artist's renderings of dragons you've seen before, as either evil dragons have beady eyes to seem rapacious; and good dragons have beady eyes to seem inscrutable. In fact, that's really the central focus like nothing else, but Alandra's trained eyes read detail outwards-in, rather than being distracted by central pieces like some people. The eyes of this dragon have a white sclera not unlike a human, though definitely a nonhuman shape as it is flat along the bottom but tall eyes with a high arch. The serpentine eyes like any reptilian creature are still there, but the soft mahogany eyes carry enough flecks and shine and are large enough to be almost breathtakingly adorable. You would have to have a lot of grit to want to cause harm to this cutie.

There does seem to be some trauma on the left side of its mouth. A bit of the reptilian beak is chipped, and underneath it seems like she may be missing a tooth as well.

"Th-thtranger danger?" mutters a scared little voice from the creature, and it sounds like the voice of a six-year-old girl with a lisp.

And with that, she is suddenly gone, and a whirl of wind is at the fabric that Alandra had by the bowl. It doesn't seem that she went invisible, but rather that she moved so blindingly fast to wherever she went that her movements could not be tracked.

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra squeaks a little in surprise as the adorable dragon runs off. “Ohh!”
”Where did you go? I have some food for you!”

[lostsole31]

A minute later, Alandra is approached - mind you, Alandra had sought an area on the outskirts of the Circle Market to interact privately with the dragon - by a very strange-looking woman. Nearly as tall as Alandra (who is statuesque herself) at 6' 1" but of a slightly sturdier build, this woman wears very bright, colorful garb that has been muted with time and travel, though the violet boots and cuffs still are striking. At her side is a sickle with a moon motif, and her semi-motley garb is actually studded leather armor (or at least its equivalent). But it's the woman herself who is strange, for where her skin would be is covered in short, soft, white fur. Her hair has a salted-ash white color undercut with some bits of slushy gray in a wild asymmetrical bob, including extremely short - almost shaved - section of her head on the left hand side. She has extremely thick and flowing eyebrows. Despite the white fur, it seems that whatever she is still has a culture of feminine decoration, for she has a green lip coloring, upper blush, and eye-shadow that might not work for Golarion humans, but works moderately well for her and her clothing choices.

She has a cowl pulled up loosely at the top of her head, and a familiar little, housecat-sized dragon is coiled around the back of her neck inside, trying to be hidden were it not for its little claw-paw pointing at you. She marches right up to Alandra while taking out that moon-sickle and says in very accented Taldane, and with an accent that Alandra not only cannot place, but is sure she's never heard before and a bit staccato, "You try steal daughter? Tell happenings now or be pieces!"

[Blackhawk101]

“Peace, peace. I meant no harm, only to help the tiny dear. I did not want her to be discovered by the merchant for stealing. I sought to keep her from discovery. I bought these carrots for her.”
Alandra smiles friendly and pulls a bunch of carrots from her backpack.

[lostsole31]

Everyone has their good days, and their bad days. No sooner does Alandra's voice escape her mouth, than she hears herself. The words seemed reasonable, but Alandra realizes that something about the way she said them perhaps was more wheedling than winsome, so it actually doesn't surprise her when the white-furred woman's eyes seem to steel over as she takes a breath to strike down Alandra, but then she gains some measure of composure and stays her bleed, as it seems the little dragonling is crying like a scared girl under the cowl, making this strange woman think the better of it.

The woman's eyes narrow. "Next time, you let her be catch to learn lesson, or you learn lesson."

She storms off. To the woman's credit, she actually did a great job of putting the fear of Aroden into her.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Intimidate 20, just so you know for effect.

It is enough effect that she spins and storms off before Alandra can come up with a witty retort as she is shaken.

It's not often that another person uses actual personality instead of psionic power to put fear into another. Either Alandra can be petty about it, or she can be philosophical, perhaps using what she felt to meditate on later for her own use in the future.

What does Alandra do now? Does she go get some possum punch from Bimmer "Possum" Coots' wagon to steady her nerves?

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra places her hand on her chest to help still her beating heart. “Mama bear indeed!” She better grab a quick drink before she gets to work singing for her supper.
Alandra focuses her mental powers to implant a protective trick before she heads for Possum Coots wagon for a revitalizing tonic.

Spoiler: crunch

Show

implant trick Psychosomatic Surge

[lostsole31]

Local codger Bimmer “Possum” Coots is at the Circle Market, of course, as he is every week, selling cups of “possum punch” from his wooden cart not far from the old well at the circle’s eastern side. She pays 2 copper for a cup, which is reasonable, but when she tastes it she understands the low cost. It is not good. It is sweet from the fruit juices added, but the base alcoholic quality could peel wood off of a side of paint. The one thing that really helps it sell in addition to its cheap price, though, is that he has managed to have it chilled, which is quite the benefit of a drink purveyor on a late summer's day.

Alandra finds herself enjoying the simple act of people watching, and there is a good flautist that has scored an early set. As she is halfway through her cup, and suddenly realizing perhaps possum punch isn't as bad as all that, Alandra gets some more company at Possum's cart. Oh, there are other people there, including the barely-perceptible nobodies of men who drone in her ear, thinking she is either listening or cares about their lewd or shrewd discussions, when a strange woman catches her eye. Perhaps not otherworldly strange like the white-furred woman earlier, though this woman does carry for the theme of white hair.

This woman is nearly a foot shorter than Alandra and very trim (5' 3", 115 lbs.). Her physical features definitely show she is a Tian woman of Minkaian extraction, yet a lot of her clothes and manner betray that much of her time was spent not in that distant continent, but as one of the many Tian peoples that must have come across the Crown of the World and settled in Kalsgard and the Land of the Linnorm Kings. Even then, though, there is a singular way about her dress that seems to incorporate both the accidentally revealing of the seductress and the a complete doubling down of the whole "white-haired witch of the woods." She even has an obvious familiar - a red fox - trotting at her side, though that is unusual for a red fox comes from much more southerly climes.

Her gear is spare. She has a backpack, but it practically is folded in on itself for want of material to contain. She carries a staff which, while ornate, might do better as a ritual piece than a weapon. She does have a light crossbow and two cases of bolts strung to her backpack. A symbol you don't know, wreathed in actual plants, hangs from her neck. The oddest thing about her, though, is that the shadows seem to cling much longer than they should to her dark clothing.

She comes up to the cart and sets down a gold, to which Bimmer obliges with a cup of possum punch and 8 silver as he takes the gold away. As she begins to drink, she catches Alandra's eye and seems to be lost in thought. "Do I know you? You seem very familiar for some reason."

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra holds out her hand and smiles.
“Alandra Hightower. I don’t believe we have met before but now we have. And you are?”

[lostsole31]

The white-haired witch doesn't shake Alandra's hand, but does take it, turning it to supine position. She studies Alandra's hand intently for a minute, tracing some of the lines with her smaller, thinner fingers. As she does so, she cuts the awkwardness by speaking, or correction, ramps up the awkwardness, as her speaking voice is accented and of a strange pitching and cadence. "I am Feiya, and he..." and here she gives ever so slight a nod that makes you look to the fox, "... is Daji. Strange readings on your palm. You have prints and patterns and creases like any palm, and yet ... you don't have a lifeline ... almost as if you are one who walks about already dead, and waiting to die, for you died already, but for some reason it did not take.

"Tell me, strangely beautiful lady from nowhere," she adds as she slowly looks up to meet gaze with gaze, "how did you die? And how did you come back?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I am thinking her speech is like a cross between the seer-goat that Michelle Yeoh voiced in Kung Fu Panda 2 and Bai Ling's femme fatale in The Crow.

It should be noted that she speaks at normal volume, not intentionally loudly, but her physical actions garnered enough focus that when she began speaking, everyone at the punch cart is now looking on at the interaction and listening intently.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Kind of like when the Ghostbusters were in jail around the table, and everyone in jail around them were leaning in, listening.

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra’s eyes sparkle with anger at the intrusion into her past.
Conscious of the public place she quickly smooths her features and retrieves her hand. A pleasant smile returns but not before anyone watching notices her steely gaze.
“It is not polite to ask such personal questions in public, my dear. Why don’t you meet me tonight at the tavern. We can discuss my past…and our future.”With that open invitation, Alandra sashays off to find a good spot to do some busking.

[lostsole31]

Because of the setup of the Circle Mart, there really is only one place to perform with maximum exposure, and even includes a small stage where a flautist is just finishing up a set and stepping down. Anywhere else is really just in people's way, but they had the good sense to have a section here for a performer during the mart. There is as small table next to the mini stage (which is no more than 6" off the ground, and only enough for one performer to be comfortable. So, it seems that there might be more formality than expected.

Does Alandra go up to the table with the person sitting there with a parchment or do something else?

[Blackhawk101]

She will approach the person at the table.
“Excuse me. Are you the person to see if I want to perform on stage?” ​she asks politely.

[lostsole31]

"Yes! Hi, there!" she says cheerily. "What's your name? What type of performance do you do?"

[Blackhawk101]

Alandra smiles prettily and does a little curtsy.
“My name is Alandra Hightower. I am a singer.”
She pouts a little.
”This is my first time performing here. How does this go?”

[lostsole31]

"Welcome, Alandra Hightower," says the clerk. "Do you already have a busking license with Roderic's Cove?"

[Blackhawk101]

“License? How unusual! I am new here and I am not familiar with the local ordinances.”
She looks at the clerk with large, dewy eyes on the verge of tears.
“Can you help me?”

[lostsole31]

"Of course I can!" she says cheerily. "It costs one gold, and the permit lasts for one year. A portion of proceeds go to help the Orphans of Riddleport Piracy Foundation."

[Blackhawk101]

The “clouds” part and her brilliant smile beams forth in a dazzling display.
“Oh thank you!”
Alandra hands over a coin with a little flourish.

[lostsole31]

She takes the coin and puts it in something that looks more like an official satchel than a personal coin pouch and she writes some things down.

"Okay, then, Alandra Hightower. You are the last performer to sign up for the day, and you have the last slot. It is almost noon now, and you will be performing in the final 2-3 pm slot, per the water clock that you can see," and she points to it, some 20 yards away, "right there. Please show up 10 minutes early to verify your position or we may fill your slot with an alternate. Any questions for me before you go back to shopping and people watching?"