Castle Moyarta IC

[Kesnit]

As a reminder, here is the background from the recruitment thread:

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Your fame has grown throughout the Realms and people are beginning to approach you with requests. One day, while the party is relaxing in the tavern used as their Headquarters, a middle-aged couple approaches you. You can see their clothes were well-made, but are several years out of fashion and are beginning to wear.
“My name is Martin Brownpot, and this is my wife, Laura. I was once the mayor of Herndon, when the town still existed. But weird things have been happening and just about everyone has left. About 15 years ago, Baron Moyarta and his wife died in a strange accident, leaving their 5-year old son, Aaron. Baron Moyarta’s steward and his wife, Baroness Moyarta’s maid, stepped in to serve as Regents for the boy until he came of age.”
Laura picks up the story. “At first, things went on as normal. But as time passed, we saw the Regents and the young Baron less and less. At the same time, people started noticing strange sounds coming from the castle, especially at night. A few years later, crops started failing. That’s when people started leaving Herndon.”
“The Baron would have come of age two years ago, but there has been no word from the castle regarding him taking his place. In fact, there hasn’t been word from the castle about anything in nearly four years. At the same time, things around the castle are getting stranger and stranger. Black shadows hover around the towers. Howls come from the grounds.”
“We want to hire you to find out what is going on in the castle and what happened to young Aaron. I know your services don’t come cheap, but we have to know. We don’t care about treasure or anything in the castle. Just tell us what happened to our lord.”

Martin pulls out a something out of his pack and unfolds it. A quick glance tells you it is a map. “You won’t be able to go in the front door. But there is a series of caves under the castle that lead into the cellars. Going through the woods around the castle will lead to the caves. This map shows the forest and the castle, but I have no idea how accurate it is any more.”

[TheMeanDM]

Grumpliy, the stumpy dwarf intones "A maid? A servant? As Regents? PFFT!" he glares suspiciously at the people, while his lips curl around the cigar in his mouth. "Why do ye care 'bout some failin' place? Why not pack it in and head somewhere else?" he grumbles.

[Threeshades]

"Ah, yes, yes! Yet again someone needs the help of the mighty Miz." - Miz draws the map closer to himself and stands on his chair to examine it. - "It is those humans' behaviour to cling to other inviduals they have grown used to, even if they were just a mere service drone in their hive. It doesn't make sense but it isn't my loss. A good payment is reason enough for me."

[Slash_712]

Crotha

Crotha takes the map from Miz after he is through and gives it a quick glance.
"Through the forest? That shouldn't be a problem. I bet I could easily get through the woods with little trouble. So do you know if there is anything to be very wary about in the woods or the caves that follow?"

Crotha's wolf walks by him and stands by his side and sits down right next to Crotha whiule he reads the map.

Edit: Ahhh! We picked the same color! Being the second to post, I will change.

[Kesnit]

Martin and Laura look at each other, then the dwarf. "The steward and the maid had been serving the Baron and Baroness for many years," Martin said slowly. "There was no other family to raise Lord Aaron." He shrugged. "It seemed the best solution at the time."

"As for why we - and other remaining residents - have stayed, well... Herndon is our home. We have roots, lives, history..." She waves her hand in the air, trying to think of something else to add. "I guess for traveling adventurers like you, that does not make sense. But the town is made up of farmers and craftsmen."

Martin turns to the Ranger. "Years ago, the woods were like woods anywhere. Bears, deer... I'm sure you understand. What they are like now, I don't know. None of the remaining residents have much woodscraft, just enough to gather firewood and hunt on the edges." He paused to think. "Can't tell you the last time someone tried to go through the forest.

[TheMeanDM]

"Easy 'nuff to fix." the dwarf says, a sparkle in his eyes.

He draws a deep breath, making the burning tip of his cigar glow brighter.

"Burn it. Then, it'll match the rest o' the land, no?"

He grins wickedly at his woodsman companion.

"I'm sure ye'd really like that, eh?" he jibes, chuckling deeply.

[Lazlow]

Erris

"I'm with Miz," the girl says, huddled in her enormous cloak. "As long as there's a decent purse, I'm in."

[Threeshades]

With a satisfied smile Miz sinks back on its chair.
"A few pathetic monsters won't stop Miz!"
Miz looks around the party and one of its feelers twitch.
"Or any one of my companions."
It stands up on the chair again, rests its upper body on one arm on the table and pointing at the two servants of the castle rasing one of its scaly eyebrows with an inquisitive look.
"What's the payment?! Tell me!"

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Like most Red Wizards, Kaszass wasn't the epitome of charisma. However, like any servant of the Zulkir of Necromancy who had survived to Kaszass's age, he was polite. He gave a small smirk to the knowledge these people he spoke to would most likely find him more likable than the fiery dromite and gruff dwarf, at least until they found about his occupation. He'd grown his dark hair longer than most Thayans, on his head, and his tattoos were most often covered by a robe and clock. While the latter was red, was hardly distinctive of his order, since, unlike in his homeland, there was nothing notable about a cloak that happened to be a primary colour.

"Are the contents of a castle, the treasures of a barony, not enough?" Vhol interjected, the Rashemi accent from his lips the only boon his low, Thayan birth offered him. His voice sounded more like one from the friendly Rasheman than the hated Thay, where Mulhorandi was the spoken tongue of the elite. He told those interested that he was a naturally magical youth who had not wanted to spend his life making items for witches high in the mountains of a frozen, barbaric land, and so never returned to Rasheman from his Dajemma. "Miz is right, though. We don't shy from danger. Especially," he says with a laugh, "when gold comes into play. For me, spells are enough. Gold brings power. Magic cuts out the middle man." He gives a wide smile after the rather pathetic joke. Outside of sarcasm and irony, his sense of humor was non-existant.

[Kesnit]

Laura had given a start of surprise and frowned at the Dromite's words, but perked up again when the man in wizard's robes spoke.

"We took up a collection in the town to pay you," she said hesitantly, putting a moneybag on the table. "And I'm sure there will be worthwhile things in the caves," she added quickly. "To my knowledge, no one has touched them since the old Baron and Baroness died."

[Ne0]

The half-elf at his companion's reactions. It was a young man, who had obviously inherited more physical features from his elf blood. Nevertheless, he remained more to the back of the adventuring party. He didn't really look as jovial or boasting as his friends, but he did seem concerned about the couple.

Sometimes, Trian wondered why he travelled with these guys. He wasn't really the person to judge them, but well...they were a little too maerialistic.
He coughed before taking the word himself.
"Look, we might want to delay the financial part of our help for a little longer. I'd like to know if you have any idea of what we might encounter over there, because your description of the village doesn't sound...really inviting. I'm no coward, but I wouldn't mind being a little prepared when we're going to be thrown to the wolves. No offence, really."
At that last expression, he gave the wolf at Crotha's side an apoligising smirk.

[Threeshades]

"Would you mind if I counted it..."
Without waiting for an answer Miz starts concentrating on the bag and it slowly opens and tips over to the side making the money spill out. As soon as the coins hit the bare table Miz starts pushing them around on the table, sorting and counting them.

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I use control object to make the bag open itself and tip over. Cost is 1 power point.

Concentration checks, as I don't know how much time this would take but I think three rounds would be enough:

Round 1: (1d20+17)[37]

Round 2: (1d20+17)[22]

Round 3: (1d20+17)[34]

[Slash_712]

Crotha

"Money isn't important to me. Tell me, do you have any reason to believe that the forest may be corrupted?"

[Kesnit]

Martin sighs. "I would not be surprised if the forest is corrupted. As I said, we have heard strange noises in the night. But there haven't been any..." he paused for a moment, looking for the right words. "No one's been kidnapped. There haven't been any sightings of evil creatures. Nothing like that. But as I said, none of us have the woodscraft to go into the forest very far." He waved his hand, trying to find a way to explain.

"Nothing has come out of the forest," Laura said, picking up where her husband left off. "We don't get a dark, evil feeling when we walk along the edges. But given that no one, that we know of anyway, has gone in or come out in so long, there is no way to say what has happened in there."

[Slash_712]

Crotha

"Like I said, I don't need money. Take what is from my share back to the townspeople. I am more concerned about the forest. I would like to find out if there is anything wrong with the forest first. Anyone else willing to go with me. I would prefer that you would be able to saty hidden, however."

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Khaszass fell somewhere between the ascestic and materialistic factions of the party. He really didn't care about money. In fact, he had absolutely none right now. He did care, however, for the things it could buy; specifically, spell scrolls. "Provided your town has a library, or anyone magically learned, I would need no monetary reward, either. If your town does not, spend my share of the gold to see to it that you have one, come to think of it. No town should be without a library for young boys who want to be wizards," Vhol stated, stating one of his few truly fond remembarances from Thay. "Simply call me when it's built so that I might study there," he says.

"I'll come. You know I can hide," he nods to Crotha. He'd simply memorize an invisibility spell or two, one of the few Illusion spells he had bothered to learn before abandoning that school of magic, as well, to pursue Necromancy further.

[Slash_712]

Crotha

Crotha breifly looks over the wizard. Fine, You can come. Just don't get in the way. Anyone else coming?"

@Kesnit-

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Once I get everyone that wants to come to get along, I want to scout out the forest and get a brief idea of what lies before us. Maybe get a good sense of direction and know-how of the forest. If I need any rolls, just tell me.

[Threeshades]

Miz is still focused on counting the money and ignores Crotha's request until he's done.

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I think I'm going to say I'm in. It would be stupid not to since that's why this thread is here. But to stay in-character I will have to wait for Kesnit to tell me how much money I'm counting

[TheMeanDM]

The dwarf's eyes grow a bit wide at the sight of coin...he is a dwarf, after all.

"Well" he muses. "Count me in." he grins. " 'Specially if we get to clear tha' forest. I 'ere tha' slash an' burn makes good farmland, eh?"

[Kesnit]

A small look of fear crossed Martin's face at the thought of "slash-and-burn," but it was quickly replaced by a look of relief. "So you will help us..?"

[Threeshades]

With a satisfied smile, the short Dromite looks up from the pile of gold before it.
"I accept your offer, pitiful humans!"

[Lazlow]

"Someone who can stay hidden?" the girl sneers, half mockingly. "Half the people who know me have never seen me." She downs the remainder of her drink and stands to leave. "There was no cause for worry, Miz, it's all there. These are... Honest folk," she intones, glancing overlong at the once-Mayor of Herndon. "Aren't you?"

[Kesnit]

Martin smiled at the woman. "If we weren't, your insectoid friend here would have already realized it, since he has made a great show of counting and recounting the money."

[Slash_712]

Crotha

Shocked, the elf turns to the dwarf. "Why do you think we are going to burn down the forest? If it can be helped, I will do whatever I can to prevent any harm coming to the forest. Do you understand, dwarf?" Crotha says, as he bends down and strokes his wolf's fur, as the wolf, still siting by Crotha, growls at the dwarf slighlty.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Years of practice caught Khaszass's tongue before he commented that his party squabbled like Zulkirs. "I'll do my best to not get in the way," he tells Crotha without a hint of irony in his voice, but with the wry grin Red Wizards reserve for inferiors on his lips. "Get in the way", indeed; he could fly over the whole rotten wood while the elf was still tramping through underbrush with his puppy thinking he was so very clever for knowing what side of trees the moss grew on. Still, he had served the legendary Zulkir of necromancy, and so he maintained his politeness and composure despite his inner offense, only the smirk showing any annoyance. "Some monsters don't die when they burn, Tek," he told the dwarf, seeking to mitigate that conflict before it escalated beyond the friendly rivalry of dwarf and elf, "they just get angrier. They all will die when they die, obviously, and my magic's better there than at starting fires, anyway. More things you burn, the less things you get to chop up," he added, deciding to add another note of encouragement if he didn't appeal to the dwarf's rational side. From his experience with dwarves, that was about as useful as appealing to a Thayan's merciful side.

[TheMeanDM]

"Bah, ye've still got no sense o' humor, ye great pointy eared tree hugger."

"Fine at followin' footsteps through the woods, but can't follow a proper joking, he can't." the dwarf says to his new 'employers'.

[Threeshades]

Now with the other eyebrow raised Miz stares at Crotha, Tek and Khaszass showing a complete lack of understanding for their animosity.
"Save your beautiful wrath for our enemies! I say we go as soon as possible."
He picks up the map, rolls it up and hands it to Crotha.

[Slash_712]

Crotha

"Thank you Miz." He says as he puts the map into his belt after giving it a bit of examination. "Okay so you all want to come. You," He says pointing to the Red Wizard, "by the way your dressed, you are taught in the Art, correct? Your magic should be useful, although I shun it's way of corrupting beings, I believe you might be a valuable addition for the scouting. Do you have any spells that can make us stealthier or near invisible?"

[TheMeanDM]

ooc:
time out, slash! you're acting as if you don't know any of us.

Your fame has grown throughout the Realms and people are beginning to approach you with requests. One day, while the party is relaxing in the tavern used as their Headquarters

the point of this group is that we've been adventuring for some time now , so we all know each other and what all of us are capable of. You know that he's a wizard, and very possibly know he's a former red wizard of thay. you would know that Tek wouldn't burn down a forest just because...and was just joking around to rile you up a little bit.

resume normal gaming :)
/ooc

[Slash_712]

Crotha

{OOC- Cleanup time! *sound of tape rewinding*}

Crotha takes the map from Miz. "Thanks, Miz. As for the rest of you, I want you to follow Kaszass, as he knows the most of anyone here, probably. Kaszass, you got one of your magics ready that can help us out here? Maybe, something to turn us invisble? He turns to the dwarf. "I enjoy humor as much as the next elf, but could you pick a less, touchy subject next time? After a few seconds, Crotha squats down with his wolf and pets him for a bit. He then stands up, adjusts his pack and belt. "Is everyone ready to go?"

{OOC- Good now? If so, permission to delete previously badly written post?}