Homebrew group 1

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

Now at last you begin your adventure, or at least the journey to where you hope you will find adventure. Having very little spending money, and very much road ahead of you, have not made the trek pleasant. With each passing day you feel less and less like a hero, and more like a ball of filth. Travelers gaze upon your ragtag group with suspicion, and Innkeeps always seem to find the dirtiest corner of the common loft. The heavens also seem to frown upon you. During your short journey you have managed to see snow, be covered in mud, drenched in hot rain, and baked beneath an even hotter sun. Yet, you finally arrive at last at the great city of Magna Urba.

You pass through the outskirts, which consist of small farmsteads and scattered villages, to arrive at the main gate of the walled city. Once passing beneath what summarily the most intimidating and imposing battlements you have ever laid eyes upon, you are assaulted by a swirling cacophony of sound and color.

The party has arrived at the main market district of Magna Urba. In a space enclosed by a quarter mile wide semi-circle are more carts, vendors, and shops than you have seen in your entire life. Sigil was diverse, in so much as you could find many types of people, but this is diversity of a different flavor. In Sigil everyone was part of a whole, and lived in the same small community. The market place displays a great clashing and bustle of strangers. Each individual seems to exist in their own world, with their own unique style.

You can’t help but get pressed into the crowd and be drawn in by the many attractions. All of the vendors seem quite willing and able to assail against every one of your senses. Had you a bit more gold on hand, you might have found yourself parting with it very quickly.

From what you can tell from you vantage point at the edge of the crowd, the center of the ring is completely inundated with the same chaos . Somehow, probably due to the vigilance of the very competent looking guards, there is a relatively clear path surrounding the central swirl. Carts carrying various goods can be seen passing along this path, which is lined along the wall with more established places of business.

Where do you go now, adventurers?

[Snowfall]

Laryth Sylvanus

Laryth looks around at the bustling city, and then down to the grime on his arms and clothes. Despite his best attempts at streams along their journey, and despite the soap and brush he always hauled around with him, he hadn't manage to keep very clean. He had tried to keep just his head clean, but the gleaming white of his face against the dirt everywhere else on his body had made Laryth finally give in to a uniform level of grime.

"Well my friends," Laryth says with a wide smile, "Perhaps we need to find the Duke. But first I think a bath is in order, or least a bucket of water and some soap. We must look our best for our new patron, no?"

Before waiting for his companions' replies, Laryth turns to ask around if an affordable inn or bath house was nearby.

[Sampi]

Andor Havaral

Andor has seen some city life in Sigil, but nothing like the bustle of Magna Urba. Despite an attempt of seeming worldly, he is clearly out of his element here. He keeps his belongings close, and a wary eye trained on his surroundings. Once or twice when someone bumps into him his right hand twitches towards the tied hilt of his sword, but he stops himself before anyone notices.

Turning to reply when spoken to, Andor finds himself talking to Laryth's back. "Yes, a bath sounds fine before meeting nobility. Can you find us a decent place to get cleaned?" Andor settles in behind Laryth, following the cleric's lead.

[obliged_salmon]

Fence

Fence's eyes go wide at the sights, smells, and glittery things lining the streets. He wishes he had enough gold to buy the whole market square to bring back to his gypsy camp, and sighs as he calculates about how much gold he'd actually need.

He suppresses a chuckle at Laryth's concern, and replies wryly, "Right, and on the way, perhaps we should stop for tea, yes? He follows after the others with a grin plastered to his face.

[Solophoenix]

Solo

Solo is awed at the sheer concentration of people. For him, people have always meant trouble, and he decides to try and keep as low of a profile as possible.

"A bath sounds wise, being clean will help us to not stand out as much..."

With that, he resigns himself to following the rest of the party.

[obliged_salmon]

Fence

I don't know, friend. From the look of these folks, I'd say a little dirt is fairly standard. It's arms and armor that tell us apart.

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

The composition of the crowd actually contains quite a few armed individuals. Aside from the rather menacing guards decked out in plate, you see the odd adventurer or two. Some of the more established merchants also employ their own garishly dressed private security.

As for hygeine, you are standing in a dusty marketplace. The weather has been a touch dry in this part of the country, suitable for the season, but does little to clear the air. Everyone around you, except for those obviously exerting magical energy, is coated in a fine layer of dun colored earth. Between the swirling crowds, and the large carts constantly wheeling around, you are surprised you can see across the circle.

In short, the only distinguishing feature of the small group is the doe-eyed look of wonder that has descended upon your faces.

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

The small group wanders a bit on the outskirts of the market, searching for a place to rest and bathe before calling upon royalty. They find an inn on the outer edge of the circle close to the outskirts of town. It seems a reasonable establishment, obviously catering to travelers of all walks of life. The sign above the door proclaims this establishment to be 'The Wasted Waif', complete with bawdy depiction of some manner of fae creature.

Upon entering, a quick sweep of the room reveals a melting pot of races. If anywhere the group shall fit in, it would be here. You catch snippets of conversation in Dwarven, Elven, and even Orc. The innkeep greets you heartily, and asks what you will have today, offering food, a room, or a nice bath.

[Snowfall]

Laryth

"Well, sir Innkeeper, a bath would be lovely" Laryth begins with a smile, "as we have travelled long but must answer a summons by the Duke and I do not think he is used to seeing us so fresh off the road." He lets out a light-hearted laugh and then continues, "As for the room, we do not know yet what task the Duke has for us, so it might be premature if he sends us right off again."

"But food..." Laryth's stomach grumbles suddenly and he turns to the others, "Perhaps a hot meal too?" Before walking through the doors, Laryth had squeezed his money pouch, reminded that there was still some coin in there but that the Duke's payment has already dwindled substantially.

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

Guests of the Duke you say! Well, come around to the back. We have a full bath chamber, excellent accomadations.

As the man speaks he leads you around the common area and down a short corridor. Around a bend is a stone walled bath chamber. There are several bathing pools and a small sauna. An attendant stands at the ready in an alcove by the door.

Enjoy, I will have a meal ready when you are done.

With that the man darts out of the room and disappears around the corner. The attendant looks expectantly at the group, but does not speak.

[Sampi]

Andor

Andor walks into a corner and removes his pack, setting it and the odd greatsword leaning against the wall. He removes his coat and mail shirt, and places them on top of the pack. He then sits cross-legged beside his belongings and takes out a whetstone and rag, and starts sharpening and cleaning his sword. When this is done, he applies a powder to the blade and resheathes it. Then he casually wipes off the grime from his mail, checking for rust but apparently finding none.

All this done, he takes off the rest of his clothes, folds them neatly on top of the backpack and climbs into one of the pools to wash himself.

[obliged_salmon]

Fence

Fence, mostly for the sake of novelty, undresses and jumps into a bath that doesn't look deep enough to drown him. After about a minute though, he clambers back out, now clean everywhere except his face and hair, and slips back into his still-grimy clothes. The overall effect of the bath is insubstantial.

[Solophoenix]

Solo

Solo walks over to the attendant and speaks to him/her

"I don't suppose there is anywhere to quickly dry my clothes if I were to wash them?"

[Snowfall]

Laryth

Laryth nods in agreement with Solo and adds "Our summons came so quickly that we had to travel without extras." Then he smiles at the attendant and hands him a silver piece, "Also, do you think, fine fellow, that you could find my friends and I some bread and cheese to snack on, while we wait for our things to dry?" Laryth nods his head as if the attendant already agreed and then turns away towards the baths.

Walking over to a corner, Laryth carefully places his pack on the floor and then pulls up a stool along side. Setting his weapons against the wall, he carefully removes his armor and clothes until he only has his underbreeches on. Seeing a bucket in the corner, he fills it with water and brings it back to his things. He sits down on the stool. From his pack he pulls out a brush and a chunk of soap, and after some more rummaging around, a mirror.

Looking critically at himself in the mirror, Laryth sighs, but then places the mirror alongside his pack as he begins to use the water, soap, and brush to clean his armor and clothes. The cleaning is an intricate process that involves a fair amount of sighs and exclamations, but eventually most of the grime has been brushed away from his clothes and the metal polished. He hangs the clothes on a hook on the wall to dry and places his armor on the stool. Taking the soap and the mirror, he walks over to a tub and climbs in. He sets to work immediately, paying particular attention to ears, nose, face, arms, legs, shoulders... and a number of minutes later he climbs out of the tub, back to examining his clothes again.

"Hmm, I knew I should have brought my cleric's vestments," he says, dripping in his underbreeches. Turning to his companions he exclaims, "Well I feel infinitely better already, though chances are that our cleanliness won't last long in all the dust and bustle of this city... still, it will be good to go to the Duke with a clean heart, no?"

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

The attendant opens a closet to reveal a drying rack consisting of several hangers and an unknown source of hot air. Upon being given the silver he dashes off to the main room, and returns some time later with a small platter of wine, cheese, and bread. Something about his manner seems a bit nervous...

[Sampi]

Andor Havaral

Andor come sout of the sauna, his skin slightly reddened by the heat, and walks straight to the cold water pool, and plunges in. Coming up gasping, he lifts himself up onto the stone floor, looking around. Seeing the clothes-drying room, he takes his coat and washes it in a bucket before hanging it to dry. He then dresses in breeches and sits down on a bench, this time starting to clean a curved heavy hacking blade. Seeing the platter of food, he turns to Laryth.

"May I have a bite? It's been a while since we ate."

Andor completely ignores the attendat's discomfort, jotting it down to townman nervousness at seeing either weapons or exposed skin.

[obliged_salmon]

Fence

Before Laryth can respond, Fence grabs a hunk of bread and replies, he knows we're good for it, and waves cheerfully in Laryth's direction.

Fence picks up on the attendant's nervousness, and (being slightly paranoid) at some point when nobody's looking, he slinks off into some dark corner of the room.

Spoiler

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[roll=hide]1d20+12
oops, I guess I'll roll it in the OOC.

[Solophoenix]

Solo

Solo removes his outer clothes and washes them in a bucket, before hanging them in the drying cupboard and plunging into the nearest pool, where he lies floating on his back.

[Snowfall]

Spoiler

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Sense Motive role to decide Laryth's action...

(1d20+3)[11]

Laryth

Laryth notices the attendant's nervousness, but doesn't think anything of it. He laughs at his companion's request, "Of course, the food's for all of us." He goes to hang his clothes in the drying room, returning to pick up his sword. Unsheathing it briefly he looks at its edge, watching his reflection in the blade. Sheathing it again, he pulls up another stool and sits down, taking some wine and some cheese from the plate to nibble on.

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

Laryth notices that the attendant is staring a bit intently at the group, and shuffles nervously toward the door but does not leave.

[Sampi]

Andor

"Thank you, Laryth."

Andor settles in his seat and munches on a piece of bread, occasionally nibbling cheese. He does not touch the wine, though. I guess we should be heading out to meet the duke now, he must be expecting us soon.

"So, shall we go see the duke as soon as our clothes are dry?"

[Snowfall]

Laryth cannot help but notice the attendant's agitation, but he's not sure if it's because he wants a bigger tip or something bad is about to happen.

Laryth stands up and walks over to the far wall so that if he needed to, he could could see out the door. At the moment though he turns to talk to the attendant, "So my friend, what is your name? Perhaps you can tell us more about this fine city of yours, and what it must be like to work at an Inn such as this. To be completely honest, we have never been here before, only having received a summons from the Duke with little knowledge of him or his intent for us. Your inn seems welcoming though, and your master a good man."

Spoiler

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diplomacy - (1d20+3)[6]

Edit: ouch, that's an arrogance roll if I ever saw one

[Solophoenix]

Solo

After a quick wash in the pool he was floating in, Solo joins the others and begins eating some cheese.

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

The attendant stammers an apology and rushes out the door. You here the sound of shouting, followed by the tromp of many booted feet.

[Snowfall]

Laryth

"By the Protector's left foot!" exclaims Laryth. Thinking quickly he calls out a prayer to Corellon, summoning a growling, glowing dog which he sends out in front of the door to slow down the on-comers.

He then steps back over to his things to pick up his shield. "Well no armor, but at least I smell good!" Laryth exclaims sarcastically.

Spoiler

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Summon Monster I, last only 2 rounds, but should give a little more time to get ready. The dog was ordered to block the doorway, going completely defensive.

[Solophoenix]

Solo

Solo stands up at the sounds of impending combat and moves so that he is against the wall, around 20ft from the door.

Not the first time I've had to fight in my underwear...probably not the last

[Sampi]

Andor

"What is this treachery? We have committed no crime!"

Andor springs to action and grabs his sword and bow, setting them behind a bench he kicks over for cover. He then strings the bow and kneels behind the improvised cover, facing the corridor with a readied arrow and his sword ready to be taken up rapidly.

Spoiler

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Assuming I have time to do all this - priority is get sword - get bow and arrows - kick over bench - take cover - string bow - ready action to shoot at an enemy incoming from the door

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

OOC: I'll wait for everyone then start the combat round, unless Fence continues to hide off in the corner.

[obliged_salmon]

Fence

Fence remains hidden, but brings his crossbow to bear. He doesn't like the look of this at all....

[Alebeard_Thunderax]

The boots get closer, and suddenly the hallway outside the door is filled with the same armored guards that were present in the market square. You can see them take up position on either side of the door, but do not enter. After a moment, a man in a well polished breastplate steps up to the door, ignoring the hound. He addresses the party in a refined and gentile clip

If you surrender now, it will be much easier for all of us. And please, do dispel the mongrel.