Cantaras: Party Two

[Lord_Gareth]

"C'mon Seb, we gotta! It's gonna be fuuun!"

Endeca pauses for a moment, pondering something, and asks to no one -

"I wonder if rainbow colored meat would sell more..."

[AKA_Bait]

"As far as I know, it's just a big old forest." She replies before looking at Endeca. "We actually tried that once. Didn't work. Got a lot of complaints. We even had one of them paladins down here to make sure we weren't poisoning people."

Spoiler

Show

History: You know that around 450 years ago, a major battle took place in the northern part of the forest between the newly forming and short lived Novne Empire and northerners who wanted to keep their independence. The losing force, the latter group, was driven farther back below the shade of the trees during their retreat and dispursed from there. According to some, a fair number of those who retreated settled to the south along the coast in the place that would slowly grow into Zoti.

Nature: The Grilwald is a forest that is relativley dense. It's temprate and most temperate natural animals can be found in it if you look hard enough. The most common dangerous animals are wolves, black bears and wild boar.

[Lord_Gareth]

"Aww, rainbows make things prettier! Oh well."

She pauses.

"Wait, what's a paladin?"

Spoiler

Show

She really, honestly doesn't know, for anyone who's wondering. Even if she was perfectly sane, she has no clue.

[Silverkiss]

Anya Shadowbringer

Smiling to Endeca, Anya explains to her in a low voice: "Paladins are the holy heroes that fight for a god, they protect justice and the weak. That's why they were worried about poisoned food."

[AKA_Bait]

"Either that or big stuffy pains in the arse," the server adds, "regardless, let me know if you're interested in doing some hunting. Till then it'll be a gold and four for the lot of ya."

[Silverkiss]

Anya Shadowbringer

"Hahaha, I agree, I agree. Well, seems we all agree, right ? We could do some hunting for you guys."

[Deepblue706]

Meinrad stays mostly quiet, not showing much enthusiasm for hunting. At the mention of owed payment, he silently hands over his due.

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Taifen cheerfully draws out a pair of gold coins, and hands them to the server.

"That should cover things. As Anya said, we've some free time, so we'd be happy to work for you. We'll negotiate the price when we get back. Where can we find Otis? Oh, and we'll take the map if you can find it."

[Oslecamo]

Hmm, I never actually killed an owlbear. But for what I heard, they're no stronger than a bear. They can't be that hard to kill...Right?

[AKA_Bait]

"Thanks!" She says, pocketing the coins, "hold on a moment and I'll look for the map." A few moments later she returns, holding a batter old parchment in her hand and proffers it to Taifen. "Here ya go. And if you're looking for Otis, he's probably over at Monk's. Spends most of his time there since he stopped bein' allowed in here."

[GimliFett]

Sebek Kothoga

"I wonder if this Otis would aid us with details since we would be taking a position which he recently filled?" Sebek asks with a bemused smile.

He turns to Taifen. "And since you have picked up this meal, I will cover our next. May we finish before we depart?" the elf inquires with a wink.

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Taifen takes the offered map, and nods and smiles back at Sebek.

"Sounds good. I suppose we can wait a little while, but finish in human time, not elven."

He turns back to his food, and quickly finishes what little remained. Picking up his glass, he calls to the barkeep,
"Now, Levett, could I hear about Travis?"

[GimliFett]

Sebek Kothoga

The elf snickers at his friend's comment about time. "It's always rush, rush, rush with you humans," he says with a wide grin. Sebek then proceeds to devour his meal with relish.

[Oslecamo]

Well, Sebek, we humans, unlike you elves, only live one century at best. Gotta make the most out of it.

[Deepblue706]

Meinrad silently ponders on the conversation at hand - he appears interested, in the words exchanged between the elf and the men, as he takes the first notable pause from his stew to watch them as they continue their discussion. He makes no comment, however, and eventually returns to his meal once things grow silent.

[AKA_Bait]

Levitt hears Taifen from across the room, looks up at his loud enquiry, shakes his head and gestures toward the kitchen door before holding up an open hand. It's the kind of universal sign language that translates into "not here, there, five minutes".

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Taifen nods, seemingly at both of his compatriots.

"'sright. Me, though? I'm going to live forever."

His contemplative mood breaks as quickly as it came on, upon seeing Levett's hand signals.

A few minutes later, he eases out of his chair, and says,

"Well, guys, I'll see you in a bit."

He then walks into the kitchen, to speak with Levett more privately.

[AKA_Bait]

Upon seeing Taifen rise and make for the kitchen, Levett waves to the serving girl to take over behind the bar and follows through the back doors. Passing through he gestures to Taifen to move back away from the door toward the far wall and then leans in to speak softly.

"As I was saying before, you might be a little protective about a table if you'd died on it around a month ago too." He shrugs, "Not really sure what happened. Came in one morning and there he was, laid out across the table without a mark on him. Course a little thing like death apparently wasn't going to keep him from trying to run the place..."

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Taifen takes a half-step back, his eyes wide. He then leans in and hisses,
"You're telling me that you've got a poultrygeist here?! Owlbear aside, this's serious! He's bein' kept from his eternal reward, and your patrons, 'specially any new ones, could be in danger. You have any idea what's keeping him on this plane?"

He pauses for a moment, then adds,
"Also, your lack of explanation tells me you don't know what killed 'im. Where's his body bein' kept?"

[AKA_Bait]

"Oh, I don't think he's actually dangerous," Levett replies blandly, "worst he's done is tossed some pots, pans and bottles around when Otis moved a bunch of stuff from it's normal spot in the kitchen and then sat in his chair. I figure he's just hanging around because he was a bloody minded codger and this place was his whole life. Still, I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread it over town. Could be bad for business.

As for the body... it got burned the next day. Some underling from Pelor's church came by when Maggie was the only one around and insisted that it be gotten rid of since we couldn't figure out what killed him. 'In case of a plague' they said."

[Deepblue706]

After it having been established that Meinrad would be tagging along, he pondered on how he could get to know the party a little more. It'd help their ability to cooperate if they could at least had something to discuss.

"So," Meinrad pauses to wait for the others to look his way. "How was it you all met Taifen? He recruit you, or you him?"

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Realizing that he may be coming across as a touch unhinged, Taifen takes a moment to calm down, then replies.

"...That right?... Well, did Maggie get his name? Sorry if I'm bein' a pain in the arse, but even if there isn't any danger to the living, it still bothers me that the old man's staying here. It ain't natural, and I'd like to help him move on, if I can."

[Oslecamo]

"Poor man"-Leo tought. Unable to move on, even dead...Would he find some true purpose in life or would he be doomed to wander like a ghost also?

Did he have family? Friends? Anyone who may giveus a clue why he hasn't proceeded in the afterlife?

[AKA_Bait]

"Humm," Levett answered, "she said the fellers name was... ah... Tormy, or Tommy, or Timmy... somethin like that. I'm sure it started with a T..." He scratches his head, "as for friends and family, not too many. Mostly just us that worked here and Otis. He used to have a wife, but she left him 3 or 4 years back."

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Taifen nods.

"All right; thanks for the explanation, Levett. C'mon, Leo, let's go back to the others."

When he gets back to the rest of the group, Alloren explains the deal with the poultrygeist, taking care to explain that they need to keep this quiet, and then asks what everyone would like to do: hunt some owlbear, or take care of Mr. Travis.

[Deepblue706]

Meinrad

At a loss for words, Meinrad hesitates to state his opinion. "I'm not...eh...much for dealing with the intangible." He eventually comments, rubbing his forehead.

[Silverkiss]

Anya Shadowbringer

"I'm fine with anything..." - With a smile, Anya continues -"Actually... why don't we do both jobs ?"

[GimliFett]

Sebek Kothoga

The elder elf listens to Taifens explanation of events, nodding throughout. "What do you think we can do about Master Travis'...situation?"

[Sucrose]

Alloren Taifen

Alloren fields the questions, starting with Anya's.

"Well, yeah, we could. I'd like that, too. If that's your vote, what do you want to work on first?"

He then turns to Sebek.

"Honestly, I don't have any idea. Still, I think that with the right spells, we could talk to him; that'd at least be a start."

He turns to Endeca.

"You have any idea how to cast something like that, 'deca?"

[Oslecamo]

I say we take first care of Travis. The owlbears aren't really hurting anyone right now, but this ghost may become dangerous if he's not taken care off. He clearly has some unfinished business, and if we don't help him find peace, he'll probably become more and more violent.