The Eye of the Druid: Group I

[Vella_Malachite]

Everyone knows that after the War, the races of the world split up to go their own ways. The Halflings and Humans lived together in the mixed cities of Alaysia and Vasqua, where anyone can live and find a place; the Gnomes went to Jeran, where they set up a great city of knowledge and wisdom, where they could learn and invent, and they set themselves a little apart from the other races, unlike the Dwarves, who became friendly to all, and went to Arkullah, a great mining city where everyone is a friend and the minerals from the ground are the greatest joy. The haughty Elves went to the valley of Nirloth and created beautiful masterpieces of art and architecture, and lived apart from the lesser races of the land, especially Halflings and Gnomes, whom they fought against in the War.

Alaysia, though, has its own problems. King Belzar, after being betrayed by his closest friend, Argon Lascar, exiled him, then, thirty years ago, out of fear for his city, warded off the city against any intruders. No-one has entered or left the city for thirty years. Belzar is dead now, and his son, Alzar, has taken the throne. It is upon Alzar's leisure that you all now wait, a group of people, only just meeting for the first time.

It's a fine morning. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky for days. You are sitting in King Alzar's antechamber, waiting for the herald to come and announce you to the King. The antechamber is filled with royal reds and oranges, with great tapestries depicting legends of old: the High King of Gaminar, the Battle of Venmark...
It is a small room, as rooms in the palace go, but it is still of a goodly size. Large windows let in light in sheets from the outside. Dust motes sparkle and dance in the rays of light.
There are several couches arranged around the sides of the chamber; the King likes to make sure his guests are comfortable if he can't see them immediately.

Let the posting begin!

[The Bushranger]

Liam O'Brien, Human Ranger/Rogue

A tall, wiry middle-aged man with brown, slightly greying hair and piercing green eyes leans against the wall, preferring this to sitting. His eyes scan the chamber, taking measure of the others present.

[UglyPanda]

Korbin

A brown-haired gnome with a blue headband is sitting cross-legged on a couch. If he were to sit upright, his legs would dangle and only make him seem like a human child. He is a bit nervous, this is the first time he has been traveling on his own in some time and there are many people here he has never met. The gnome sheepishly raises his left hand, gives a slight wave, and begins to speak. "Hello, my name is Korbin Barcallad. It's...um...nice to meet you."

[Vashunyata]

Tai-Gi

A relatively tall man stands rigidly in the room, legs slightly splayed apart, hands clasped behind his back, facing squarely out of one of the large windows. He wears a clean but tattered pair of brown pants, ripped off to just below the knees, and a brown shirt that looks practically brand new. A small pack rests on the floor near his right foot.

He ignores, for the moment, whatever fragments of conversation are progressing in the room behind him. For any who manage to glimpse his face, they see his eyes do not wander over the scenery outside, but instead remain fixed staring straight ahead, giving the distinct impression that his mind is somewhere quite a ways away.

[The Bushranger]

Liam

Liam, being a man of few words, merely inclines his head in response to the gnome's greeting.
Well met, Mr. Barcallad. Liam O'Brien.

[UglyPanda]

Korbin

"Um...I'm not quite a Mister yet, Liam. I'm especially not a Sir, but I would like to be one if it paid well enough. Hehe."

[Vella_Malachite]

Finally, the herald steps in as the guards open the door. He is a snobbish man with a superior expression; if you were a head taller than him, he could still look down his nose at you. He must use this accomplishment often, as he is quite a short man.
“Alzar, High King of Alaysia, will receive his honoured guests in his throne room,” he announces. You are ushered into the throne room.
Alzar sits at the head of the room in a gigantic throne with a golden back and red upholstery. All around you, more tapestries, golden statues of heroes and kings of old and mosaics adorn the space between huge columns stretching up to a high, vaulted ceiling. Occasionally, stained glass windows let tinted light in to pool fluidly on the richly embroidered rug leading to the throne. As you approach, the King waves away any bowing or other courtly niceties.
“Our kingdom is in grave danger,” he announces seriously.

[The Bushranger]

Liam

Liam gives a nod of the head in lieu of the waved-away bow.
What trouble faces the kingdom, Your Highness?

[UglyPanda]

Korbin
He stands up straight, gives an exaggerated bow, then begins talking very quickly. "A few questions. Why us? What's wrong? What do you want us to do about it? Why us? Will this be dangerous? Are we going to receive any aid? Why us? Will we be paid for any of this? What if we fail? And why us?"

[Vashunyata]

Tai-Gi

Tai-Gi follows the others out of the waiting room and takes up a standing position just behind them in the throne room. He sees the King wave before figuring out what kind of courtly nicety would be appropriate, and so he merely stands and listens, content for the time being to let the others do the talking.

[Vella_Malachite]

The King smiles at Korbin's questions.

The danger comes from the traitor Argon Lascar. I know we always said that the wards would hold, but there are magics that are beyond the power of our wizards; namely, the treasure hidden by the legendary, lost Eye of the Druid. In answer to the multitude of questions from Mr. Barcallad, I want you to find the six pieces of the Eye of the Druid, so that you can get to the treasure first and stop Argon from using it, either by breaking the treasure or killing him with it. It will most likely be dangerous, very dangerous, but you will be handsomely rewarded at the end. You will not recieve aid from us because, frankly, you are the aid, but there may be people in the cities who will provide you with aid, if they still remember Alaysia. If you fail, the city will be overrun by Lascar, and who knows what his twisted mind will think to do with its people. And lastly, you because you have all proven yourselves one way or another in your exploits both here and before you arrived at this city, and I trust that you have skills that will complement one another and pull yourselves, and therefore Alaysia, through to safety."

OOC:

Spoiler

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Does anyone want to make a Knowledge: History or Knowledge: Arcana check?

[UglyPanda]

Korbin
"Ok, where do we start looking for the first piece? You can call me Korbin, I don't like people calling me mister. What exactly is Argon, a Wizard? What's keeping us from only finding one piece and destroying it? Do the pieces work pretty well individually? Eye of the Druid, doesn't that imply nature magic? Does that mean that The Eye can be used for something other than combat? Does Argon have an army or something that we would have to fight? I think it'll be obvious to him that someone is searching for The Eye by the time we leave, either through word of mouth or a spy. Could we get a letter of confidence or something like that so we don't get slowed down at tollbooths, bridges, and other such things?"

OOC: Knowledge(Arcana)
(1d20+12)[21]

[The Bushranger]

Liam

The tall man chuckles very quietly at his companion's enthuiasm, nodding his understanding of the King's words and letting the gnome ask all the questions.

Spoiler

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No ranks in either of those; I don't suppose Knowledge (local) would be any help?
Knowledge (local): (1d20+6)[7]
...or not. Eww.

[Vashunyata]

Tai-Gi

Crease-lines appear in Tai-Gi's forehead as he listens to the King's words, and his eyes widen slightly as it dawns on him that the King is implying that they will be allowed to leave the city. Before he can open his mouth to reply, though, the gnome is off and running with his series of questions, and so Tai-Gi continues to merely stand silently, alert and listening intently, but still silent.

[Vella_Malachite]

"Alright, Korbin, then. Yes, Argon is a Wizard. If you destroyed one piece, he could very likely take one of the others and make a copy to complete the Key, or so I am assured by my sages. No, the pieces do not work on their own. There is no solid record of the exact nature of the power of the Eyes. Argon will probably have followers, it is his way, but he is unlikely to release them all on you; he's too cautious, and, knowing Argon, there won't be an enormous number of them. As for where to find the first piece, the man who tipped us off to Argon's plan gave us a strange riddle; it seems it would be a clue as to where to find it:

The King passes you a bit of paper, which, on closer inspection, reads:
"Rugged Road, leading forth,
The pathway to old Ellendorth.
A guide, a traitor, one whose whim
Leads to better sight within.
The die is cast, the cards unfold,
What is it that the future holds?
Wise, a sage, no memory lost,
Couselling, but at what cost?"

OOC:

Spoiler

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No, sorry, Knowledge: Local won't do, anyway.

[The Bushranger]

Liam

Liam reads the sheet of paper, and frowns a little.
I presume that there is a road that leads from here to Ellendorth, then?

[UglyPanda]

Korbin

Korbin looks at the piece of paper, shakes his head, and looks at it again. Korbin hates riddles, why can't people say what they mean? Korbin begins thinking to himself about the possible answers.

Does the first line mean going on a road forward, or a fourth road? Old Ellendorth, is Ellendorth an old city, or is there another city that used to be named Ellendorth? Or is there more than one Ellendorth? Maybe it's a person: Ellen Dorth. Those next two lines concern people, maybe we'll meet one of them. Is Argon the traitor, or is someone else the traitor and Argon is our guide? Why would a guy who wants to stop us be our guide? Maybe one of them is a mind reader and sees into my mind or something, I don't know. Two lines of poetry, meaningless. Unless that's what it wants me to think. I'm on to you, piece of paper! No memory lost, does that mean someone remembers something? Someone will remember something? Or is it: No memory, lost? Cost? Does that mean we have to sacrifice something or pay someone, argh!

"I hate riddles!" Korbin says suddenly. He then looks for somewhere to sit down to settle himself.

OOC:

Spoiler

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No need for any answers. Korbin has simply given himself a headache.

[Vashunyata]

Tai-Gi

Tai-Gi takes the paper as it is passed around and reads it over twice. Then he pauses for a moment, glances briefly to Korbin at his conspicuously concise exclamation, and finally looks squarely at the King:

"Where is this man who tipped you off to Argon's plan and gave you this note?"

[Vella_Malachite]

"Dead," Alzar shakes his head solemnly. "He died literally seconds after passing on his message."

[Vashunyata]

Tai-Gi

Tai-Gi is slightly taken aback by the news, especially the 'literally seconds' part of it. He bows his head slightly, then looks up again. "That is a sad thing," he says after a moment, "but I think deserving of some elaboration." He glances to the others in the room then looks back to the king, awaiting some details.

[UglyPanda]

Korbin
"Who was this guy and why couldn't he just say what he knew? Also, do you have the body and a priest? I heard they can talk to the dead."

[The Bushranger]

Liam

Eyebrows are raised at the king's statement.
Did he die of old age or of a magical effect, sire?

[bchilders]

Duglan

As the king is explaining the situation and rugged dwarf comes briskly walking in the room, visibly breathing heavily. He stops and looks as if he will speak but obviously hasn't yet to catch his breath. After a few moments of huffing he says, "Scuse meh your kinglyness, got caught on some business...very important stuff." He does his best to appear embarrassed for his tardiness and listens intently to everything else that is presented.

When the paper is passed around the dwarf stares at it trying to look as if he can read but constantly looks around at his companions to see if anyone can tell his falsehood.

[Vella_Malachite]

"Then an explanation shall be given. He died of neither old age or a magical effect; he collapsed from sheer exhaustion; my physics said he had neither eaten nor drunk water for a period in excess of three days, and had been constantly travelling. A most peculiar woman visited me in a dream and told me that I should look out my East window as soon as I woke up. It was so early that even the farmers had not woken up yet. I saw a man, wandering lost, in a cloak. I ran out of the tower to investigate. I could see that the messenger was human, and that the poor man was near his limits. To abbreviate the story, the sages were good enough to give me a way to bring him through the wards. He pressed this paper into my hand, along with a short note saying that Argon was coming, looking for the Eye of the Druid, and that that was the first clue. He died a bare few hours later, and I summoned you. Yes, we used a priest to talk to the dead, but that was all he knew. It seems that, while he was a slave to Argon, he was not well-trusted, and knew little of Argon's overarching plans." He turns to Duglan. "On another note, glad you could make it, Mr. Strongheart."

[UglyPanda]

Korbin
"Now that we know all we need, let's head out to Old Ellen's Doors!" Korbin raises up both arms as he says this, intentionally overenthusiastic.

[Vashunyata]

Tai-Gi

After a moment of consideration, Tai-Gi nods.

"Yes, although a bit rash, it does not seem that we have much to go on, and likely our best chance of discovering more will be to make our way to Ellendorth." Then after a bit of an awkward pause: "Which is ... where, exactly? I don't really know the geography of the land very well."

[bchilders]

Duglan

"Pardon again yer kingship and I'm rearin' to knock some heads in any direction," Duglan says with a grin to the others in the room.

[The Bushranger]

Liam

I suppose that I, too, am ready to go, as soon, that is, as we know where we are going, yes.

[Vella_Malachite]

"Well then," the King says authoritatively, "You'd better set off. I'll tell my mages to have the wards down for five minutes in two hours. You'll want to pick up some things at the market, perhaps, or some time to prepare yourselves."

[UglyPanda]

Korbin
"I'm fine, but I really think I need that letter of confidence to help us get around." Korbin does his best to continue faking excitement. Several things are bothering him about this quest.

The King is sending a bunch of unknown adventurers into the heart of danger to retrieve a group of items he isn't sure actually exist. This is peacetime, why aren't we receiving any military aid? We are not the most qualified people for this task. Why would the king send us? We honestly can't be the only people he's sending, you can't throw a rock without hitting a guy like us. I'm betting that we're just one of a dozen groups of adventurers that he's sending at once. If one of the groups finds it, then it's a good deal for him. If none of us finds it, it doesn't matter since he's not paying us to fail. No matter, at the very least I could get a new passport out of this guy.