The Gate to Carpathia - IC

[Alex319]

OOC thread link for character sheets (for reference): http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90880

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Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom called Altaria.

For hundreds of years the kingdom was beset by turmoil. Evil loomed everywhere and despite the efforts of numerous heroic adventurers, the evil kept coming. The kingdom would be destroyed if this went on for too long.

Just ten years ago, a new leader, Prince Arthanis, came to the throne of Altaria. He made it his mission to rebuild the ranks of adventurers to fight evil. He personally trained hundreds of adventurers, of which you are one.

The plan worked even better than he expected, for the evil has been almost completely driven off. Unfortunately, this means that adventurers are almost all out of work, as are the people who supply them.

There is an old legend known as the "Gate to Carpathia". The legend says that there is a magical portal somewhere in Altaria which leads to a kingdom called Carpathia, a world full of wonders. Nobody knows what those wonders are, because nobody has come back through the portal, and many who have sought out the portal have never returned. With the dearth of work in Altaria, there is renewed interest among adventurers to rediscover the Gate to Carpathia.

But there is more to this story than meets the eye...

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You have just finished your training with Prince Arthanis, and you are ready to adventure out into the world in search of fame and glory. Unfortunately, he informs you that he doesn't have any quests for you to undertake right now, so you'll have to find work on your own. And it's not just you that's having a problem, apparently, as is evidenced by this front page story in the newspaper:

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According to the latest economic census, the unemployment rate for adventurers and heroes has increased for the 10th straight year to 47 percent, the highest it has been in over 400 years. While adventurers could once count on a steady supply of income from thwarting evil schemes and killing horrible monsters, they are increasingly finding that, in the words of one paladin, “there just isn’t enough evil out there left to fight anymore.” “No kobold! No goblin! No guga-gat! No ouga-douga-bibberbasher!” complained Kreg Grok, a half-orc fighter. Adventurers not directly involved in combat have also been affected. “Everywhere I go in this kingdom, it seems like all the ancient desecrated temples have already been purified,” explained Halia Hieron, a human cleric. “I know, yes, I probably could put my skills to use healing the peasantry, but back at the seminary all they taught me was the basic healing spells, curing spells, and the combat enhancers. None of those would be useful domestically – what I really need is a “Cure Scurvy and Malnutrition” spell or a “Purge Bubonic Plague” spell – those might be useful.”
Nevertheless, while analysts are unable to explain the trend, predictions for the future look grim for adventurers. The trend shows no signs of reversing.
On the political front, reactions to the news were mixed. Many non-adventurers are happy with the situation, praising Prince Arthanis for his “wise and benevolent rule” that has led the kingdom to a state of near-complete peace for the past 10 years. “Since Prince Arthanis came to the throne our farm hasn’t been attacked by bandits once,” explained a peasant. “Now maybe some adventurer doesn’t get his glory, but at least I can eat for once.” While Prince Arthanis has a record-high approval rating of 87 percent among the peasant and serf demographics, many are skeptical about whether his strict “anti-evil” policies bode well for the kingdom’s future. “Unless Prince Arthanis wants to return Altaria to a completely agricultural economy and destroy all progress we have made toward an industrialized society, the fact of the matter is that getting rid of all the jobs for adventurers is simply economic suicide,” said an economist with the Royal Guild of Economists. However, Prince Arthanis says he has a plan to give the adventurers new jobs by “using their prowess in fighting evil to solve the challenges of a new millennium.” In a recent speech, he explained: “For example, thieves who specialize in sneaking into places and stealing other people’s hard-earned stashes are being actively recruited as tax collection agents. So, as you can see, I really do have a plan for leading this kingdom to a better economy. So vote for me next election. Wait a second, we don’t have elections; we’re not a democracy yet. But you can at least not try to assassinate me.
That would be a big help.”

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You are currently in Altaria City, the capital of Altaria. It is a small town with a population of about a thousand residents, and the following locations of interest are available to visit:

- Palace (you are already there)
- Tavern
- Fighter's Guild Hall
- Adventurer's Shop
- Library
- Temple Row

[Baxter190]

“You’re kidding me, right,?” asked Dios, hoping it was really just a bad joke. He had just gotten done with his training, passed valedictorian of his class, and was just told they didn’t have a job for him. Not a single one for him the prince said when Dios arrived looking for some work. When the prince had come to his village in the far north to cleanse the area of goblins, Dios had joined him, promised glory, riches, and GAURENTEED WORK! Three years later, he was nowhere. He had his scale armor that his father gave him went he went on to become a knight like him, his sword, his shield, and a backpack full of stuff that was given to him at graduation.

“Well, you see we just don’t have any work for you. All the ancient castles have been raided, orcs hunted down, and bandits captured. I thank you for you effort but it is not needed at the moment. Next please!” Exclaimed the prince as he motioned for Dios to leave. Furious, he stormed from the throne room, anger sketched on his face, his green shirt rustled up and wrinkled, his brown pants fastened to him with a small rope around the waist. He had left his armor in his room at the local inn, not wanting to go through the bother of taking it off when they searched him for weapons before he went to see the prince. Since he didn’t have his armor on, his dirty blonde wasn’t matted down, and was now unruly sticking up.

As he stormed through the palace, he thought about his current predicament. He was low on cash, just out of training, with any real experience in combat out of school. He was currently shacked up in some inn on the far side of town. The was no jobs for the prince to give him. He could head back north to his village up north, but he would be a disgrace, leaving his family for three years for nothing! Unable to accept that, Dios didn’t see the large man in front of him, causing him to walk straight into him. This doing nothing to improve his mood, in fact worsening it, Dios looked up and exclaimed, “What the hell! Watch were you walking you metal…man?” Looking over the person, Dios concluded that the man was indeed made out of metal.

‘Made. Out. Of. Metal. What the hell is up with the world these days! Metal men! Now jobs for adventurers! Just f-ing weird. I need a drink,’ Thought Dios. As he looked over the metal man, he realized two things. Number one, obviously, that the guy was made out of metal. Two, was that he didn’t have his sword or his armor with him. Now, he could probably take the guy if he did, but there was no way he could without them. Not wanting to get his arse handed to him, he quickly said, “You no what, I’m sorry, I should’ve watched where I was going. How about I buy you a drink?”

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shard

Shard listened calmly to the prince. But his mind was full of questions that would probably never find an answer. He was one of the finest creations of the alchimists of Altaria. A being made for war. A killing machine. Not that he liked it...but it was his purpose, his duty. Now, in times of peace, what was he good for? Maybe he could open his own bar. That could be fun...dealing with those drunkards!

Someone suddenly bumped in the warforged. Shard turned around to find this angry looking man.

"I wasn't even moving."

Shard listened to what the human had to say. He could easily have punched him, but he knew that wouldn't make his problems go away.

"I don't drink. At all. I'm a warforged.
What's the matter? Is it what the prince said? I am sure there are some interesting jobs...somewhere. Do not despair."

[Baxter190]

"Huh. Should have known that. Well, anyway I'm Dios, and yeah, we're out of jobs basically. So, what do you "warforged" do?" Asked Dios, his anger now forgotten,now curious with the stange metal man.

[Dur]

"There will always be evil in the world," Bane said from behind the other two, his large reptillian features furrowed in a look of annoyance. "It is only a matter of time before our services are needed again."

[Baxter190]

Dios turned and laughed grimly, saying, "As bad as it makes me feel, I can only hope your right. Whats your name?"

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shard replied to Dios:

"What we do? We fought wars. We were living weapons against the darkness. Now? Your guess is as good as mine."

Then he turned to the newcomer.

"I don't know much about "good" and "evil"."

[Alex319]

OOC note: During role-playing, one way of keeping things moving is to use the "tag" system. This means that if you do something that you want someone to respond to, write "TAG: that person" at the end.

For example:

"Alice asks Bob which direction he wants to travel out. TAG: Bob"

Note that you can also "tag" me, the GM. You're allowed to post regardless of whether or not you've been "Tagged", but this just makes it so we don't end up in situations in which everyone's waiting for someone else to post because everyone thinks it's someone else's turn to respond.

[Guancyto]

(I think Baxter mentioned he was in a bar. So...)

"At least you admit it," a little elven woman seems to come from nowhere, serving drinks for a nearby pair of patrons. "If I had a copper for every sellsword fresh out of training with funny ideas about kobolds, I'd be running this place. Here," she continues, slamming down a trio of dark, frothy mugs at Dios' table, "even if you can't drink it, it explodes pretty nicely. Dissolves rust, too."

[Alex319]

As you are in the tavern, a mysterious robed figure approaches you. "You're adventurers, are you not?" he says. "Well, you won't get any work done just sitting around here. If I were you, I would explore the city and look for stuff, although if you're looking for fighting it's not likely you'll be able to find much.. Or, if you want a better option, you could always come with me..."