DnD 4th Ed The 'Outsiders'

[TheLastMan]

Kiiya, Nemeia, Arkal and Roghar are shaken awake as the caravan they were resting in stops abruptly. A traveling group of merchant caravans had given them room to sleep after they had been of assistance against a group of human bandits.
The 'Outsiders' were more than quick to leave when they awoke.
The village was large and housed many rustic housing blocks that hung above the cobblestone roads. A large fort rested in the center of the village, it's design was rich and elegant, possibly of Elven origin. A tavern, old and decrepit, was squeezed between a handful of housing blocks as if had been dropped by a lazy architect. A sign hung limply by the door with a name scrawled over its worn surface, it read 'the human house'. A handful of interesting stores traced the other side of the main road, they seemed deserted but their signs claimed otherwise. The rest of the village was hidden from view.
The 'Outsiders' stepped out in to the darkness of the crisp cold night and the racing winds, their hoods held high as was the custom of this rag tag group of adventurers.

What do you do?

[Ifni]

Kiiya

Kiiya glances around cautiously, pulling her hood forward to cover her white hair, and moves silently away from the caravan. She finds a patch of deeper shadow near a wall and waits there, checking her weapons and watching the village for any sign of movement. Her lavender eyes linger distrustfully on the fort.

It is hard to judge Kiiya's age, but you would guess her to be young by the standards of her race. She has the midnight skin, pale hair, and slender build characteristic of her people. She is usually quiet, and speaks little of her past.

[Dhavaer]

"Doesn't exactly come alive at night, does it? Or maybe it did, and someone buried it at a crossroads with a stake through its heart." Nemeia observes drily as she looks around. "That fort looks a bit out of place, though. Bet you whoever built it isn't there anymore."

Nemeia is a young tiefling not yet out of her second decade. She has black hair, milky-pale skin and red eyes. The hood of her cloak hangs limpy behind her head; her horns make any headgear too much of a bother. She glances around the street, looking for anything else of interest, and settles on the tavern sign.

"Interesting name. Do you reckon there's an Elven House? Halfling House? Farspawn House, maybe?"

[Suzuro]

The moment Ark'al stepped out, he pulled his hood up harder. It wasn't that he was cold, the fur more than covered that, it was just that his snout was always the first thing people saw. He sniffed the air casually. heh....well..it smells like their food is as bad as their name...

He growls slightly and pulls up against the wall next to Kiiya.

-Suzuro

[Dhavaer]

Nemeia sniffs at the air. "Wow. I can't smell anything in this wind."

[Malek]

Roghar

- Human house... - bronze-scaled dragonborn wondered - Think they're trying to tell us something, eh?..

[Dhavaer]

"I suppose they must be. I can't think of any other reason for a name like that, at least in a village this small." She sighs. "Think they're clever enough to know that tieflings are human?"

[Ifni]

"Clever? You're joking, right?" Kiiya's voice is barely above a whisper, but it carries clearly to her companions' ears. "Still, I suppose we can check it out. The worst that can happen is we get run out of town - not like that's never happened before. And I'd rather not go up to that fort - even if you're right, Nemeia, and the builders aren't there anymore."

[TheLastMan]

As you enter the tavern the smell of over cooked meat and mead stained wood greets you. You can tell from the look of the place that it has only recently fallen on hard times as the dust caked areas seem new if not otherwise well cared for.
Two merchants you met briefly when you helped the group of caravans you had arrived with sit at the far end of the bar speaking intently with a haggard blond haired human, they could only have arrived a handful of minutes before you at the most. Thorgrim the taller of the two, a sour Dwarfish man, gave a grimace as you walked in before returning to his dirty dealings. The other merchant, Throgrim's Halfling apprentice, who had only ever introduced himself as Pip, tried to wave you over with a broad smile and a wave before stopping himself when Thorgrim gave him an anger filled glance.
Five men sit in the far corner, poorly illuminated and quiet but you have the oddest feeling that like the men sitting in the middle of the room staring at their drinks trying to avoid your eye contact, they are all human.
Three other humans reside in the bar, a drunken guard, barely awake, who is mumbling to himself as he clutched at a pint of mead in one hand. A young man with a wide brimmed and pointed hat, cloths robes and a glass of tonic water in his hands. All his features are obscured by the shadow of his odd hat but you get the distinct feeling he is smiling.
The last is the bartender who stares at Nemeia with a look of shock and awe as every other patron tries to avoid eye contact. You get the distinct feeling he is holding back tears. From behind a thick white beard the rotund old man bellows with a smile"Drinks are on the house , one night only"
With that he motions to a few stools right in front of him, you catch quick glances as the patrons are taken a back by the bartender's offer.

What do you do?

[Dhavaer]

Seeing the bartender's expression, Nemeia stands surprised for a brief moment, then breaks out in a wide grin.
"Somehow I don't think we're getting run out of town tonight, Kiiya." She says with a wink, before crossing the taproom floor to take a stool in front of the bartender.
"Mead, thank you. Might I ask what the occasion is?" She asks, smiling up at him.

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+5)[22] Insight, trying to guess at the cause of the bartender's reaction.

[Ifni]

Kiiya follows Nemeia forward, glancing around the tavern distrustfully, and takes a seat next to the tiefling. She waves away the bartender's offer of drinks with a soft-voiced "Nothing for me, thank you."

Nemeia's more trusting than I would be, to take drinks from a stranger's hand. I wonder why the old man reacted so strongly to her?

[TheLastMan]

The bartender's smile fades for a moment at her question, he chokes up a bit and for a moment you think he's not going to reply but in the end he does "There hasn't been a non human around here for a very long time... or Tiefling either; the last two Tieflings in the village..." He wipes tears away with a cloth as he speaks "died... in a fire, a mother and a young... daughter."
Turning away for a moment, he looks back with a slightly forced smile.
Your insight allows you to surmise that the fire was not an accident, that the two Tieflings were his wife and daughter or at least strongly connected to him and that this incident was not unique in origin.
He places a fresh pint of mead in front of Nemeia with a smile.

What do you do?

[Dhavaer]

Nemeia reaches out and touches his hand as he puts down the mug. "I'm terribly sorry. How did it happen?"

[Suzuro]

Ark'al walks over to the bar, but remains standing.

They always make this stools so awkward to sit on... he thinks to himself, then again, it is called the Human House...

I too will take some mead, if'n ya don't mind.

He thanks the bartender and begins somberly drinking.


-Suzuro

[TheLastMan]

The bartender rubs his eyes with his cloth as he begins to speak "this place, New Attilan, it used to be a city, thousands strong and then... the chief justice gained control of the it, he used a paladin known as Maximus to enforce his rule on the guards stationed in the fort. He began to promote his ideals of a human town for humans only, problem was before he began his regime humans weren't even a majority. The rich minority of humans feared those of other races and so families were torn apart, husbands and their wives and children forced to live on opposite sides of the city. What you must realize is that barely a tenth of the cities population were humans married to other humans...
Then the fire came. No one knows how or why but in one night the half of the city containing all those that didn't fit the Chief Justice Durran's view of Human. All those who had not fled already were killed... so many children... so very many...
This village was once a city full of life, that embraced every race imaginable, as much difference as those of the city for which it was named but now it is a deserted husk, ruled by a despot, left to linger on like carrion.
And all the while that bastard worshiper of Bahumut keeps that chief justice in power, if only he fell then the resistan... then those willing to fight for their fallen families could retake this city. Those Tieflings could be avenged, along with everyone else I've lost!"
He shouted as he finished slamming Ark'al's mead down on the counter top in front of him before giving him an apologetic smile a moment later.

[Malek]

Roghar shook his head in disbelief after listening to the story.

- Wierd things you say friend. While I can't say my interactions with worshipers of Bahamut were pleasant, I know enough about that god to see something isn't right here. Actions of that man aren't ones that true worshiper of Platinum Dragon would commit. - he shook his head again before finishing quietly - If he commits those acts of his own will then I think he might be an impostor.

[TheLastMan]

"That's if he has a choice in the matter," the bartender started in reply to malek's comment "You see the story goes that the original Attilan was a city where every man was given a single gift, a power of some sort, by Mists supposedly created when Io was split in half to form Bahumat and Tiamat. Now because of this the city was hidden by Tiamat in an effort to hide his shame at the creatures that sometime arose from the mists, while Bahumat protected it, seeing its people's potential for good no one of the outside world even knew of its existence.
So the hidden city remained for countless millennium until one among their number decided to venture out and so was forbidden to return to Attilan for all his days. This man founded a small town to call his own beginning as little more than a home for those who, like himself, were outcasts. This town became known as New Attilan and for a while became a city," he paused for a moment as realized he had gone off in a tangent during explanation of the nature of the paladin "it is not known exactly how but the man used whatever gift he possessed to either woo or save a chosen of Bahumat, stories differ, some even say they married; well anyway the chosen pledged a bloodline of Paladins to protect whomever ruled the city believing it would always be a descendant of the man or even the man himself as some stories claim the mists made him immortal, this sadly was not to be. So it is entirely possible that the Paladin has no choice, not that that excuses him."

[Dhavaer]

"Murder. Well then. How many guards does Maximus control?" Nemeia mutter to the bartender.

[TheLastMan]

The pointed hatted man with the tonic water looked up as the bartender finished he had a far away look on his face before he spoke "Desmond, this inn used to be called 'the Inhuman house' before some of Durran's supporters painted over the sign didn't it?" The odd man asked with a knowing smile.
"I knew you'd be the one to bring that up, I know full well you know why even better than me. This building was supposedly the home the man from Attilan built for himself all those years ago,"the bartender answered with a smirk.
"And so long as Bahamut protects the ruler of this place through that Paladin this building can never be destroyed," the young man finished.
"Iye, if you believe old wives tails, I just wish i could keep the damn place clean like my wi... like it used to be," he finished somberly, rubbing his eyes again with the cloth.

[TheLastMan]

"To answer your question Nemeia, he controls 16 barely trained infantry, 12 guards, four of whom patrol the village borders, four whom protect him and the final four who do his dirty work. Along with three mages of which only one has ever questioned whether or not magic has a color, though another does have an interesting idea for a culinary invention known as the spork. Oh yes and Dorran is quite partial to the color orange, jello and enemies who take long walks off short cliffs... oh and he's not a cat person," the odd man answered quickly in a matter of fact kind of way, looking up from his tonic water with wide eyes.
"How did you...?" The bartender questioned confused at his friend's ramblings.
"I read today's script," The odd man with the pointed hat answered calmly.
"What?" The bartender asked again looking for an actual answer.
"Script, text, writing on paper, I read it on a list that was in that drunken guard's pocket. he didn't seem to notice, the bits about Dorran I added for comedic flair."
"Oh..." The bartender simply said as he tried to make sense of what his friend had said, which was normal as he considered this particular friend to be few gnolls short of a pack.

[Ifni]

Kiiya looks thoughtfully at the man in the pointed hat. "You seem to be... well-informed. I take it this Durran lives up in the fort? Do his guards and mages spend most of their time there, apart from the four who patrol the village?" She looks warily at the humans in the bar. I wonder how they feel about the Chief Justice...

[TheLastMan]

"He's been sleeping in the fort ever since the other half of New Attilan got burned, probably to avoid retribution, knowing the people round here wouldn't need proof. His personal guard takes the night shift off and are replaced by the untrained infantry. The mages from what I heard tend to keep to themselves; they're not exactly the most loyal bunch so if you take by surprise they might just surrender if you promised not to kill them. but anyway if you go through the tunnels you shouldn't have a problem avoiding any Durran supporters or guards roaming the street," The man with the pointed hat answered cheerfully in reply to Kiiya's question.
"And who says that they want to go to that fort?" The bartender asked slightly curious.
"Well with the weapons they're carrying they don't exactly look like they're here to see the sights," the odd man answered with his trademark grin.
"Isn't that right Pip?" He added.
"What?" Pip said looking away from the haggard blond haired man for a moment to see who had called him.
"Shut ups Pip!" Thorgrim barked before returning to trying to convince the blond haired man that Trolls did indeed lay eggs and that he did indeed have one to sell in his pack.
"Exactly," he finished.

[Dhavaer]

"Where can we find these tunnels?"

[Malek]

- You seem to be awfully willing to share this information... - Roghar remarked - Especially so, considering that we just met.

[TheLastMan]

"I like you," the odd man said with a chuckled as he looked over at Roghar "You're either smart enough to realize I'm leaving something out or you're just generally not very trusting, both qualities I quite admire. You guys have to realize a few things yourselves before you go to get yourselves killed. You came in to a tavern before any other building, you're obviously not merchants, you're carrying weapons and you're not from around here; Durran's going to put two and two together and realize you're a group of adventurers and seeing as the only paths out of New Attilan are watched by his guard he'll be on high alert until you leave town. Not just that but some people think that Durran ahs some sort of magical ability, I'm guessing from a minor demonic pact so guards might not be your only problem, he might have friends. Then you have to consider the validity of the list of troops, for all I know it might be old or not include certain troops for different reasons. Also with the decrease in population Durran probably booby trapped the place in case of a revolt by the people. Despots tend to be very careful people. he smiled as he spoke but the bartender's face had a horrified look on it, believing his odd friend had lost them the help of the adventurers.
"It's not as bad as he makes out," the bartender tried to reassure half-heartedly.
"But what you also need to know is that this is not a trap, at least not on my part, you see I can't take the paladin let alone his forces in combat but you may be able to. You see I gain from you removing Durran so the reason I'm telling you all I know, as unreliable as it is, is to give you the best chance of helping me I can. I ain't exactly doing this for truth, justice and the Attilan way. I want a win for once and you're my best weapon," he finished with a little less of a smile.

[TheLastMan]

"The tunnels are not to far from here in the basement of one the housing buildings. The place is abandoned but it's connected directly to the fort through a cavern system," The bartender replied in a shushed tone.
"Cavern system that also use to be used as a sewage system," the odd man added with a smirk.
"Stop trying to scare them off!" The bartender replied angrily.
"I can take you there if you want," the odd man asked, using a somewhat serious tone for the the first time.

What do you do?

[Ifni]

"And who might you be?" Kiiya asks, looking searchingly at the odd man in the pointed hat. "What would you gain from us removing Durran, if we were even willing to contemplate such a risk?"

Maybe better to flee now, rather than walk deeper into the trap. Of course, it's always possible he's telling the truth, or part of it.

[TheLastMan]

"All I want is a single crystal that has sadly fallen into Durran's possession," he told her dryly "and I will tell you who I am when you have given me that gem, and not before."

[Dhavaer]

"Will you at least tell us what the crystal is?"

[TheLastMan]

"It's the only object of any value that the founder of New Attilan brought with him when he fled Attilan."