[D&D 3.5] - Legends.

[Vox Clamantis]

Lu Xian

The slender mystic is flabbergasted and trying not to show it. One minute they're arguing and the next they're giving each other nicknames! He desperately tries to roll with the punches, struggling to maintain calm self-possession.

I will of course do whatever is necessary to prevent an unjust war, noble lady.

He'll be scourged by three devils before he calls the royal family by their first names.

[Xanos]

The queen smiles at Lu Xian. "That is indeed nice to hear, foreigner. Your hand will be most welcome in this matter. Unjust war - and deaths - are what we seek to prevent by sending you on this mission."

[MistressBaerne]

Samantha smiles slightly at the foreigner's obvious discomfort with this unusual familiarity, a feeling that she shares.

"It would be my pleasure to assist Your Majesties in whatever manner I may."

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi bursts out laughing

"Ara ara ara! Hound, seems the king likes you. Perhaps you should join the guard instead? All joking aside. Its a simple infiltration mission. We probably won't even have to cross the boarder. Drop this barrier and I can get it all taken care of. You can pay me and we can leave."

[Xanos]

The king looks at Ahuhi, and gives him a gentle smile. "Ah, but Ahuhi, if it was only that simple. We are dealing with one of the most powerful nations in the world, and this is not an assignment to be taken lightly. Your contacts and methods will be used in due time, do not assume we do not know of where you hail from, Ahuhi of the Crescent Moon.
But yes, it is indeed a mission requiring infiltration and stealth. Though, perhaps, not in the common sense. You will meet up with an old friend of mine, who will see to your safety while you travel to Todim. The roads have become increasingly harsh to travel upon, with ruffians and bandits showing up everywhere now-a-days."

The queen shifts her glance from the foreigner to the lady. "Lady Greywater, that is also most appreciated. We will need you to uphold the.. Nobility, if you will, of the group. Seeing as you are the only noble, you will have the command, in a fashion. Captain Shepard will assume command should trouble arrise, but you should be ready to lead the group in all aspects of politics. This is a very important political matter, and we put faith in your skill to uphold the standards of court and of the nobles."

[Fishy]

Adar nods again slightly at the King's kind words. Ahuhi's laughter, however, just provokes another quiet glance. "I have not been called a Hound before," he comments dryly.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi levels a finger at Shepard

"Because it wasn't a reference to you. Wander the streets if you wanna learn the real value of a man of this country. The Palace and its environs arn't the proper garden for growth"

[Fishy]

Adar simply nods politely. "Ah, I apologize if I have offended. It must seem like I am not paying attention to you," he deadpans.

[Tyrael]

Shepard simply glances at Ahuhi, completely deadpan. His face doesn't budge a muscle at the insult, as immovable and implacable as a statue. After regarding Ahuhi coldly for a moment, he turns back towards the king. "Let me guess, we leave tomorrow?"

[Xanos]

The king nods slightly to Shepard. "As soon as possible, yes. Speed is of the essence." The king pulls out a map from behind his throne, and hands it out towards you. "Descriptions are on the other side. You are to meet up with my old, erh, colleague I suppose you can call him. Theodore Shadowsong, just south-east of Darthig. I suggest using the time before tomorrow to get to know eachother, you will have endure eachother's company for some time."

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi shrugs, winking to Shepard


"If thats all then? I'll just collect my blades and be on my way untill tommorow then. Rather not have to spend any more time with this lot then I absolutly have to."

[Tyrael]

Shepard simply nods, scrutinizing the map and nodding to himself. He then glances to the rest of the group. "Any questions?"

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

"I will of course do whatever I can to assist your majesties, while preserving my holy oath."

His brow furrows slightly.

Lady Greywater is the only noble present? Then my father has fallen so far in the court's esteem as to not even be counted among them. And it means that this dwarf is not considered of noble birth, although who knows how they count such things?

Guillaume pushes such matters aside for the time being, and speaks dispassionately.

How do we get this information back to you? Travel of this kind is not always directional, and if we do gain information about a conflict, I'm assuming that you won't want to wait until we are able to return to receive it. Will someone be scrying us at intervals, or could we use some sort of device to contact one of your advisors directly?

[MistressBaerne]

Samantha looks over the map, recognizing a few of the landmarks from her lessons concerning the geography of the region, and nods decisively.

"Your Majesties." She says with a bow, before turning to the rest of the group. "If there are no more questions, let's be off."

[llamamushroom]

Nirmaat Yantra

Standing on tip-toe to get a look at the map, Nirmaat is thoroughly confused by it. Eventually, he gets his frame of reference right, and tries to work out where they are. When this defeats him, Nirmaat decides to let the others do the navigating, and resolves himself to... well, he wasn't quite sure at this point, but it would be important. After all, he had created a rotating ball-joint when he was only 12, so he'd be able to come up with something.

Turning to their majesties, Nirmaat exclaimed,

"I'm all for it. Umm... when are we leaving?"

Spoiler

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Yes, I saw the when. Humour me.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi slaps his forhead

"In about 20 minutes. Hope thats alright with you bud. Your also to give all your cash to them for safe keeping. Bandits and all."

[Fishy]

"Yes, let's 'be off'."

[Tyrael]

GuillaumeHow do we get this information back to you? Travel of this kind is not always directional, and if we do gain information about a conflict, I'm assuming that you won't want to wait until we are able to return to receive it. Will someone be scrying us at intervals, or could we use some sort of device to contact one of your advisors directly?

Shepard pauses, glancing towards the royals and waiting for an answer while he tries to think of long-distance communication options that might be available.

[Xanos]

"Ah yes, of course. I apologize. You are to relay the information to one of my friends within the church of Tara. You see, arcane magic is monitored in Todim, but divine is not. Her name is Ilijana, and she will be in the cathedral of Tara in the capital city Loran. I'm sure Theodore will have some interesting things to say about her, aswell.
I am sorry I cannot dispose the requsite items for the journey such as horses and rations. We would rather have the mission go un-noticed by the other nobles and servants of the keep..." The king pauses for a moment, then pulls out a small sack from behing the throne, and throws it towards Shepard. It makes a loud thud as it hits the floor, and the clinking sound of coins can be heard. "Here, take this. It should cover the group's expenses from here to Todim."


The sack

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contains 4,000 gold

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

The priest bows over his cane.

Thank you, Majesty. You are most generous. I'm sure we will look forward to meeting Miss Ilijana.

He turns to the others, and smiles when Shepard picks up the sack. Since he seemed to be the only hold-out in a desire to depart, he leads the way out, turning after a few symbolic backward steps.

Outside the audience chamber, he smiles at the others.

I would suggest that a communal dinner might be an excellent way for us to get to know each other better, and perhaps begin discussions of how we wish to approach this challenge. That is.

He nods at Ahuhi.

For those of us who can bear the company of others. Mister Ahuhi, if you wish, we can arrange a rendez-vous point tomorrow morning. I would assume that, if you were to take some portion of that coin provided, you would be able to secure a mount for yourself?

[Tyrael]

Shepard nods, throwing it over his shoulder and saluting the two royals. As everyone else begins to file out, he follows.

Once outside the throne room, he reaches into his pocket and re-lights his interrupted cigar. "Right," he says authoritatively, looking around the group. "Unless we're all trooping out in our formal gear, I'm guessing everyone needs time to prep. I'll be holding onto this--" he hefts the sack. "--to cover any expenses on the road. If any of you need some cash for last-minute supplies, you can come see me and we'll work something out."

He unfolds the map he was given, and uses his cigar to point at the icon representing the city, then points at the south-eastern gate closest to their exit point for the journey. "Now, this here's the Brass Gate, little side entrance mostly used by farmers. Assuming speed really is of the essence and we want to leave today, we'll all meet up there in half an hour. I'll be stationed at the Watch house a street away from the gate, located here. For any newcomers to the city, the palace is located here." He points out both locations as well. "As I said before, if last-minute expenses crop up, that's where I'll be. Now, it takes about a week of foot travel to reach the border, and we want to be moving faster than that. There's a man I know in Cable Street, name of Alexander, he'll get some good horses for us. Once we meet back up at the Brass Gate, we'll make sure everyone's together and be off. Given the time of day, I'd estimate we can get in a good 5 or 6 hours of travel. On horseback, our journey will be about 2-4 days if conditions are good and we take it easy. We can make it in 1 or 2 by riding the things close to death, but we don't know how long we'll need them for."

He sucks on his cigar and blows the smoke out his nose. "So, meet at Brass Gate in half an hour and be ready to travel. I'll have our horses and we'll be good to go. Any questions?"

[Vox Clamantis]

Lu Xian

Lu Xian shakes his head.

I would advise against leaving tonight. For us to set out immediately after a royal audience would be most suspicious. With a dwarf in our midst, you can be sure that out movements will be noticed.

He glances at Guillaume, then at Ahuhi.

A friendly dinner would not be unexpected after meeting in court. Let us discuss our plans in a more private setting. A palace invites intrigue.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi shrugs

"Sorry. I rather not dine with you. I have things I have to do tonight before this all gets underway. But its good to see some people have the manners and the where with all to take all that into consideration. Your not all bad I guess.

I'll let you divide the coin. Rather not have people thinking I am taking more then my fair share. And i'll be taking my cloth's and blades back Your Lordship."

Ahuhi then extends a hand

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

I would also ask forebearance to wait until an early morning departure - with apologies, Mister Shepard.

The rectory at the Temple of Z'ra has a dining area with a private room. The food is simple but well-prepared. I'm sure that my superiors would not object to its use for this conversation.

Mister Shepard, it's been some small time since my last long-distance voyage. I have heard from the activities of others that pooling resources to ensure that there is a safe and reliable source of healing magics leads to a more successful endeavour. If there is consensus around using some of their Majesty's support for such an investment, I believe that my church would be able to provide it.

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Translation: if we invest 750gp of our 4K in a wand of lesser vigor (or a wand of cure light wounds, if you prefer), it'll make it easier for Guillaume to provide healing all around and still help out with dangerous situations.

And it doesn't have to be him holding the wand - I'm more than happy to have it reside with someone else who can reliably use it.

[Xanos]

((Nevermind. I'm stupid.))

[Tyrael]

Shepard stares at Guilllame, puffing his cigar thoughtfully. Personally, he didn't trust magic at all. It played havoc with police work and could scar a man for life, and whoever said that healing magic did the job perfectly? In his view, magic was dangerous and untrustworthy, but since this wasn't his group or, technically, his command, he didn't see any point in making a fuss about it.

He grunts and nods reluctantly, puffing a smoke ring off to the side. "Works for me. This amount of gold comes out to about 570 a share, so if it costs more than that, you'll have to persuade someone else to chip in on it." He begins setting out stacks of coins in equal shares for everyone. "If we're waiting 'till tomorrow to set out, we'll split up the funds here. Each person is in charge of securing his or her own transportation and whatever other supplies they need, horses and rations are recommended. Meeting place is still the Brass Gate. We'll head out just after dawn, if that's all right with everyone else. Any other questions?"

[Xanos]

Two royal guards enter through the door on the opposite side of the throne room, and hurries to the throne-room door. They place themselves on either side of the door, then turns around and stands at attention.


This is probably not the best place to talk, if you wish to be discreet.

[Innis Cabal]

Ahuhi turns, heading for the door

"Before Dawn. Now where are my things"

The last bit sounds more directed to no one in particular rather then the gathered people.

[Toliudar]

Guillaume

Guillaume smiles, and guides the others to a smaller chamber where a more private conversation can take place.

Thank you, Shepard, but that was not my intent. My suggestion was that we all contribute equally to the use of a wand designed to restore health in emergencies. Emergencies that seem to crop up with distressing regularity in such situations. But, if that is not your desire, I will drop the subject.

As for mounts, Mister Shepard, I would still be very grateful for your expertise in selecting a horse on my behalf. I have no training in such matters.

[Xanos]

((Emphazize on the fact that Ahuhi suddenly just took off. Not that any of you are surpriced by the fact.))