The Demon (Adventure Thread)

[dresdor]

The other groups start packing up and moving out. Xis notices that three of the groups that said they were heading to the site of the dead guard are heading the same way.

The other groups are heading out different directions. After a few minutes you are the only ones left in the courtyard, though the other groups are still visible.

[Rathgar]

Lege

"Well, we might as well go to the scene of the crime. See if we can pick up any clues before the scene deteriorates too dramatically. Who's with me?"

[lostsole31]

"A leader doesn't know all that must happen, but depends on those who are expert in their respective fields for advice. A good leader's job is to keep a cool head in a crisis, filter out that data, and then commit to action." Valnorath looks at Lege, "I will provide counsel, but I believe you to be that leader among us, Lege."

"And I agree, Marali," Valnorath continues, "a safe-point, a return area is a very good idea. Well done."
.....
[When Jaggers mentions about questioning dead guards ...]

Valnorath blanches and stops with a jerk of his head and his eyes going slightly wide, before he composes himself. "Ahem, Jaggers, I didn't mean that you should 'question' them. I merely figured that if you are very knowledgeable in the bodies of the dead, that you might have skill with the bodies of the living as well. Are you a skilled practitioner of 'mundane' healing arts? That is what I meant ... not ripping a fraction of a man's soul from his deserved afterlife to play 20 questions! Such things are meant for those who lived an ill life."

"In any case, it seems we are being left behind. May I recommend the Mystic Ale Lodge [OOC...] here in town? We are, it appears, of some limited means, and I have heard that they offer decent fare and board for an appropriate price.

"Lege, is that acceptable? Shall we leave now?"

[Fixer]

[When Valnorath mentions ill life]

"Hey, I can assure you those times in the bar were not enough justification to be questioning me after I might happen to die! I prefer to consider my life colorful."

Marali smiles immensely, then laughs at her own joke.

"I am going to go make some contacts, then get information out of them. I will meet one of you back here at nightfall so you can tell me where we're staying."

With that Marali quickly dashes off after one of the groups NOT going towards where the dead guards remains were found.

[OOC: If the GM wants to stop Marali from separating, this last part can simply not happen.]

[Rathgar]

Lege

"I'm sorry, I though everyone already had a place to stay. I still have a place in the barracks, at lest for a little while longer. But if someone doesn't have lodging yet, we should go ahead and find somewhere before it gets dark. Though I am still a little worried about the crime scene. Oh well, I'm sure it's already fairly well documented by the watch."

[DJDeMiko]

Shorrusshumm

"I will join you . . . for a-ssss long a-sss we find each other usefull," Shorrusshumm says with sibilant s's. "I wield dangerouss magicss, but am sstill only one . . . man . . . and their is ssafety in numbersss."

[lostsole31]

"I volunteer to stay here for you, Marali. I believe that there are skills a person can best do alone or with limited company, and I would not want to dissuade you from an excellent course of action simply because of some misguided sense of 'unit integrity.' The Saint speed you on your journey.

"Lege, I require neither food or sleep, and in truth there are many of my kind - more powerful than myself for I am lowest among my kind - whose very purpose is eternal vigilance."

[Ninja'ed by DJ! Dice...]

[dresdor]

To the two motive sensors:

You both feel that this individual means no harm to you and is looking to be of use to the party (for whatever reasons). He does genuinely believe he wields powerful magic.

Beyond that, nada.

[Sir Shadow]

COLOR="Green"]"That is what I meant ... not ripping a fraction of a man's soul from his deserved afterlife to play 20 questions! Such things are meant for those who lived an ill life."[/COLOR]

Despite any trouble they others might have had noticing a blush from him, they would certainly see the color of his scales deepen with splashes of red. "WHAT??? How dare you!? No true servant of The Arbiter would think of manipulating a soul against its will! To speak with the dead, is merely to learn what is in the mind of the corpse, the soul is never touched!!!"

Visibly, he took deep breathes to calm himself down. "Anyways, the spell wouldn't work if somebody else had already used it on the corpse for information... So it's an unreliable way to go about getting information, we'd have to hope nobody else had gotten there first. No, I'm not a skilled physician. My skills are more focused on putting down the living dead, not mending those that still breath. I guess I could join Marali and try to find out something..."

He glanced around, noticing that the hour was growing late and the other groups were already setting out. As he heard the latest stranger approach, he felt a different type of outrage burning inside him. That accent was all too familiar.

[Hellbore]

Vaen

"I will accompany you also" Vaen said. "I wish to see the crime scene for myself, though we should probably wait until tommorow. I will abide by your decision... Lege, was it?"

Turning to the elf cleric, he spoke in elven, "It's probably best if you just follow. Your skills will likely be needed."

At the approach of the newcomer, Vaen wondered at the strange accent, but let it pass. He began thinking back on what he has learned, to see if he could think of anything that may help.

[Rathgar]

Lege

"Well, we might as well go ahead and begin stocking up on any equipment we'll need for our trip to the scene. It'll take us about a day to get there, so we need to go ahead and get everything together today so that we can get up early in the morning and depart. Unless you want to either travel through the darkness or stop midway."

[OOC - Fixed based upon below statement]

[dresdor]

OOC: only problem I see is that the crime scene is 1 day's journey away from here.

[MorhgorRB]

"Well! It seems we know where we're going, if not the order of the walking line!" She says, lifting her hood back onto her shoulders, and shaking out her hair. "So... we going to the Inn first? I mean, walking all night might be alright with you people... but I'm accustomed to a more comfortable way, you know?"

[Rathgar]

Lege

Lege laughed in response to the girl's statement. "I'm sorry, sometimes I come across as being more serious that I really am. I was only being sarcastic about traveling in the middle of the night." Lege looked at the girl for a second or too. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself to you yet. My name is Lege. And your name would be...?"

[ForzaFiori]

Amras

I too will come with you. I know little of the mundane arts of healing, but it is possible that there may be other clues to sort out. Amras says to Lege. However, before we go, I for one would like a nights rest, preferably at a fairly cheep in to conserve my coin.

[DJDeMiko]

Shorrusshumm

"SSleep? but it isss only midday. Their are many hourss of daylight left and the other groupss will have an entire day on usss."

[MorhgorRB]

Shorrusshumm

"SSleep? but it isss only midday. Their are many hourss of daylight left and the other groupss will have an entire day on usss."

Extends her hand to Lege, "Well, you can call me Xis. It's easier than bothering with my full name." She tilts her head to the more serpentine tongued one, "Well, of course we're not wasting today... but there's no point in travelling through the night when we spent all this time coming to hear this proclamation... We'll be too tired on our feet to manage anything! Besides, I need a bit of time in civilization, I've been almost week on the road here, and camping is great, but I need a hot bath just about now..."

[Hellbore]

Vaen

"I agree with Xis. It might be an idea to for some of us to to stock up on supplies, while others secure rooms for tonight." Pulling back the hood of his cloak, he ran his hands through his short dark hair. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one plan to spend tonight in comfort."

[Rathgar]

Lege

"Well, I guess it's settled then. We'll stay tonight and meet back here at 0900 hours. I already have everything I'll need, plus lodging for the night, so I'll go and see if I can get any more clues from the authorities here before we leave. I know that they most likely weren't there, but they can at least send us on the right path.".

[ForzaFiori]

I'm set for supplies, so I think I'll head to the inn. Where are we meeting tomorrow?

[MorhgorRB]

Xis

"Well, if that's all then!" She waves, heading off down the road, pausing only a moment to call back, "See you in the morning!" She looks about town for a while, checking at various inns and stopping by a few of the roomier taverns to see how the accomadations are.

[lostsole31]

"Well, in that case, I shall leave the vigil of the yard here, and return at mid-morning tomorrow. I wish you all excellent endeavors, rest, and care."

Valnorath bows and departs the group.

[Valnorath's intentions from now to tomorrow are listed in the OOC thread.]

[Rathgar]

Lege

"Sorry for the lack of clarity. I meant where we now stand, more or less."

[ForzaFiori]

Excellent. I will see you tomorrow then. Amras walks into the city, heading towards the Mystic Lodge Inn that was mentioned earlier in the conversation. As he goes, he marks the way back to where they are to meet.

[Hellbore]

Vaen

"Very well, see you tomorrow" Unlike the others Vaen still had something to pick up, before heading to the Mystic Lodge Inn. One of those things included a crossbow.

[dresdor]

To ease things a bit, here is what those information gatherers (except Xis who did indeed just get a little drunk and flirted with) got:

It seems that several groups set off yesterday and got special information from the King.

Most groups seem to think heading West will lead them to the Demon.

A Lord General and his military escort headed West for unknown reasons yesterday.

Additionally, it seems that the King has recently been awarded the position of Lord Commander of the Knights of Jalatar.
______________

For simplicity's sake, those of you heading to an inn end up at the same one: The Mystic Lodge Inn (various others not having decent enough prices, available rooms & what-not). It is a simple inn with very decent prices (everyone who stays overnight subtract 2 silver for room & board). The fare is simple, but filling.

For those of you who are waiting for a certain dwarf, she eventually returns, smelling of smoke and stale ale.

Specific messages have been dispatched to those that saw more or differently than above, check your PM mailbox for info.

Time: about 6PM. The sun is setting.

[DJDeMiko]

Shorrusshumm

Shorrusshum does not hide his annoyance at spending a day in town. He is a military "man" who wants to charge off after the monster and he views any time here as "wasted" considering that the meeting was over early in the day. When he turns in he makes pointed comments about needing an early start to make up for the fact that all the other groups have a days head start.

[Sir Shadow]

Jaggers

A lone kobold stands in the middle of the court that had been filled before. A few passerbys milled around, but he payed no heed to their inquisitive glances.

He yawned momentarily, Where is that dwarf? The little guy was actually surprised that he had arrived first. His information gathering had not gone so well, and he hoped that maybe she had faired better. There were rumors aplenty, but nothing really substantial that they could go off on. It appeared that the other groups had been rather tight-lipped.

[Rathgar]

Lege

After gaining what he deemed a satisfactory amount of information on the subject, Lege decided to return to his room in the barracks to think the clues over.

[dresdor]

In the interests of speeding this along a bit.

Those that wait for her to show up, your dear dwarf "War Surgeon" is a no-show.

Those at the inn, you wake refreshed and ready to start the day. It will take you about 8 hours at a brisk pace to get to the Black Dragon and where the guard was killed.