CH. 8: Proving Worth

[djhyland]

Seeing Pen don his armor with the intent of walking through town armed and ready, Arulia hastily dons her armor too before leaving the inn. After so long, her armor feels both uncomfortable and reassuring. And above all, she's nervous...a feeling that doesn't get any better with the scrutiny at each checkpoint. Not only is she going off to put her life on the line even if it's to rescue someone from a false cult, she's certainly drawing the attention of the Dragonarmy by parading through town in her armor. She swallows her fear down, though...a job is a job, and if she can make good money doing this, she and her sisters can choose to marry or not as they see fit. (OOC: With arms and armor, Arulia is now carrying around 66 lbs of gear, which lightly encumbers her and drops her movement rate to 10.)

Once in the dilapidated building, Arulia stands back to avoid crowding Haahqae as he examines the hidden entrance and remains silent. When Haahqae requests help in moving the bookcase, though, she steps forward to volunteer.

[TristenC]

Once we get it open, perhaps we should send someone to scout the room and report back on the guards there, that way we can each pick our targets without getting in anyone's way. i'd like to find our friend without alerting the entire complex at once... Haahque, I know you are particularly qiet and stealthy. Would you do the honors?

[Haahque]

"Yep, can do. I'll be so quiet you'll be able to hear a feather fall." Haahqae replies cheerfully.

(After getting the bookcase out of the way, Haahqae will hide and move silently down the stairway to scout out the room, then return to the others)

[TristenC]

Everyone stand ready, just in case... Grubnick says, suiting his own words by taking a position near the entrance but to one side.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
Haahqae looks over the area around the bookcase while Arulia moves it aside, revealing a simple door. The blood has been cleaned up, but beyond that, the gnome doesn't see anything unusual or noteworthy.

Quietly opening the door, Haahqae sneaks down the stairs, hugging the wall and staying in the shadows. He finds the guard room below identical to how it was before, save for the occupants. There are four humans with snake features here (among them is the same archer in leathers they faced before), and one Histachii. The other humans include a woman in robes carrying a staff, a man in chain mail carrying a short sword, and another man in chain mail carrying a hand axe.

They are not playing khas or otherwise preoccupied, but instead are alert and battle-ready. Some are pacing the room, others are anxiously polishing their weapons. When Haahqae takes that last step, it squeaks audibly. This gets everyone's attention. "Did you hear that?" asks the archer. "Quickly, everyone into position. Don't forget the plan." The Histachii and two warriors stand in front of the woman, who in turn stands to guard the door. The archer heads up into the corner and nocks an arrow. They don't see Haahqae, else they would likely attack, but they are clearly on guard and expecting trouble at any second.

==========

Haahqae searches for traps near the bookcase [TN 25%] (1d100): 55, fail. He finds no traps.
Haahqae attempts to hide in the shadows [TN 70%] (1d100): 31, pass.
Haahqae attempts to move silently down the stairs [TN 85%] (1d100): 86, fail.

Key:
h - Haahqae
G - Gregeddin
A - Aruila
g - Gobax
N - Ne-Chanz
F - Felran
p - Pen
X - Xyleena
Y - Yvette
i - Ismene
B - Bowman
SS - Short Sword wielder
Ha - Hand Axe wielder
St - Staff wielder
Hi - Histachii

Deserted Building 12.jpg (23.33 KiB) Viewed 5378 times

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
Krup had already turned away when Kendra spoke. He stops to listen, then turns back toward her, turning his head so he can look at her with his good eye appraisingly. Then he chuckles. "Well, I like your enthusiasm, if nothing else. If you kill elves as well as you kill your own teammates, you should prove useful. Alright, you're in. Follow me, and we'll round up the rest of the group."

Krup walks around the courtyard, searching. Every now and again he'll point to a Baaz, gesture or shout "You!" to them, and they grab their gear and fall into line with him. Soon there are four others, not including Kendra and Krup.

"Well now," Krup says once he has gathered everyone. "Time for introductions. This is our new recruit, Greylock."

"This is Grev, one of our bravest warriors," Krup says, pointing to a Baaz that is shorter than Kendra, but heavily muscled and carrying a short sword.

"Fresh meat, huh?" asks Grev, looking Kendra up and down. "Well, if nothing else, at least we'll have something pretty to look at."

"This is Tern," continues Krup, pointing to a Baaz carrying a whip and several daggers on his belt. "He's a top notch interrogator, should we take any of the elves alive."

Tern grins, bearing his teeth, and Kendra notices he is missing a few. "She's the one who killed Tez, yeah? Now she's going on missions with us. Must be nice...having the captain's favor," he notes.

"This here is Perp," Krup says, pointing to the third draconian. This Baaz is almost entirely dark green in color, instead of bronze like the others. He carries a spear and seems unable to meet Kendra's gaze. He instead mostly looks at the ground, almost as if embarrassed. "He's a fresh recruit, just like you. Hasn't seen a real battle yet up close. This should be good practice for him when we march tomorrow."

"Finally, this is Slinn," Krup finishes, gesturing to the last Baaz. This one is lean, having more of a swimmer's build than anything. Oddly, he carries no weapons at all. "He's a good tracker, and should be able to help us find the elves. If there are any elves to begin with. Intel can be faulty at times."

"I hope there are elves," Slinn comments. "It's been too long since I killed anything."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra resists the urge to roll her eyes at Grev, so she simply nods to all of them after they are introduced. She knew that the intel that they had was no wrong, but she didn't say anything to that matter. "There are a lot of places to search around the outskirts of Haven that the elves could be hiding, if there are any to begin with."

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
While Haahqae is scouting things out, Gregeddin says softly to Gobax, "You remember what happened last time he went down there alone? Better be ready for anything," he cautions.

Pen, meanwhile, says to Arulia, "You said earlier you were a Holy Guard, right? So you've probably fought cultists before? I remember when the Belzorites ran this town, before the Seekers took over 6 years ago. I was only 15 then. Were you one of the original Seekers who helped take them down?" he asks while passing the time.

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
"We better get started then," says Krup. "Let's move out." The group departs the old fort, heading for the city's gate.

"So, what are we doing for competition this time?" asks Tern.

"First to find the elves," offers Perp.

"Nah, whoever kills the most elves, Slinn counters.

"Yeah, that one sounds better," Grev agrees. "And winner...what, drinks free when we get back?"

"Psh, we drink free anyway," Slinn points out. "Nah, something more interesting." He pauses a moment, then looks Kendra up and down. "How about winner gets a night of 'training' with our new recruit?"

Grev chuckles. "I bet she could teach us a few new wrestling moves."

Tern laughs boisterously. "I sure think Perp likes the idea. Ya should have seen his face when you mentioned it, Slinn!"

"I--no, I didn't!" Perp argues.

"Don't mind Perp," Tern says to Kendra. "This is probably the closest he's ever been to a female before!" Tern, Slinn and Grev all laugh at Perp's expense.

"That's not...not true, I've been with lots of females," Perp claims, but this only elicits further laughter.

"Don't feel bad, kid. Maybe if you kill enough elves, you might impress her," Grev offers.

"Or if you do so pathetically, she might feel sorry enough for you," Tern adds.

[TristenC]

Grubnick nods, looking a little perturbed. Surely he wouldn't repeat that little debacle? One look at Gregeddin's face told him that might be too much to hope for. With a heavy sigh, he whispers back See if you can hear anything going on down there.

Turning back to the group, he speaks quietly. We should have our fastest moving melee fighters ready to go in first, that way the slower ones wont block the stair. From what I remember the room isn't large, but there are a lot of stairs before it. It will be cramped, so anyone with ranged attacks should get those ready; all our fighters won't be able to make it to the front. He suits his own words by taking out his sling and loading a lead bullet. Last time there was an archer that almost killed Haahque. I thing our ranges attacks should focus on any they have. Casters over archers.

Looking at the group, he prepares himself.

[Haahque]

As Haahqae stands, hidden pressed up against the wall a thousand different thoughts and plans of action flick across his mind. His decision to do each less likely due to personal restraint then due to thinking up a new strategy before his previous one had fully formed as an idea.

He could throw a rock across the room to distract them.
He could try and learn ventriloquism here and use that to distract them instead. He's seen ventriloquists before, it can't be that hard.
He could cast a spell to make them think that it was just a mouse, or an insect or some other small inconsequential creature that made the sound.
He could draw his weapon and attack them while he had the element of surprise, then call down his reinforcements from above.
He could try and sneak back up the stairs to warn his companions.
He could pretend to be the voice of Belzor ordering them to bow down to him. That one sounds fun.
He could pretend that he's brought the entire army and demand that they surrender or face the worse then death consequences.

What he ends up doing is staying very still, hidden and motionless until they seem to calm down, or take some sort of action against him.

[HorizonsDream]

"Or," Kendra finally chimes in as she moves next to Perp. She puts her arm around him, and grins to the others. "I might just do it out of spite for the rest of you." Despite the fact she wasn't exactly comfortable around all of these draconians, she decided that the new people should at least stick together. "Out of all of you, he seems to be the only one that hasn't thought about slamming me up against a wall, and taking what they want out of me."

[djhyland]

Arulia shakes her head in response to Pen's question. "We are the same age, then," she says just loud enough for Pen to hear. "No, I was 15 then, too--too young for my mother to let me join the guard. She didn't like it when I joined a few years later, either, but at least by that time I'd grown to be a woman and she couldn't really keep me from it any more. Its just as well, I guess...my armor wouldn't have fit me when the Seekers came to power." After a moment of silence, she asks, "What were you doing when you were 15? For that manner, what do you do now when you're not going down into dark places to fight monsters?"

At Grubnick's suggestion, Arulia hefts her mace and steps forward. "I'm not the fastest, but I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be," she stammers. "If nobody's faster, I'll take the front."

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
Haahqae holds perfectly still in the shadows while the guards tensely wait for something to happen. "Maybe it was just a mouse?" suggests the man with the axe.

"Don't lower your guard for anything," the archer warns. "One of them can change shape and become invisible. You have to be ready for anything. They'll stop at nothing to destroy us all."

Meanwhile, back upstairs Gregeddin spends a couple of minutes listening carefully, then shakes his head at Gobax. "Nothing. Either he's dead or captured...or more likely, he went in deeper, leaving the rest of us behind again."

"What were you doing when you were 15? For that manner, what do you do now when you're not going down into dark places to fight monsters?"

"Going on adventures, traveling the world," Pen admits, drawing his sword. "Nowadays, I mostly just avoid the soldiers. That takes up a lot of my time. They don't really like kender, especially ones that carry weapons." He shrugs.

==========

Gregeddin makes a Detect Noise check [TN 20%] (1d100): 72, fail.

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
The other Baaz hoot, whistle and holler in response to Kendra.

"Hear that, Perp?" asks Slinn. "The bigger assholes we are to you, the more likely we're going to get you laid. We're helping you!"

"The sacrifices we make for one of our brothers," Tern laments facetiously, shaking his head.

Perp doesn't seem to know what to do or how to react. He looks at Kendra with surprise, clearly not having expected this new development at all.

Grev chuckles. "Poor bastard wouldn't even know what to do with her."

"Alright, boys," Krup intervenes as they approach the city gate. "Let's settle down."

[TristenC]

Let's give him a few more seconds. keep listening, if he'd been attacked, surely we would hear it.

Turning back to the group, Everyone understand their part? Taller and faster melee fighters in front, he points to the minotaur, Felran, Xyleena and Arulia. Try spread out so we engage each enemy. Shorter fighters and ranged attackers next, he indicates himself, pen, ismene and Yvette. Aim for casters first if you can reach them to disrupt their spells. Stand ready...

Grubnick listens at the passage with Gregeddin...

[HorizonsDream]

"I don't think any of you would know what to really do with me if given the chance," Kendra admits as she lets Perp go, and shrugs at him as if trying to say sorry. She then looks to the city gates. ~The last time I was out of the city was when we all went to fight kobolds in that cave,~ she thinks to herself.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
Gobax removes his cap and listens carefully, but hears nothing. It's quiet...too quiet. The seconds tick by, and nothing happens.

"Something has gone wrong," Gregeddin reasons. He draws his sword. "We will likely have to go in and rescue him. Again."

===========

Gobax makes a Detect Noise check [TN 15%] (1d100): 98, fail.

Kendra Greylock (Haven's Vale)
"Those of us who wouldn't know would still make eager students, I'm sure," Slinn says with a chuckle.

The area of Haven's Vale looks very different than it did two weeks ago, when Kendra last passed through here on her way to Bear's mine. For one thing, the entire vale is white now, blanketed in a thin layer of frost. But more than that, the hundreds of refugees camped here were gone. But there were numerous reminders of their presence, including litter and trash that they left behind when they lived here. As the group walks, Kendra even spots a small, ragged doll that likely belonged to some child before they were rounded up and carted off to who knows where.

"Alright," Krup says, looking around. "Any ideas on where we should begin our search?"