CH. 9: Winter is Coming

[Chris1234]

Shima doesn't quite understand Gregeddin's meaning, but he nods sagely and shuffles towards the door, intending to match the others pace for pace when they reach the street.

[Haahque]

"You'll have to forgive my friends of being a little suspicious of any good new help I aquire. I find us some of the best heroes in the city, but I also sometimes pick up no good scoundrels who mean us harm."

Once the others are out of his room, Haahqae will lock it like usual, not that the room or anything in it is worth all that much anyways. Then, he'll join them.

[Chris1234]

Shima nods, "Of course, I understand," and waits for the self-professed juggler, then following the gnome when he heads off to join his friends.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin, Tulbas, Gobax and Shima (Deserted Building)
The gnome, the human, the elf, the goblin and the dwarf all head outside, back into the biting cold. An adult red dragon flies by them, patrolling the city lazily. His massive body blocks out the sun every time he passes over. Now and again, he swoops down or roars, evidently taking great delight in scaring the crap out of whoever is below him.

The five make their way north, to the harbor district, arriving at what seems to be a deserted building. The windows are boarded up, the paint was peeling, and they can see at least one small hole in the roof from their vantage points. The door hangs wide open.

Inside is a large, singular room. Immediately to the right is a nook that may have once been a living space for squatters before the army shipped away all of the homeless. There is a rope tied from one side of the nook to the other with old, smelly furs hanging from it, perhaps to provide a slight bit of privacy. There are old sleeping bags in the nook, stained and reeking. Beyond the nook, on the right side, is a small table with a few chairs around it. By the table is a pile of trash--old clothes with holes in them, food remains (fish bones, etc), broken pieces of wood, and so forth. At the far end of the right side of the room is a single bed that looks to have been smashed apart for kindling, only some of it still remaining.

Immediately to the left is a sort of kitchen area. There's a table with a bench next to it. Flies buzz around the remains of rotted food on the table. There are a couple of barrels near the table that hold small amounts of brackish water. Further down is a fireplace, cold, dark and empty of wood; a couple of old chairs sit before it. At the far end of the left side is a double bed, its sheets removed and the mattress stained and odoriferous.

At the far, back end of the room--directly across from the entrance, stand a couple of bookcases against the wall. One is completely empty. The other has a few book covers on it, the pages themselves having been torn out. The empty one has been moved aside to reveal an open door that leads to a descending staircase.

Kendra Greylock (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Norris takes the dress and Kendra returns to the streets. It's now Seventh Watch and the party is at Twelfth Watch. She has five hours. She know just needs to decide where she intends to begin her patrol.

Arulia Seroth (Steel Tankard Inn, Common area)
The young woman nods knowingly. "Con artists, then? You know, I think I have heard something about a pair of women who scammed people out of their money before. One dark skinned, one light skinned? They went by different names, though." She leans forward and grins. "If you can get me names of these worshipers of other gods, I am sure I can use my connections on the street to find these women for you."

Felran and Ne-Chanz (Steel Tankard Inn, staircase)
Felran heads downstairs and Ne-Chanz heads upstairs. The two meet up with each other in the middle.

[mgbevan]

As the group approaches the building, Gregeddin hops on the end of one of Haahqae's stories of their adventures, the one about the blue cloaked maiden they rescued, "So just to introduce myself formally, I am Gregeddin from the tales and you can probably put together who is who, or who was in some cases... But what I'd like to know is who are you and what kind of things do you do or are good at?" The bard speaks addressing the dwarf

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra heads back to the marketplace, as that was where she was told to patrol in the first place.

[Chris1234]

"Hello Gregeddin, my greetings to you," returned the dwarf with a bow. "My name is Shima. Well, I'm not very good at traditional jobs, making or selling things and so forth. But I am quite good at finding paths, blazing trails. Particularly underground; that's a specialty. I'm adequate with weapons, better than most but not so good as some.Hmmm I have some ability to move around undetected, but that needs a lot more practice. I know seven languages, work hard, am completely trustworthy love stories of adventure and daring-do and wish that I could juggle.."

[djhyland]

Seeing Shima and the others leave, Arulia pushes her chair back and rises. "That does sound like them, but...I've got business to attend to, and it looks like my companions are leaving without me. I'll...uh...see if I can find...find the people you're looking for, but I must go. If I look for you down in the harbor, what name can I ask for?"

After making a few more hurried apologies to excuse herself, Arulia hurriedly leaves the tavern to chase down her companions. She's pretty sure that they're going back to the den of the Belzorites. Without the gnome or the bard, she's unable to go back to retrieve her armor and weapon, but it can't be helped. Hoping that she can catch the others before they get there, she follows the most likely route from the tavern to the abandoned building.

(OOC: I was hoping that the others would at least let her know that they were leaving! I guess Arulia needs to keep her eye on the ball, as it were.)

[TristenC]

[OOC: hang on a second. I wanted to get my weapons and stuff before returning... Did we all seriously just approach the lair of Belzor unarmed?]

[BishGada]

"Few years! What a pity our roads didn't cross earlier. These last few weeks were, well... desperate to say the least."

In answer to the goblin question "The church actually asked Magnus to deal with it. If you don't know Magnus, it is only for your own good. He is evil mage who just happened to murder my uncle in front of my eyes and took over our house." rage ignites in Tulbas eyes as he speaks. "Gregeddin wanted Magnus to help him with studying spells, so Magnus delegated the task to him and suggested I'll join him to practice my skills... And I... am helpless against this creature... Not that I don't dream everyday of thousands ways of revenge... But I also dream of the ways I might have changed Raetmal's fate and it breaks my heart." his voice get lower as the sentence continue until it completely disappears.

=======================================================
(OOC: I just saw your Ninja post and I agree, we wouldn't go without our weapons.)

[Haahque]

(Haahqae's got his weapons. Weapons permit and all, we were just at his room.)

Haahqae hadn't realized Magus killed Tulbas's uncle in front of him. "Wow, that's rough."

[TristenC]

Grubnick listens closely to Tulbas' story, shaking his head sadly. That is terrible... I am truly sorry for your predicament. Perhaps together we can find a way to free you from this. Don't blame yourself, if he is as powerful as you say with the backing of the current occupation there was little you could have done but join your family... perhaps we will eventually be able to find a way to release you from his grip. Do your best not to draw suspicion from him, and we will keep our eyes open for an opportunity...

The goblin pats him comfortingly on the back. I hate to say, it is unlikely I could have prevented things from going differently. I only recently came to the city about a week or so ago. I had been staying with some Dwarves and my mentor until then. He only recently felt I was ready to adventure into the world on my own... I am still young as goblins go, but he taught me much...

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin, Tulbas, Arulia, Gobax and Shima (Deserted Building)
"My name is Elara," says the young woman to Arulia just as she runs out. The cleric quickly catches up with the others and convinces them to go back to her house for her weapons. Tulbas and Gobax want to do the same.

By the time the party goes to the High Hand so Gobax can get his gear, then to Arulia's so she can get her gear, then back to the mageware shop so Tulbas can get his gear, then return to the deserted building, it is already Seventh Watch.

Kendra Greylock (Outside the Ivy Inn)
Kendra returns to the merchant district and begins her patrol. As she walks the streets, people give her a wide berth upon seeing her Dragonarmy uniform. It was strange. When she was a Holy Guard most people treated her with respect. Only criminals or those who had something to hide treated her with fear. But now everyone was afraid of her, whether they were guilt of something or not.

While walking near the Ivy Inn, she spots a small boy, perhaps 8 or 9 years of age, sneaking around. He comes up behind a wealthy looking merchant type and with a deftness that belies his age, he lifts the man's coin purse without being noticed.

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra watches the kid for a moment before she comes up behind him. She waits for him to leave the merchant he just robbed from before she finally approaches him. She doesn't want to make a huge scene. "Hey, kid," she says as she reaches out to grab his arm (though she is gentle about it). "I think you might have something that doesn't belong to you."

[Chris1234]

As the party get back to the High Hand, Shima asks "Will I need my weapons? Because, honestly, right now I can't afford the 5 steel for the license, and it would take time to get it. If you folks have a license, maybe you could sort-of piggy-back one or more of my weapons on your license? So you carry the weapon until we get where it's needed and not in sight of the army.."