FC1 - CH 1: Welcome to Sturnheim

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi takes the man's hand to shake it with a small smile. "Who is Lillian and Roland?" she asks innocently enough.

[JadedDM]

"Ahh, friends of mine from long before yer time, missy," he says fondly. "In fact, Roland was an old adventurin' buddy of mine, way back in the day. Good man, helluva warrior. Even better than Kesor and Ol' Nyck. Not that they would admit it, though!" He laughs, slapping his knee. "Ohh, those were the days. Carella healing our wounds, Renstrip blasting our enemies with his magic. Gimak was a tough ol' dwarf and Amakororo was as good as an archer as she was pretty--but most elves are, so I hear. And then me, I was the thief of the group," he says, with a wink. "Clearin' out traps, unlockin' chests...we were quite a group, alright. Helluva group."

The man's jolliness seems to sink and he adopts a faraway look. "Damn, I need that drink, Mama."

Mama Chipmunk shakes her head and refills his shotglass. "Anything for you, sweetheart?" she asks Tavi.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi shakes her head no to Mama Chipmunk. "Can't afford it," she admits with a small shrug before she turns back to the old man. "So you all use to go adventuring together, huh?" she asks curiously.

[JadedDM]

"Heh, heh....yeah," Poot says, gulping his drink in one swallow. "That was a long, long time ago, though," he adds. Shaking his head, he adds, "Retired now. Too old for that kind of thing these days." He gestures to his now empty glass. "And ya can get her somethin', too, on me." He drops a gold piece on the bar.

"Fair enough," Mama Chipmunk says, scooping up the coin. "What'll ya have, dearie?" she asks Tavi.

[HorizonsDream]

"Aww, thanks!" Tavi says to Poot. Turning to Mama Chipmunk. "Well, uh, maybe some wine?" Having never drank before, she has no idea what exactly she is getting into there. "So," she starts, looking back to Poot. "I bet you have some stories to tell, right?" she asks hopefully.

[JadedDM]

"Stories! Ha!" Poot says. "You could say that."

"Oh, Arbiter," Mama Chipmunk says. "Now you've opened the floodgates."

Sure enough, Old Poot is more than happy to tell Tavi all about his old group's adventures. He never touches on their last adventure--the one where Roland, among others died. Whenever it seemed like he was about to, he'd get that faraway look in his eye again and get depressed. Then change the subject. Instead, he told her about the time they looted an ancient temple that was cursed by a witch, the time they got lost in the Wicked Woods for three weeks ("I'll never trust a dwarf's sense of direction again, at least not topside!"), the time they had to fight off an entire horde of zombies, and the time they were exploring an old tomb when a beholder got the drop on them ("That sonovabitch still shows up in my nightmares, with all those googly eyes!")

As the day waned, Poot told more stories and continued buying himself and Tavi drinks, apparently grateful to have someone actually listen to him again. After a few glasses of wine, Tavi started having trouble keeping track of time. Then she had trouble staying on her barstool. But after all that she had been through recently, it was probably the most fun she's had in ages.

When the sun went down, Poot finally got to his feet, a little unsteadily. "Whew, boy. Time sure fliesh...I gotta appointment to keep." He shakes his head. "Little lady, you are shome great company. We should do thish again shometime." He offers her his hand again, which wavers slightly.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi hiccups slightly as she takes the old man's hand. "Sure thing. I hope you didn't go through all of your stories yet," she said, her words slurring together slightly.

[JadedDM]

The old man grins, and stumbles out the door. A few moments later, Mama Chipmunk comes over to wipe off the bar where he sat, and then sighs. "Damn old foot, he forgot his coin purse again!" She picks it up off the stoop. "Dearie, can you go run this to him before he gets too far?" she asks. "The old fool would lose his head if it weren't attached to his neck!"

[HorizonsDream]

"Erm, I'll get it to him," Tavi says. She takes the coin purse, and stands from the barstool. She wobbles slightly on her feet, which causes her to grab the bar so that she doesn't fall on the ground. Once she feels she is steady, she makes her way out the door to catch up to Poot. "Hey, wait, you forgot something!"

[JadedDM]

The night is chilly in Sturnheim, and very few people are on the street. Looking around, Tavi doesn't see where Poot disappeared to. She walks around a bit, before passing by an alley. She suddenly hears the sounds of scuffling and a gasping plea for help. Turning to the sound, she sees three dark shapes beating upon a fourth shape. A dagger blade flashes briefly in the moonlight.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi's eyes widen. "Hey! Leave him alone!" she cries out. Quickly, she pulls out her mace from her backpack, and runs into the alley to hopefully beat the three figures off of old Poot.

[JadedDM]

The three figures, all men in studded leather, turn around to face Tavi. "Damn, we got a problem here," says the first one. He draws a short sword, as does the third one.

The one with the dagger scowls. "We got what we want. Let's just get out of here."

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi runs up to the guy with the dagger rather rashly, and swings her mace at the man. "I said, leave him alone!"

Hit Roll (12, miss)

[JadedDM]

Before Tavi can even take a step, two of the assailants approach her. One stabs at her with his dagger, and Tavi instinctively throws up her shield arm to protect herself. However, her shield is still strapped to her back. Instead, the blade cuts across her exposed arm, tearing the cloth and leaving a warm line of blood. The other assailant slices with his sword, trying to remove her head from her shoulders. Tavi hops back, and instead just gets a slight cut across her chest, tearing her shirt.

She swings her mace at the dagger wielder, but she's still a little tipsy from all of that wine and he just barely is able to get out of the way in time. The last assailant ignores her, trying to slip by. She quickly swings her mace at him wildly, but out of luck, smacks him good on the noggin. He goes down, bleeding from the head wound.

===========

Initiative
Tavi (1d10+7): 8
Assailant 01 (1d10+3): 8
Assailant 02 (1d10+2): 7
Assailant 03 (1d10+3): 7

Round 1!

Assailant 02 approaches Tavi and attacks with his dagger (1d20): 18, hit for (1d4): 3 damage.
Assailant 03 approaches Tavi and attacks with his short sword (1d20): 13, hit for (1d6): 3 damage.
Tavi attacks Assailant 02 with her mace (1d20): 12, miss.
Assailant 01 attempts to slip by Tavi.
----Tavi gets a free attack against Assailant 01 (1d20): 17, hit for (1d6+2): 6 damage. Assailant 01 falls.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi turns her attention to the second assailant now, and she swings her mace at him. Sadly, the wine is not helping her any when it comes to this fight.

Hit Roll (8, miss)

(This is going well.)