CH. 12: Testing Grounds

[HorizonsDream]

"I'm not going to say or doing anything to you or your families," Kendra tries to assure the kids.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz carefully lights his torch. "Okay. Which way now?"

[djhyland]

"Sounds like an unsavory character," Arulia murmurs in response to the innkeeper's description of the dwarf. "But I think I've met one that sounds just like him. If these mages come around again, maybe I could help. Would you let me know if they come back? You can leave a message for me at Thoron's Blacksmithy, and I'll come by as soon as I can."

[BishGada]

Tulbas quickly jumps to the conclusion that the doors are imbued with magic. He uses one of his Cantrip as 'Minor Detect Magic' to verify his suspicion.

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(OOC: Is it possible to cast spectral hand that will pass through the door and then try to open it from the other side? Or will it keep ethereal?
Also, did Tulbas saw where the other apprentices had departed? Did one of them was in a neighbor room on the opposite wall Tulbas heard Magnus? If so who?
Last thing, can THIS be the Test as far as Tulbas knows or from what he learnt/heard/read about the test there must be a clear official beginning of the test that he must be aware of?
)

[TristenC]

Grubnick greets her as well, Yeah, haven't been by here much but I might have to now. I'll take an ale. He pays for his drink discretely with a silver mark and speaks quietly. I don't suppose you've seen a couple of female humans trappers around here recently... he asks. He describes the girls, and makes it plain the silver is for the drink and info.

[Ooc: is she cute as far as goblins go? I know Grubnick looks like he's been hit in the face with a rake a few dozen times...]

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Old Keep, Front Gate)
The baaz's eyes light up in recognition. "Wait...did you say...'Haahqae?' It's him! Get him!" In a flash, the dozen guards have him surrounded, their spear-tips at his throat. "You're under arrest. Take him to the commander. Open the gate! We have him!" he calls out. The gate begins to open up, clanking loudly as it does so.

Kendra Greylock (Market Street)
Despite her assurances, the kids don't seem eager to volunteer anything further. They start to shuffle away, one by one, claiming they hear their parents calling them. Soon only one child is left. But Kendra realizes he's not a child, at all. In fact, he's a kender. Peering closer, she realizes this is the same kender she's met before--Pen. "Why are you working for the bad guys now?" he asks bluntly.

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Guest Room)
Tulbas' cantrip confirms that there is some magic somewhere within 10 feet of himself.

(Tulbas uses a cantrip to detect magic within 10 feet of himself. He does.)

(OOC: The spectral hand can pass through the door, but it cannot open it. Even if it could, he wouldn't be able to control it once it went through, since he couldn't see it anymore. The other apprentices were placed in guest rooms like his own in this hallway. None were directly next to his own room, though. The elven woman was in the room across the hall, the half-elven woman was two doors down to the right, and the human was next to the elven woman, to the right. As for your last question, there are no official transcripts of how a Test is supposed to play out--at least, none that Tulbas ever found. However, the Test is supposed to begin at night, when the three moons are out, and it's still daylight.)

Arulia Seroth (Ivy Inn)
"I haven't seen them since, but I'll send word if they return," the innkeeper promises. "You might try the mageware shop, as well. There's only one in the city, so any mages would have go there sooner or later."

Grubnick (Happee Ohgr Tavern)
The bartender is somewhat cute, as goblins go. Not gorgeous by any means, but slightly better than average. She accepts the silver and fills up a mug with ale for him. "Sorry, but we don't get many humans in here. Most don't care to associate with our kind."

(Grubnick spends 1 silver on an ale and info.)

Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Haven Sewers)
Shima pokes at the dried out husks with his spear, then decides to search them. When the spiders killed and cocooned them, they had no interest in their belongings, so whatever they were carrying on them at the time is still present. They carry rusted daggers and short swords, damaged leather armor, and their coin purses. Ne-Chanz lights a new torch as Shima sits down and counts out all of the coins. It comes to a total of 1125 coppers, 375 silvers, and 37 platinum pieces.

[Haahque]

Now there was a reaction closer to what Haahqae had been expecting. A little more aggressive then he was hoping, but enough surprise to make it worth it. Still, Haahqae was in a bit of a playful mood after such a heist, so he puts out a ploy to throw a wrench in the draconian’s plans.

“Now wait just one minute here. I thought you just said you couldn’t open the gate because the fort was on lockdown. I saw no official decree come by declaring the fort NOT on lockdown, so I believe that you should NOT open the gates.”

“Now consider this for a moment. The commander ordered a lockdown and also ordered looking for me. However, I’m outside the gates, so closing the gate means that everyone searching for me inside the keep couldn’t get outside to find me right? So why are the gates closed? Well, it’s not your place to question the commander’s orders right? The commander probably has some alternative plan going on that requires the gates to be closed. So what makes you think that you’re allowed to open the gates now?”

[Chris1234]

Shima does not try to cheat Ne-Chanz; concentrating instead on how best to carry the desperately needed coin. After getting out his large sack, he stashes away the platinum in his backpack and beltpouch. The dwarf then stows the silver in the large sack and ties off its drawstring. He asks, "Ne-Chanz, would you be ok to carry this without it impeding you at all?" He holds up the sack containing about 7.5lbs of silver.
"We can worry about the copper on the way back. Might be a way of getting the Gullies up and out of here, but we'll need to think about that."

Unless anything else crops up, Shima then says, "I'll do a quick scout ahead. {OOC1: Sneaking for 120'} Do a slow count to 120 {OOC2: 2 rounds or however long sneaking 120' would normally take the dwarf} then follow me? But if you hear fighting, then don't wait, just come, please.".

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra eyes widen in surprise upon seeing Pen. "It's...a complicated story," she said tentatively. She was out in public, so she couldn't exactly say that she was trying to undermine the army from the inside.

[TristenC]

Grubnick shrugs, I figured it was a long shot. So, have you had this place long? I bet you're getting a lot more business with all of the soldiers, eh?

[spyguy1503]

"Holy..." Ne-Chanz accepts the money pouch. "I'll be there if you need me." (OOC: Did Ne-Chanz see the platinum?)

[djhyland]

Arulia nods in understanding. "My thanks to you," she says, then heads back out to the streets.

Arulia thinks about heading to the mageware shop. It sounds like a good idea...if the women are only pretending to be mages, perhaps the proprietor might be interested in helping her find them. She doesn't know much about magic or those who practice it, but she can't imagine that a true mage would take kindly to a pretender. If they are actually mages, on the other hand...well, if they were indeed Yvette and Xyleena, it'd be good to be ready for such an eventuality when she finds them. Still, the thought of appealing to a black-robed mage makes Arulia's skin crawl. Even the Grinning Goat sounds more pleasant than that!

Having made her decision, Arulia cuts through the market on her way to the Grinning Goat.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Old Keep, Front Gate)
The baaz stare at Haahqae blankly. Finally, one of them says, "Huh? The keep is in lockdown because they're looking for you. The commander's orders are to bring you to her if you are found, and that's what I'm doing. Now get moving, because she never said anything about you bring brought in alive, if you get my drift."

Kendra Greylock (Market Street)
"Humans always say that. 'It's complicated,'" Pen replies. "But it never starts that way. It's the humans who make it more complicated, I think."

Arulia Seroth (Grinning Goat)
Arulia steps into the Grinning Goat, a dive bar where the less honest citizens of Haven like to congregate. The bartender is a human with an eye-patch over one eye and he nods once when she enters. There aren't many patrons right now, but Arulia notes they all are wearing leathers and heavy cloaks with the cowls up to hide their features. More than a few seem to watch her movements carefully.

Grubnick (Happee Ohgr Tavern)
"Seven years now," the barkeeper replies. "And yeah, business is way up. Not just from the soldiers, but there are more goblins in the city than there used to be, too." She shrugs. "Not quite the revolution we were promised, but still better than when the Seekers or the Belzorites were in charge."

Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Haven Sewers)
Shima takes the platinum coins and hands over the silver ones to Ne-Chanz, leaving the copper for now.

Shima then heads off on his own, heading southward and then turning the corner to head back north. He doesn't make it 60 feet before he reaches another door. This one is guarded by another giant rat. He attempts to sneak up behind it, but the newfound platinum in his sack jingles and gives him away. The giant rat whirls around to face him, baring its sharp fangs at the dwarf.

(Ne-Chanz and Shima are now in light encumbrance.
Shima attempts to move silently [TN 70%] (1d100): 74, fail.)

[Chris1234]

Shima tries to stab the rat wielding his spear one handed to try and fend off the rat's bite with his buckler.

[BishGada]

'Interesting...' Tulbas thinks to himself. He then takes few minutes first to check what can be done about the door, maybe the hinges are loose and he can dismantle them and get out from the other side, then he will search the walls for cracks hoping he might even find a secret door or other mechanism that will let him out of the room.

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(OOC:
1. Can you please describe the room again?
2. Is it possible to direct the spectral hand to go across the hall to the next room even though Tulbas won't see it, but he saw the corridor before?
3. Can Cantrip work as small dispel magic or boost some attribute to help opening the door?
4. What is the distance to the room across the hall? Can Tulbas use cantrip that will get through this distance?
5. Who came with a black robed Mentor besides Tulbas?
)