9th Eleint

While the adventurers slept the dwarves had been busy. They 'cleansed' the mine of the bodies of the hobgoblins, burning them on a pyre outside. They had neatly bundled their 9 longswords and the drow's morningstar. The party awoke to the smell of dwarven porrage cooking.
"Haha, tuck in, this will put hairs on yer chests, oh pardon me miss Milla." Laughed Bombas. "3 of us will stay and guard the mine and the rest will return to Nesme for supplies. We would appreciate it if you would travel with us. As for Khor, I think he may be ready for a career change, eh?"

Milla wakes up to the delicious smell of the dwarves cooking.
"That smells great Bombas"
Milla serves herself a big portion of the food and sits down to eat. After having satisfied her stomach she picks up the hand xbow that the drow had tried to use (ooc unless someone already has). Not being familiar with this kind of weapon she decides to try it out at a later time.

"Yes Bomba great idea, with you four and the six of us we shouldn't be troubled by anything on our way back."

"What do the rest of you think?" Milla looks at Jakob, Garacaius, Sarathien and (Grog) for support.

"Hmm?" Garacaius looked rather uninteresting in going anywhere during his breakfast. After finishing, he stands up and start wiping dirt of his clothes. Meeting Milla's look he replied:
"10 of us, a small army indeed. I don't see no trouble in reachin Nesme. Ugo would probably be glad to know things are alright as well."


Ooc: Sorry 'bout that, maybe I should have warned ya ;). Still trying to catch him, I don't know. More like escaping him, but if he does cross our path, hehe, I wouldn't mind loosen of an another bolt :)

[This message has been edited by Lokken (edited October 05, 2001).]

ooc: Lokken, it took me forEVER to track down your story... didn't realize you'd been here since the beginning! Ended up reading the whole forum. :p
Is the group still trying to track down Er-Cam?

IC: "Aye, Bombas, no more mining for me if I can help it. I need to stretch me legs a bit. Hunting drow sounds like as good a way as any other; what's the use of living if you don't take no risks?" Khor belched as he finished his porrage. "Me mum didn't cook much better than this, friend. I'm much obliged for the breakfast."

[This message has been edited by Capstone (edited October 05, 2001).]

Sarathien wakes up feeling sore indeed, itching burnmarks all over his body. He looks to the scrollcase with the strange note, but realizes it will have to wait another day.
Before breakfast, he steps outside the cave and spends some time communing with Rillifane, regaining lost spells. He uses one healing spell on himself, then steps back down to have breakfast.

"Ah, Khor, you're in as bad shape as I was, allow me to help you with that."

Sarathien casts his second cure spell on the helpful dwarf, his burns lessen considerably but unfortunately curative magic can't restore burnt beard...

ooc: ;)

"Well laddies, and er you miss Milla," Bombas blushed, unused to female company;
"Now we've eaten our fill, how's about hitting the Nesme trail? I can't wait to see Ugo's ugly mug again!"

The dwarves marched out, singing an enevitable song about the virtues of precious metals.

Garacaius followed, and enjoyd the open land once they got out of the mine while taking a deep breath. Looking with longing eyes at the sky, he was reminded once more that civilization hadn't corrupted every place in the land.

Ahh, nature's sky above me, so friendly indeed...

Seeing people starting to group, he thought it wise to check if everyone was there.

"Well, I'm ready to go, everyone here?"

Garacaius looked around to make a head count, but gave up as the dwarves were partly leaving. He just followed and hoped if anyone was missing, he or she would know their way if they weren't with them.


[This message has been edited by Lokken (edited October 05, 2001).]

Jakob finishes off his porridge, sighs deeply, and announces "Now, that beats trail rations any day, but a little bit of fermented..." He suddenly realises he is addressing an empty room, and scrambles off after the others. He catches up to the group at the mine entrance. "Thank goodness I didn't fall behind again," Turning to the nearest dwarf he extends his hand, and introduces himself. Suddenly realising he is talking to Khor, he grins sheepishly and turns to a dwarf he hasn't been introduced to yet.

The group makes there way towards Nesme leaving the mine behind. The day progresses uneventful.

Walking together with Garacaius, Jakob, Sarathien and Khor some yards behind the merry dwarves Milla feels a little relaxed.

"Seeing as we have faced some difficult times together I think it is time to tell you a little about myself.
I have been raised by monks from when I was five years old to just recently. During that time I have had many teachers teaching everything from fighting, moving quietly and healing.
Training alone however can only take you so far. It comes to a point where a young monk such as myself has to get experience in the world outside the monastery to better serve the god.
So here I find myself in the middle of the savage frontiers travelling in what direction fate will take me"

Milla suddenly gets more serious.

"I say fate, but lately I am beginning to suspect that it is my god that guides me ever so subtle. For whatever reason I can't imagine.
Maybe it has something to do with this Er-Cam character you mentioned Garacaius. Or maybe not. Only time will tell."

"Anyway, as you may have noticed I am a monk of the broken ones and as such I am devoted to help all who hurt and fight any injustice"

"A monk of the Broken Ones?" Khor scratched at what was left of his beard. "Can't say that I've heard of 'em. Which god is it that you worship?"

ooc: What are my HP now?

"I am but a humble servant of Ilmater, also known as The Broken One"

Milla gives an exaggerated bow and smiles widely at Khor.

"Ilmater is one of the gods in the Triad"

The journey back to Nesme was uneventful, apart from a rinstorm that drenched them to the skin. They arrived at the west bank gate just before dusk. The guard advised them to hurrry as the gates were closed to non citizens at sunset. Bombas said he would head directly to Ugo's.

OoC assume everyone back to full HP thanks to Sarathien and a nights sleep.

Garacaius wanted to follow Bombas to Ugo, just in case something should happen. He didn't want to lose him after all what they had been through. He looked on the others before asking:

"I'm going with Bombas, just to make sure everything is ok. Who carried the swords anyway? I could drag them along and get a price for them we could share. I'll meet you at the inn later."

Milla stifles a yawn.

"Yeah Garacaius, I'll go with you. And then we can visit Jygil some time tomorrow."

Milla helps Garacaius carry the excess weapons to Ugo.

Jakob shrugs, "Yeah, sure," He says, "I don't want to get split up from you bunch again, done that far too often. But while we're walking, I'd better follow Milla and tell you guys a bit about mesel'. After all, it's not right that we go about risking our lives for each other, and trusting each other with our lives when we not know squat about one another. I've told Garaciaus a bit, just after the incident with the Baron, " Jakob repeats what he told Garaciaus, then continues " After I came to Silverymoon I joined a few groups, trying to find one that suited me, and fit my belief that the world could do with a bit more freedom. Umm, I've been in the Gnomo-Dwarven Organisation for the Liberation of Delvers, the Gnomish Revolutionary Front, The Anti-Magic League, The Pro-Magic League, and am currently with the Alliance of the Undersized and the Levellers (Part of the Anti-Feudalism Movement by the way). Uh, anyway, while I was trying to y'know figure out what I wanted to do an' how I could do my bit for liberty and equality an' all I had to suppport myself, an, well, I didn't learn much of my trade, so I did a spot of pickpocketing... it...it's not something I'm proud of. So now, I've basically.. no, no, I'm basically - not a rebel without a cause, but a rebel with too many causes. I'm just drifting about really, trying to strike a blow for freedom an' the rights of the working individual and of course get wasted on turnip vodka! Maybe I'll also meet a nice gnomish lady *sigh* I can but hope, I can but hope... Also, since I've seen that murder in the tavern, and all the fighting we've been in - I've got to thinking, but I'm no philosopher. Eh, I see I've prattled on enough, I'm probably boring you - I'll save the rest for some other time yeah..."
Jakob promptly shuts up his annoying yammering and goes back to silently following.

Ugo was overjoyed to see Bombas again, and the others. He listened gravely to the tale of the hobgoblin take-over of the mine and how the party had liberated the dwarves.

He gave them 80gp for the weapons and promised to extend the 'family discount' to all those involved in the rescue, which entitles them to weapons at 5% below the list price. Garacaius got 17gp for the pair of longswords.

*Now, I will shut up shop and let us go to the 5 gold crowns for some strong dwarven ale!"

[This message has been edited by Erran (edited October 08, 2001).]

Garacaius laughed: "Don't worry Jakob, it is delightful to know with who you are traveling," and patted the little gnome's shoulder. Garacaius sold his own two longswords he had been carrying around since the time of Er-cam's ambush.

Garacaius replied Bombas in a glad tone: "Yes, let's get some ale before thinking of tomorrow's trouble," and he walked toward the inn.

Milla accepts the money (not sure what to do with it) and they make their way to the Inn.

Arriving at the Inn they found themselves a big enough table for the party. Having downed the first ale Milla tries to do some planning for the morrow.

"I guess with have some errands to do tomorrow, maybe we should split up."
Milla counts on her fingers.
"We need to find someone who can read that letter in undercommon.
We should also try to find out more about that wand.
And of course some of us need to go to Jygil to report the situation."

"I can try my luck at temple area with the letter, I should make a visit there anyway. And at lunchtime or so we could gather to go before the city council"

"What do you think?", Milla looks around at her comrades.

OOC:
Nailo is a male half-elf. He has dark brown hair and dancing green eyes. He is of average build & height. He is dressed in traveled stained clothes, with leather armor worn over them. There is a short sword strapped to his side. He also has a pack with him.

One other thing, I am not familiar with this board completely yet. I assume that italics are used for thoughts.

IC:
Stepping off the barge, Nailo was happy to in Nesme. The trip from Silverymoon was slower than normal. The captain said it was due to the river being so low, and that was also the reason for the terrible smell.

Nailo thinking to himself, "Nothing better than the atmosphere of a good common room to raise one's spirits. What was the name of that inn the cap had told me about? 5 Crowns? Something like that. Ahhhh...well, I will find it." Gathering himself up, Nailo quickly set forth up the street. After a few minutes, he makes his way to the Inn. Ahh.. the 5 Gold Crown Inn. Knew I would find it. I'll take luck any day." Opening the door and hearing all the cheers for the patrons, a smile crept across his face.

Stepping in to the room, Nailo takes a quick survey of the room. "The captain was right, this is a good inn." Walking up to the bar, he asks a gloomy fellow, "Is this seat taken?" Not waiting for an answer, he plops down on the stool and sets his pack against the bar on the floor. Asking the little barkeep for a glass of hot spiced wine, he says, "Nice place you have here, barkeep. What do you have to eat? I could use a good cooked meal. And is there any good news in this place?" Leaning over to the gloomy man sitting next to him, Nailo asks, "Do you like to dice? Gambling always raises my spirits." Finally shutting his mouth, he leans forward, listens and waits.


[This message has been edited by Ksiel (edited October 09, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Ksiel (edited October 09, 2001).]

Sarathien answers Milla:

"No need to go to a temple, just give me a night's rest and I can translate it tomorrow.

About the other things, I suppose Garacaius wants to see about the wand, so perhaps you and Jakob should go see Jygil."

Milla turns to Sarathien.
"Fine! That's settled then? Sarathien checks the note, Garacaius tries to find out about the wand.
Then everyone who wants to visit Jygil gather here at lunchtime."

Milla looks around for support.

Jakob glanced about the bar, not really paying attention to what everyone else was saying. That halfling lass in the corner talking to the dwarf looked fairly interesting. Jakob stroked his chin thoughtfully, then broke off in disgust. How could his pitiful growth of stubble compete with the dwarf's rich and lustrous beard? "Hunh?" he said, vaguely aware that Milla had said something, "Uh, sure, yeah - I agree completely. Now, um, you mentioned earlier about fighting injustice. Are you aware that the greatest injustices are perpetrated by the prevailing order of our so called civilisation?" he fumbled about in his pack a bit, " I've got a pamphlet here if you're interested, "the Chains of Gold" it's called.. uh, I didn't write it myself, not wise enough, but ...ah! Here we are, " He brought a dog eared paper booklet out of hisknapsack, wipen a few bits of food off it with his shirt, and thrust the paper proudly in Milla's face (standing on his tiptoes to do so :D) "Basically, it explains how freedom's the most important thing there is, and how, by a series of economic and socio-political stratagems the elitist aristocratic heirarchy is systematically restricting the liberties of the peasant classes to maintain its own position" His eyes gleamed with ideological passion as he expounded on his cause, then suddenly dropped, as he grinned sheepishly and mumbled, "..well, that is, just in case you're interested...that's all..."

After talking to Ugo and Bombas for quite some time on the dwarven miners' current state of affairs, Khor joined the party in time to hear Milla mention the name Jygil. "Eh? Who's this Jygil fellow? I suppose I could come along and find out. I'll be needing to do a bit of shopping in the morning, though; Ugo says he's got an axe or two I might fancy." He broke off as Jakob launched into a tirade on the oppressive nobility. The gnome seemed pretty worked up over it. Khor shrugged; he didn't notice any lack of freedom, but everyone needed a cause, he supposed.

OoC You will find a plan of the 5 Gold Crowns Inn at: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/frankmarianne/

NB Since this map is hex-based, the letters run horizontaly but the numbers run 'diagonaly'.

A half-elf bard was playing on the balcony, though no-one was paying her any attention. Rufus returned to the kitchen and Matilda took her usual place at the bar, assisted by their daughter, Rosamunda.
The thin man with a wirey moustache at Nailo's table shrugged his shoulders and said "Why not?" to the suggestion of a dice game.
Khor and the dwarves left, saying that they were going to visit some relatives.
The pretty halfling lass winked at Jakob and headed over. "Hiya handsome, how about buying a thirsty girl a drink?"
Over at the bar there was a group of adventuring types, getting drunk and bragging about killing a troll on the moors.



[This message has been edited by Erran (edited October 11, 2001).]

"Sounds fair, I don't think translating the note should take too much time so I could go with you to Jygil as well.

But I feel I must ask, what next? I've understood you have had run-ins with drow before. Do you think we should investigate this further or do we just hope these instances aren't related? I for one would not like to see any drow run around these parts..."

Nailo looking up from the dice game that he was playing with the skinny man with the mustache. "Drow? I know of a drow outside of Silverymoon." Then he looks back to the game and gives the dice a toss.

"Yes we, Jakob and I, had an encounter with some Er-cam seeking a very powerful elven artifact. He had a band of Hobgoblins to aid him as well. I never actually saw him, but I was told a description of him, and he has a silvered hand. Why I got suspicious was because you rarely see drow on the surface, and if that letter mentions the El-Kiera(sp?) Er-cam or his deity, we might have a connection. Still I would believe that for whatever reasons this Er-cam sought this gem, it would be his own, and a female drow under the command of a male drow seems queer as well. I'm not sure there is a connection, but as soon as that javelin was thrown by the hobgoblin in the mine, the other episode flashed back in my mind."
Garacaius took a large gulp of his ale and proceeded:
"Now as for this wand," He pulls out the wand from his pocket and looks fascinated into the gem, "I will see what I can do, but if it is going to cost me a fortune, I think I will wait till I get better insight in the ways of magic and might be able to determine it's usage by myself."

OoC: how much did I get for the 2 longswords?

[This message has been edited by Lokken (edited October 09, 2001).]

Khor nudged Garacaius with his elbow as he leaned towards him to talk quietly. "That elf over there mentioned something about seeing a drow near Silverymoon. Perhaps you should question him to see if he be a foe of Er-Cam as well. From what you've said, it's possible this Er-Cam is an outcast drow, so it'd be best if we did hunt him down and finish him. He's likely enough plotting his revenge -- no need to make it easy on him. If he is renegade, it's likely enough we won't have to worry about other drow getting too involved."

One of the 'adventurers' at the bar, a half elf with a hawk perched on his shoulder, turned to Sarathien and said: "So, are you a lily livered townie or have you fought the trolls on the moors?*
Another, a well built half orc approached Milla: "My, youse a pretty ting. I gotta yen for baldy headed wimmen. Wotcha need is lots of tattoos on there, I know dis guy down Limner street ..."

OoC Garacaius, read my post of Oct 7th.

After tossing the dice and cursing his bad luck, Nailo looks up again at the elf he heard speaking before. "Well, if you are hunting the dark elf I am speaking of, you shouldn't have to go any farther..." Seeing the man toss the dice out the corner of his eye he quits talking and watches the game. Talking to the skinny man again, "Ha, you lost that round... you are pretty good at this game...."

The thin man, who introduced himself as Suttar, was now 2gp down. "How about raising the stakes? Double or quits?" he suggested, scratching his nose.
Suttar rolled 10 and smiled, then his smile froze as Nailo rolled 12. He handed over 4gp and spat on the floor. "You cleaned me out, stranger." he whined.
Up on the balcony, Melody the bard put down her lute. This is going to be a slow night, she thought to herself.

[This message has been edited by Erran (edited October 10, 2001).]

Milla looks up at the half-orc.
"Finally someones who wants to dance!", she exclaims and drags the half-orc by the arm to an open area in front of the balcony where the bard is still singing.
Milla starts to dance around the bewildered half-orc deftly avoiding his attempts to give her a hug.

Edit: Milla throws a silver coin to bard to keep her playing.

ooc: In technical terms this would be "total defense" while dodging :)

[This message has been edited by Zorac (edited October 10, 2001).]

The bard had stopped, but Suttar took out a tin whistle and he began to play a lively jig.

"Me called Mr Punch, you know why?" The half orc exclaimed. He showed her his gauntlet, heavily spiked. "How about you give Mr Punch big sloppy kiss? That's the way to do it!"
he made several clumsy attempts to trap Milla in an embrace.

OoC Milla is now known as 'Dances with Orcs'

[This message has been edited by Erran (edited October 10, 2001).]

Garacaius notice that the other group is acting up for a fight, but decides to leave it for now, hopefully they will get drunk and fall asleep before becoming too harrassing. Hearing the Half-Elf comments of drow outside silvery moon while he was telling his tale, Garacaius stands up and walks to Nalio.

"Greetings sir, I couldn't help overhear your comments to my tale. I am Garacaius Moonshade and these are my friends," he points his hand in the direction of the party members and then continuesh,"You said you knew of a drow outside silvery moon, very interesting indeed. Can you tell me if he fits the description of this Er-cam I have been talking about..." Garacaius tells of the silverhand and the medallion assumingly to be Er-cam's, revealing his deity.
Garacaius suddenly stops, leading his fingers bewildered to his forehead.
"I'm sorry sir, my manners. Who might you be, who I am questioning?" Garacaius smiles and reach out his hand.


[This message has been edited by Lokken (edited October 10, 2001).]

Nailo standing up gives Suttar a pat on the shoulder. "Ahh..Don't worry man. Tell the barkeep your next drink is on me."

Listening to Graccuis, Nailo offers his hand in friendliness. "My name is simply Nailo. Everyone I know calls me that. So you want to know about the dark elf I was speaking of. Well, I just came in from Silverymoon. Right before I left, a group had found the body of a dark elf right outside Silverymoon. However, I don't recall him having a silver hand or a medallion. Still it is too strange to have dark elves running around freely. You know someone should really put a stop to it."

Jakob looked nervously at teh halfling, and fumbled in his coin pouch, sending a spray of coppers flying across the bar. Once he had collected what he thought was all of them, he ordered two turnip vodkas and tried to interest the halfling by talking about an obscure piece of socialist economic theory relating to turnip distribution, but quickly degenerated into tongue-tied gibberish. At that precise moment he recalled some advice his father had given him. "Jakob," his father had said, " You're going to be thirty next week, and you're probably going to start talking to girls pretty soon. Now, there's nothing to it, it's like any other transaction, just a neat beard, and some top-rate salesman's patter. Just like selling a mine"
Jakob stared at his toes, cleared his throat and began, "so, err, would you be interested in a diamond mine, I can guarantee a 25% return on investment per annum..."

Sarathien turns to the half-elf and speaks, but all the time he keeps his longing gaze on the other's companion hawk:
"Well, 'townie' is the last thing I would call myself, but I will willingly admit I have not and do not wish to meet the trolls of the Evermoor. If you and your companions have fought them and survived, you must be mighty adventurers indeed!"

"That's a magnificent bird of prey, would you or she mind if I hold her?"

ooc: If the bird is male, Sarathien would (hopefully) know and say "he" and "him" instead, having Knowledge (Nature) 5.

Continued under: Barfight at the 5 Crowns...