CH. 6: Nobody Expects the Occupation

[BishGada]

"You want to visit your uncle's grave in the middle of the night? Couldn't that wait for the morning?"

Tulbas anger immediately consumes him. He moves back a step, looks at Gregeddin with hate, but before he manages to answer Haaque starts mumbling. Tulbas breaths deeply and leave the subject at that. "I need to clear my mind. The quiet of the night helps." He says after few moments. "If it's no trouble with you two, I'll accompany Haaque to the tavern and then keep the papers with me. Tomorrow I'll return them to you and yes, I think if you can forge the copies it would be great." Tulbas says.

[Haahque]

"Well ok, try not to get eaten by zombies. After all, we're going to need you to get eaten by a dragon tomorrow."

[TristenC]

(OOC: 6 Cha. kinda ugly, even for a goblin at least he's a nice guy, though!)

Grubnick chucles good-naturedly. Money? No, no; nothing like that, he smiles. I don't want any money. In fact, let me buy you a drink for the interruption.

I saw you were reading, and since I like to read I naturally wondered what the subject was. He looks briefly at the book again. I've never seen writing move around the page like that. What is that, magic? That kind of stuff is fascinating.

As soon as Green Tears gets back he says to her, Please get the gentleman a drink, on me. He places a silver piece on the bar. Anything he likes.

If the man continues to act agitated:
Listen, I didn't mean to make you nervous. I guess I'm just the naturally curious type. He smiles reassuringly.

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra walks up behind Sadron, and gently places her hand upon his shoulder so that she can get him to face her. "I'm sorry," she says softly. "I...I did wait, if it makes any difference, for as long as I could." It was part of the reason why she kept delaying things with Norris. "What...What did you want to happen tonight?"

[djhyland]

"I understand, and I will be careful" says Arulia. "Thank...thank you. I have been so worried with all that has happened. I am still worried, I suppose, but what you've told me gives me hope that things can get better."

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Tulbas (300 Market Street, Gregeddin's House)
Gregeddin sits down and begins making a pair of forgeries of the document given to him by the high priestess. When he is done, he hands one to Haahqae and one to Tulbas. As far as they can tell, the documents look identical. But whether they will fool the guards is unknown. The consequences of failure could be quite disastrous.

(OOC: The forgery rolls are kept secret, so nobody knows whether he passed or not.)

Kendra Greylock (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Sadron pulls away from her, unable to meet her gaze. "Nothing. I was a fool. Forgive me. I should go before I am discovered." He heads back to the window and climbs out, disappearing into the darkness without a sound.

Arulia Seroth (323 Three Forks, Seroth residence)
The platinum knight nods. "You will need to seek out like-minded folk to aid you. But you must be careful who you can trust. If she discovers I have an agent in the city, she will devote all of her resources to finding you and anyone you are allied with. Although you will be on your own in the city, know that I have other agents elsewhere in the world and we are working to fight back." He offers her his hand.

Grubnick (High Hand Inn, Common room)
The man still seems suspicious of Grubnick and his motives, but accepts the drink and orders a nice wine. When Green Tears returns with it, he sips it gingerly. "If you must know...yes, it is magic. I am studying to take my Test at Wayreth when the Night of the Eye comes."

Grubnick was no expert on the world of sorcery, but he knew that anyone who wanted to study magic beyond simple dabbling was required to join the Orders of High Sorcery, which were based in Wayreth Tower beyond the elven lands to the southwest. There they were administered a test of their power. Little was known to the public of what the Test entails, but what is commonly known is that failure means death.

The Night of the Eye refers to when all three of the moons are in perfect alignment in the night sky. The white moon Solinari becomes the white of the eye, the red moon Lunitari becomes the iris and the fabled black moon of Nuitari becomes the pupil. It is said on this night all sorcery becomes much more powerful than normal.

(OOC: Grubnick spends 1 SP on a glass of nice wine.)

[TristenC]

Night of the eye? isn't that when the moons are aligned?, he asks, tilting his head curiously. I heard that's the only time you can see the dark moon… I've never seen it myself, what night is that?

Waiting for the young man's answer, Wow, maybe I can catch a glimpse of it! He smiles, but then his face becomes more somber. Is it true that the test is, you know... he gestures in small circles with his free hand, life and death?

If the young man answers yes: Wow. Grubnick shakes his head in bewilderment. Good luck! he says, raising his beer towards the man in a salute. I'll let you get back to your studies.

With that, Grubnick hops down from his seat and wanders back by the Khas game to see how it is progressing. As the pieces move, his mind churns… Each piece has a purpose… the tower, the knight, the priest… even the minions… I wonder which piece I am…priest or pawn… He glances around the common room again, letting his gaze only briefly linger on the Draconians before turning back to the game. I wonder which pieces They are… Foolish to move without knowing the enemy… I wonder…


(OOC:
Is there a place in the common room where one could observe the Draconians and other patrons without being seen, like the edge of a wall near the kitchen or the foot of the stairs?

Does Grubnick’s room have a window, and how would it be oriented with respect to the High Hand and other nearby buildings? )

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra watches as Sadron disappears into the night. She forces herself not to call after him as she doesn't want him to get caught by the army. With a sad sigh, she closes the window, then heads to bed. Though, she doesn't really expect to get a lot of rest now that her mind was full of nothing but Sadron.

[BishGada]

"Hmm... " Tulbas studies the paper carefully. He looks up at Gregeddin and says, "well, if you don't see me tomorrow, then it means you failed." he smiles sardonically. "At least we don't have to go everywhere together, right?" he looks both at Gregeddin and Haaque trying to make a joke. "Do you mind if I check for magic embedded in the original paper? Maybe the priestess done something in the original paper so her troops can identify it while others can't." And with that Tulbas uses one of his Cantrips to check for magic on the original paper as well as on the other two forgeries. (OOC: Assuming he find nothing) Half pleased that he finds nothing, but still suspecting there could be divine power embedded in the paper he couldn't detect he says, "I didn't find anything. Anyway, see you tomorrow. I've some arrangements back home so let's meet two hours before midday near the prefect location. OK?"
After leaving Gregeddin house Tulbas goes to the ally where Darga was vanished. A hundred meters before check points he stops to calm himself and slow his breath. He walks with a little sense of self importance and a lot of sense of being in hurry. He gives the forged paper as confident as possible, like he did it hundred times, and waits for the guards to check it. When he get the papers back he politely thanks the guards and hurries off. When he reaches the ally where Darga had vanished he lowers his head and think of the moments they shared. 'You were always kind and considering. You were both brave and fool but none can deny you had a good heart. Pity that it lead you to your death. May your soul find peace where ever it is now.' He spends another minute is silence and continue to the graveyard.
Entering the graveyard, Tulbas shivers. It's true the air is cold, but here he feels the weight of the last few weeks. His stupid actions that led to his uncle murder. True, Magnus appeared and sniffed around the mageware shop without any regard to Tulbas actions inside the cult of The Master, but if he hid his uncle warnings he might be able to stand beside him when he was attacked the first time and maybe he could help him.
Tulbas approaches the grave. He kneels near it, lowers his head and wishes he had something wise to say. But his mind get blank, and after a moment, he simply cries. All his anger leaves him and after several moments it is replaced by calmness. Tulbas wipes his tears and whispers, "I'm sorry. I was so engulfed by anger and grief the last few days that I didn't respect you and your teachings. I should have hid your warnings and stay away from the wicked ways of the humans. But now what is the point? I have no reason anymore to hide alone in this world. I must find a way to search my sister. You have prepared me well and I thank you deeply. I cherish our time together and hope you found your place under the old gods protection and blessing. I'll do my best to let your friends know what happened and to make sure your work and researches will not be for nothing."
These emotional moments made Tulbas tired. He didn't know how tired he was until now. He kisses his uncle gravestone, stands up, looks around and heads out of the graveyard.
Before going home he goes back to the harbor district. He recognizes some of the guards at the checkpoints which makes it somewhat faster to get there. He even considers to buy them some hot soup to deliver when he will return home to sleep. 'Home...' he thinks to himself, 'Can I still call it that, now that Magnus occupies it? I'm under two occupations, the city and my own house.' he smiles sadly to himself by the symmetry of events in his life. 'If only Raetmal was alive me to appreciate the humor in that.'
When he gets to the brothel, Tulbas makes some rounds around it, staying here in there for few minutes in hidden corners, listens carefully and again using Cantrip to detect the presence of magic.
If he finds nothing suspicious, hears no voices and traces no magic he will buy few cups of hot soup in a tavern closest to the first checkpoint and give it to the guards.
When he gets back to the mageware shop, he will head quickly to bed, unless being stopped and questioned by Magnus.

================================================
(OOC: I don't know what is the order of the Watches... I meant that Tulbas Gregeddin and Haaque should meet at 10:00 am.)

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Tulbas (300 Market Street, Gregeddin's House)
Tulbas places the permit on the table and uses a cantrip to detect magical auras within 30 feet. Sure enough, he does detect magic. This could mean any number of things; it would take a more sophisticated spell to determine what kind of magic and what purpose it might serve.

(OOC: Not sure if you want to edit that last post or not now knowing this.

By the way, you can see the Watch system in the Calendar thread here. So 10 AM would be Fourth Watch.)

Kendra Greylock (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Kendra goes upstairs and finds Norris is already fast asleep in their bed. Evidently he hadn't heard a thing.

Grubnick (High Hand Inn, Common room)
"The next Night of the Moon is in about two weeks," the man says. "Autumn Twilight the 15th, I believe. And yes, failing the Test means death. And even those who survive rarely walk away unscathed. But that is the price for true power."

Grubnick moves back to the khas game to watch awhile.

(OOC: Here's a map of the first floor. Grubnick is currently near the khas game (3 and 4). There's really no place where he could observe both the patrons and the draconians at the same time without being seen. There's also a balcony upstairs that allows one to look down at the first floor. He could watch one group or the other, depending on where he was positioned, but again not both at once. And anyone who thought to look up could probably see him. His room is on the north side of the second floor, and there is a window that lets him look down onto Market Street.)

Key:
01. Reading man
02. Green Tears
03-04 Khas players
05. Dart player
06. Lute stringer
07-13 Human
14-15 Dwarf
16-17 Human Server
Red #s - Draconians

High Hand Inn 1F 01.jpg (104.67 KiB) Viewed 10877 times

(And here's a map of the second floor. Note the railing in the center of the floor that lets one see down into the 1F. From the southwest corner he could see the draconians, and from the northwest corner he could see most of the patrons.)

Key:
The room with the red "G" is Grubnick's room.

High Hand Inn 2F 01.jpg (90.1 KiB) Viewed 10877 times

[TristenC]

After observing the khas game for a bit longer, Grubnick heads upstairs at a natural pace. Once upstairs, he checks that no one is in the balcony area. He then moves to the southeast corner, keeping closer to the east wall so as to be less visible.

Fishing his small holy symbol out, he holds it against his beer mug so that it is not visible. (OOC: assuming the rails can be seen through like stair ballisters).

Grubnick moves behind the SE corner of the railing and sits in the floor. Adjusting himself so that he can only barely see draconian 14 (OOC: though at least well enough for the next part).

He waits a few moments to see if anyone is watching him. If not, he casts Detect Evil as quietly and unobtrusively as he can, focusing on draconian 14; otherwise he waits until he is not being observed. If the draconian looks at him suspiciously, he stops.

After concentrating long enough to get a reading, he returns to his room while the spell is still active; using the same precautions as before. Once there, he locks his door makes certain there are no lights on. Moving to the window, he surveys the darkness outside using his infravision and the spell for a couple of minutes; taking in the sky as well.

[HorizonsDream]

~Well, at least he didn't see any of it or hear any of it,~ Kendra thinks to herself as she crawls into bed next to Norris. She knew it was completely possible that he had heard everything, and he was just pretending at this point, but she was hoping that wasn't the case.

[BishGada]

(OOC: I would edit only small part of it)
====================================

"Guys.. The original paper seems to emit trace of magic. It might be too risky to use the forgeries. If you have no objection, let me have the original permit this night. I'll return to collect Haaque and meet you here at Fourth Watch."

====================================
(OOC: The rest of the post is the same. Only with the original paper, so no need for Tulbas to calm himself.)

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Kendra climbs into bed and tries to get some sleep. She couldn't help but feel that things would become more complicated tomorrow.

(OOC: End scene)

Grubnick (High Hand Inn, Common room)
Peering through the banisters, Grubnick casts his spell and watches one of the Baaz in particular. After a breath or two, the draconian begins to give off a moderate green aura surrounding his body, indicating the presence of evil within him.

Climbing up to his room, he locks the door and snuffs the candle, leaving himself with only the moonlight bleeding in from his window. Looking through the window, he watches the draconian patrols walk the area. They all radiate moderate evil, as well. He then looks skyward. As luck has it, one of the three red dragons flies by at this point. It radiates overwhelming evil, its sickly green aura nearly blinding in its power despite how high up it is.

(OOC: Grubnick casts Detect Evil.)

[Haahque]

"And what kind of equipment would random soldiers at a checkpoint have to check to see if the forgeries are magical? Indeed it poses an interesting quandary, is the risk of testing out the security worth the possibility of fraud? You suggest we play it safe tonight, so I'll respect your judgement on this matter, but perhaps we could look into this a bit more later. Indeed the prospect is so interesting I insist that I take a copy back to the Steel Tankard with me, to study of course."

Is it possible for Haahqae to make a spellcraft check to determine the magical properties of the documents?

Haahqae will let Tulbas take the real document and go to the Steel tankard, where he plans to rest and memorize the following spells tomorrow:
Detect Magic, Change Self, Nystal's Magic Aura