CH. 8: Proving Worth

[BishGada]

Hearing Arulia before the groups are distant, Tulbas says, "Spy in the windows. We don't want too much attention."

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz says "Alright. If they went there they cannot escape. Should I remain at the end of the dock if we flush them out and they decide to flee?"

[TristenC]

Grubnick heads to the docks once he has a pass (presumably with Felarn and Ne-Chanz in tow) Do you think you can pick up their scent? It's worth a try... I'll see if I can find anything. Grubnick will try to use his infravision, shielding his eyes from any errant light sources, to determine if anyone is hiding about the docks.

[spyguy1503]

"Should I remain at the end of the dock if we flush them out and they decide to flee?"

[BishGada]

Tulbas goes with Haaque and Ismene east and starts with the tracking mission, if there are people in the street he would ask them if they saw two bloodied armored and armed women carrying a large chest down these streets.

==========================================================
(OOC: Could cantrip help us in tracking the women trail? Lke it can be used for weak detect magic, can it also be used as a weak 'trail detection'?)

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (River Way, East)
After Tulbas gives his permit to Gobax, he goes east along with Haahqae and Ismene. They pass by Kynaston's old house to their left and some storage warehouses to their right. There are no people on the street other than soldiers and themselves--curfew is now in effect, so everyone has gone inside.

(OOC: No cantrip does anything like that. You can read what cantrips can do here.)

Arulia (River Way, West)
Arulia, along with Gregeddin and Pen, backtrack the way they came, westward. As they walk, Pen asks, "Why are we going this way? I thought the blood splatter showed they went the opposite way?"

Gregeddin shakes his head. "I think it's pretty clear nobody has any idea what they are doing at this point." He sighs. "This whole job turned into a real mess somehow. Too many cooks in the kitchen, I think."

The three begin peeking into the windows of houses in this area. Some have curtains pulled over, but some do not. However, they are quickly caught by a patrol snooping around on private properties. Fortunately, Gregeddin is able to use his silver tongue to convince them not to arrest the three and the guards let them go with a warning.

"Perhaps you are right, let us call it a night. We're just searching for needles in a city sized haystack at this point," the bard says. He escorts Arulia home and Pen disappears into an alley, insisting he can evade the patrols and checkpoints easily enough, as nobody pays close attention to kender anyway.

Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Harbor)
After acquiring Tulbas' permit, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz head for the docks. Gobax scans the area with his infravision, but doesn't see anyone hiding anywhere. It occurs to him that if they were hiding in the open, the goblin guards would be able to spot them, as well, and they would have already been arrested then.

==============

It is now Late Watch (10 PM).

[djhyland]

Arulia wishes Pen a good night before he slips away, then walks wordlessly with Greggedin the rest of the way back to her family's house. Upon reaching her street, she finally breaks her silence. "I suppose...I suppose I'll be seeing you again soon. Thank you for bringing me here past the guards." She hurries to her doorway but hesitates before opening the door. "Mother and Father are going to be furious with me," she thinks. Though she knows it won't do any good, she pushes the door open as unobtrusively as possible and slips inside.

[BishGada]

Passing near Kynaston house, all that happened to them returns to him. The last time he saw Kynaston, his own uncle appeared wounded and passed away. If he had chosen his actions differently, Raetmal might have still been with them. And then there was Darga. This, well, no so bright, but with much more courage than himself, who seemed to be a good friend to Tulbas even though he barely knew him. He is also dead...
"Haaque. Let's start checking in the abandoned houses. Maybe we should start with Kynaston's." Tulbas suggests.

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(OOC: Well, all I remembered from the previous time I read the cantrip section in details is that they are "small wishes". And as wishes can grant you anything, I assumed cantrip can grant you anything just in a very small scale. I assume there are divination spells that help you with tracking or guide you to the right choice (between the three paths we could choose from), and since their trail is very hot (less than a hour ago) then just giving you the general idea, or increasing Ne-Chanz smell/tracking ability, or showing with a little glow around blood stains, or better reading the goblins expressions while being asked about the women (even in retrospective) to get a hint where they go, would work.)

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (River Way, East)
The trio walk up to Kynaston's old house. They find that the door is locked. There is no light in the windows, either.

(OOC: The trail is not less than an hour old; more like 3-4 hours old by this point. At best, a cantrip could tell you if there was spilled blood within 30 feet of Tulbas, but not what direction it would be in.)

Arulia (Seroth residence, 323 Three Forks)
As Arulia approaches the door to her home, she can hear yelling from inside. Once she is at the door itself, she can make out the voices fairly well.

"Stop!" her father warns. "If you go out there, you'll just get arrested, too! That won't help her any!"

"I don't care!" her mother retorts. "Somebody has to find her. She could be hurt!"

The door suddenly swings open and Vera nearly collides into her. After a moment of confusion, she suddenly embraces Arulia, nearly in tears. "Oh, thank the gods! You're okay!"

Thoron quickly escorts them both inside and closes the door before a patrol wanders by. "Where have you been? And why are you dressed like that?" he asks, referring to her armor and destroyed cloak.

"You're hurt!" Vera gasps, noting her wounds. "Did the army do this to you?"

==============

It is now Restful Watch (11 PM).

[TristenC]

No scent eh? Let's head back to the inn, they'll turn up sooner or later...

[BishGada]

==============================
(OOC: Infravision works? If not, and we can't see anything in the abandoned houses nearby Tulbas will try to use the cantrip to help finding blood stains and if that will also fail he will give up, unless Haaque would suggest some action.
Haven't we decided to meet back where we splitted?? Does Tulbas knows where the Goblin inn is?
Didn't Gobax said he would like to alert the chrch tonight?
)

[TristenC]

[Gobax said he wanted someone to, not that he himself would]

[djhyland]

Arulia returns her mother's embrace as fiercely as it's given before her father pulls them inside. "It's okay, Mama," she whispers, "I'm okay."

Once she extracts herself from her mother's arms, Arulia begins a stammering explanation. "I've...I've been working, Father. After I took Cassilda to Una's shop, I went to the taverns to see if they needed any servers or cooks. At the High Hand, I found a...sort of a job. I overheard a group of people talking about going to rescue some wizard's apprentice. Before I knew it, one of them asked me if I knew how to fight and offered me some steel if I'd go with them...at least five steel pieces, and up to a fair share of whatever they found. I hadn't had any luck in finding other work yet, so I accepted. I just never thought it'd be so late before I got home. I'm sorry to have worried you."

Attempting to dismiss her mother's concerns, Arulia brushes at her wounded shoulder as if she's attempting to brush away some dust or a small insect. Though she keeps her voice as light and unconcerned as she can, she twitches nervously as she speaks. "It's nothing serious, just a minor wound," she claims. "I've been hurt worse while on duty with the Seekers' Guards, remember? I'm sure it'll look much better in the morning after a good night's sleep."

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (River Way, East)
Tulbas scans the street with his infravision, but he finds no signs of the women hiding in the street. In all likelihood, they have found a place to hide for the night. As they don't have a permit to be out after curfew, they'd be arrested otherwise.

Tulbas tries using a cantrip to find nearby blood. He finds some, but it doesn't belong to the women he's tracking, but rather Ismene. It turns out all of this walking around has opened up one of her wounds. Because she wears so much red, it wasn't noticeable before.

With his great intelligence, Tulbas realizes that trying to find them by wandering the streets is very unlikely. The city is over two square miles in size and after so much time, they could be anywhere. The only way they'll be found is if the party comes up with some kind of plan to narrow down the search. He escorts Ismene back to the Masked Dragon, then is dropped off at the mageware shop by Haahqae who proceeds to the Steel Tankard.

Magnus is furious, but seeing the elf in such a battered state, he decides his punishment can wait for morning. His body still racked with horrible pain, Tulbas goes up to his room to get some much needed rest.

Arulia (River Way, West)
"Well..," Thoron says. "It seems to have all worked out in the end. I'm just glad you came home when you did. Let's all get some rest. Whatever left to say can wait until morning," he says.

The three head off to bed, hoping tomorrow will be more fruitful.

Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Harbor)
Unable to find any hints or clues, the three return to the High Hand Inn, using the permit given to them by Tulbas. They have to knock on the door for a good ten minutes before someone finally answers, as the inns are all closed by this point. The innkeeper, having been roused from bed, grumpily lets them in and up to their rooms.

[JadedDM]

XP is as follows:

Haahqae (Illusionist 2/Thief 3)
Chat with Ismene at the inn - 50 XP
Meeting Arulia - 100 XP
Hides in shadows of the stairwell - 200 XP
Casting Grease - 50 XP
Defeating enemies in guard room - 20 XP
Detect Noise check - 200 XP
Defeating enemies in dining hall - 113 XP
Defeating enemies in shrine - 44 XP
Rescuing Tulbas - 200 XP
Voted to turn books to the Conclave - 100 XP
Sub-total: 538 XP/538 XP (+10% Thief only)
TOTAL: 538 XP/592 XP

Haahqae becomes level 4 Mouse Burglar!
*He receives 1d6 HP (divided by 2)
*He receives 30 thief skill points
*He can now begin putting thief skill points into Read Languages
*He receives 1 WP slot
*He receives 5 bonus thief skill points (OL, MS, F/RT or RL only)

Kendra Greylock (Fighter 3)
Telling Arulia she is joined the army - 100 XP
Being honest with Norris - 100 XP
Reporting in on time - 50 XP
Flirting with Perp - 50 XP
Defeating 5 dire wolves - 145 XP
Defeating 3 elves - 210 XP
Defeating 5 Baaz - 219 XP
Defeating 33 HD worth of enemies - 990 XP
Staying in Haven - 100 XP
Rescuing Sadron - 200 XP
Sub-total: 2,164 XP (+10%)
TOTAL: 2,380 XP

Kendra becomes level 4 Fighter!
*She receives 1d10 HP
*She receives +1 to hit

Gregeddin (Bard 4)
Defeating enemies in guard room - 20 XP
Defeating enemies in dining hall - 113 XP
Defeating enemies in shrine - 44 XP
Defeating 31 HD worth of enemies - 620 XP
Rescuing Tulbas - 200 XP
Sub-total: 997 XP (+5% bonus)
TOTAL: 1,047 XP

Tulbas Erogund (Mage 3)
Relived most important life moments - 300 XP
Revealed sister's name - 100 XP
Revealed sister's age - 100 XP
Voted to keep the books - 100 XP
Sub-total: 600 XP (+10%)
TOTAL: 660 XP

Arulia Seroth (Fighter 2/Cleric 3)
Telling Kendra she and her sisters might have to marry - 100 XP
Meeting Haahqae and Grubnick - 200 XP
Standing up for Pen - 100 XP
Chatting with Pen about history - 50 XP
Defeating enemies in guard room - 20 XP
Defeating enemies in dining hall - 113 XP
Defeating enemies in shrine - 44 XP
Defeating 31 HD worth of enemies - 620 XP
Rescuing Tulbas - 200 XP
Voting to destroy the books - 100 XP
Encounter with parents - 50 XP
TOTAL: 798 XP/798 XP

Arulia becomes level 3 Fighter!
+ 1d10 HP (divided by 2)
+ 1 THAC0
+ 1 WP slot

Grubnick (Cleric 4)
Recruiting Gregeddin - 50 XP
Meeting Arulia - 100 XP
Recruiting Pen - 50 XP
Preparing a strategy - 100 XP
Defeating enemies in guard room - 20 XP
Defeating enemies in dining hall - 113 XP
Defeating enemies in shrine - 44 XP
Rescuing Tulbas - 200 XP
Voting to destroy the books - 100 XP
Sub-total: 777 XP (+10%)
TOTAL: 855 XP

Felran Del'ravdir (Fighter 3)
Defeating enemies in guard room - 20 XP
Defeating enemies in dining hall - 113 XP
Defeating enemies in shrine - 44 XP
Defeating 31 HD worth of enemies - 930 XP
Rescuing Tulbas - 200 XP
Abstaining to vote on books - 100 XP
TOTAL: 1,407 XP

Felran becomes level 4 Fighter!
*He receives 1d10 HP
*He receives +1 to hit

Ne-Chanz (Fighter 3)
Meeting Haahqae - 100 XP
Defeating enemies in guard room - 20 XP
Defeating enemies in dining hall - 113 XP
Defeating enemies in shrine - 44 XP
Defeating 31 HD worth of enemies - 930 XP
Rescuing Tulbas - 200 XP
Voted to destroy books - 100 XP
Sub-total: 1,507 XP (+10%)
TOTAL: 1,658 XP

Ne-Chanz becomes level 4 Fighter!
*He receives 1d10 HP
*He receives +1 to hit

Shima Longfoot (Fighter 3/Thief 3)
Detect Noise on thieves - 200 XP
Discussion with Raena - 50 XP
Discussion with pregnant woman - 50 XP
Sub-total: 150 XP/150 XP (+10% thief only)
TOTAL: 150 XP/165 XP