CH. 10: Hard Choices

[TristenC]

The goblin steps inside and casts a glance about to be sure they are alone. Not much, I'm afraid. I can't stay long with the curfew. They left in a bunch but split up only a block or so away. I think one group was headed towards the old fort, so I followed the other... he shakes his head disappointedly. They went into the noble district. I think they turned south, once inside but I can't be sure. Someone like me would stand out like a blue pig if I tried to go in there... even if it wasn't off limits to civilians... He sighs. The trouble is, we don't even know if they were going to where he is being held. If rhey were, I'd guess he's either at the old fort in some kind of cell, or up with the Prefect... I dunno which would be worse... "Gobax" chews his pipe stem in thought. You two worked together, right? Would the church know his whereabouts? Or maybe Magnus? You mentioned him at the house...

[HorizonsDream]

Upon hearing the thump, Kendra decides to throw caution to the wind and rushes into the room to see what exactly is going on.

[djhyland]

Arulia looks sharply at Camilla. With more frost in her voice than she intends, she replies, "If you wish to test the Dragon Queen's power, then leave me out of it. Power like hers, unchecked by any sort of care or conscience, is not something I want any part of. She is dangerous, and her followers are as well."

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Although armed with nothing more than a lit candle, Kendra throws caution to the wind and bursts into her bedroom. She is unprepared for what she finds.

A man is slumped down on the floor, leaning against her bed. He's been critically injured in half a dozen ways. He's been stabbed, shot (a couple of arrows are even still sticking out of his leather armor), and burned. Most of his injuries have been sloppily bandaged, but he's still bleeding a little onto the bedroom rug.

He flinches at the candlelight, as his infravision witches back to normal. "K...Kendra," Sadron wheezes.

Tulbas and Gobax (Mageware Shop)
Before Gobax arrives, Tulbas manages to record a few spells into his own spellbook. However, Stinking Cloud evades him. And Monster Summoning I is far too complex for him to even comprehend, much less copy into his own book.

Tulbas tries to learn Protection from Evil/Good [TN 95%] (1d100): 45, pass.
Tulbas tries to learn Scare [TN 95%] (1d100): 8, pass.
Tulbas tries to learn Stinking Cloud [TN 95%] (1d100): 97, fail. He can try again at his next level up.
Tulbas is unable to learn Monster Summoning I. He cannot learn this until 5th level.

Arulia Seroth (323 Three Forks, Seroth residence)
"But she does have power," argues Camilla. "She could save father, and save us from being married off, too, couldn't she? What has your god done so far, besides heal Cassilda's hand? He just sits by and watches as the family suffers. What's even the point of following him?"

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Haven North Sewers)
Shima heads south on his own, arriving at the location across the bridge they found earlier. It is clearly the site of a battle. The bodies belong to horaxes, large insects that often dwell underground. There were three of them. The rats feast on their remains.

There's also quite a bit of dried blood on the stone floor. Not just the black ichor of horaxes, but the blood of people. Based on the rate of decay from the bugs, Shima would guess this battle occurred somewhere between two and three weeks ago. He'd also guess that the victors were not entirely so, and at least one or two of them died. But there is no trace of their bodies beyond the dried blood stains.

[Chris1234]

Shima spends a moment studying the nearby stonework and then moves quickly to try and catch up with the others.

[BishGada]

Tulbas lets the goblin in, again wondering about the miracles of the world, an elf hosts a goblin in a mageware store... he smiles to himself and offers some refreshment to the tired goblin. "The church might... they can scry on people. Magnus doesn't care a bit about him or anyone else, I just used it as an excuse to try to fish info from them." Unconsciously he rubs the place where he was hit. "I guess I should visit the high priestess tomorrow. I haven't realized it is already so late today. Haaque was supposed to meet me here too, but he will probably won't come if its almost curfew time. I'll go to the Tankard early next morning unless Magnus prevents it with some errand, so you could either meet me and Haaque there and if I'm not there you could come here. I suggest you keep distance from the church, but Haaque can go there if I'm held back to mention Gregeddin was caught by the army just after working with the church and trying to look for heretic priests or something like that." He takes a moment trying to think hard and then, "Well, that's the only idea I can come up with to catch the priestess interest and turn it against the army in the same time."
Suddenly he adds in alarm, "What about Gregeddin house? If it is open to the wind it will be plundered or taken by someone to inhabit it. I hope he will have a place to return to if we can save him somehow... Anyway you should hurry up back to your inn."

[TristenC]

Grubnick nods along with his reasoning. It might be best for me to meet you there. That way if you are held up I can tell him what I know about him. I agree about my keeping my distance from the church... If I don't see you there tomorrow. Thanks for the refreshment. How are you holding up?

[BishGada]

"One step after the other." he smiles weakly, "I'm focusing on my studies. It keeps my thought away from..." he struggles to find the words and eventually says, "darkness."

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(OOC: JadedDM, I forgot to ask, does Tulbas recognizes that Monster Summoning I is 3rd level spell? Or just that it is too complex for him to learn?)

[TristenC]

That's good, the goblin says, patting him on the back comfortingly. Keeping your mind occupied will help until we find the right time... Do you play Khas?

[HorizonsDream]

"...Sadron," Kendra says softly in shock. Though, she is quick to take action. She nearly runs and slides on her knees to get to him, and starts applying pressure to the worst of his wounds in hopes of stopping the bleeding. "Stay with me, Sadron," she says softly, but she sounds a little frantic.

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Kendra starts at once tending to Sadron's injuries. None of them alone are too bad, but altogether they leave him quite weakened. "Kendra...you're okay. I was worried," he says, wincing in pain. "The plan worked. We bought enough time for most of my people to get away. I was part of the rear-guard. The army...swept over us like the high tide. Their dragons...burned everything to the ground." Tears stream from his eyes, but whether it's from the pain or the loss of his ancient, ancestral homeland is not clear.

"I only just barely got away. I think the rest of my company is dead or worse," he continues. "I had...nowhere else to go..."

Tulbas and Gobax (Mageware Shop)
(OOC: All Tulbas knows is the spell is too difficult for him to understand. He doesn't know what 'level' it is.

Also, in case you don't know, 'khas' is a chess-like game in this setting that uses hexagons instead of squares. Whether Tulbas ever played is up to you, but Raetmal did and his gameboard is still in his--now Magnus'--room.)

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Haven North Sewers)
Shima takes a few moments to study the stonework. It occurs to him that this stonework is very, very old. Ancient, even. What's more, it does not appear to be human construction, but elven. He would guess it dates back hundreds of years ago, probably long before the city itself was built.

He returns to Felran and Ne-Chanz, who are discussing whether they should check things out in the north or call it a night now.

[Chris1234]

"Guys, it'll be morning if we don't get going. If you think we've done enough to get the information you need then fine, we're done. But if you're in any doubt, we should go deeper," prompts Shima. "Don't forget, this isn't for me - I'm only here helping you. And I still want a dinner out of this."

[BishGada]

"Khas... I have watched my uncle play it. We always believed that one day we will have long time to learn it in depth together." he says glumly closing and opening his right hand fist unconsciously. "But I got the general idea about the game." Tulbas says modestly. In fact he saw people play the game at bars and could easily defeat most of them. "Are you a seasoned player?" Tulbas asks.

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(OOC: I assume that due to his high intellect Tulbas indeed could learn a lot just by watching other play. He won't be a master but at least a very good at the game.)

[HorizonsDream]

"I'm sorry, Sadron," Kendra says softly. Part of her felt a little responsible for what happened to his homeland considering she was apart of the dragon army when that was happening. She wasn't apart of the actual attack, there wasn't a lot she could do to stop it. She uses the back of her hand to wipe at a few tears that managed to slide down her cheeks.

After removing the arrows from his back, Kendra removes his armor carefully along with his shirt so she can wrap his wounds more tightly. She then moves to help him up off the floor. "The cold floor isn't good for you, so I'm going to move you to the bed. I'll set aside some of Norris' old clothes too."

[TristenC]

I only learned a couple of years ago, but I enjoy it very much. It helps me think when I have a difficult puzzle to solve. Perhaps we can play sometime. The High Hand has a board in the commons. For now, I must be getting back. Once again he lays a hand on Tulbas' shoulder in a comforting gesture. We'll figure something out... we just need the right opportunity. With that Gobax takes his leave.

If he has time to reach Delarn's inn and make it back to the High Hand before curfew he will; otherwise he just heads back to the High Hand and surveys the common area for anyone he knows.