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Post by Admin on Sept 17, 2013 1:29:30 GMT
[Sense Motive for Hans: 16+4=20]
Hans realizes that Mrs. Perin seems rather desperate, to be upfront with her offer and needs like that. Hans imagines whatever treasures the villagers have left won't be parted with willingly. However, Mrs. Perin seemed intrigued once Anafesto's name was dropped.
Mrs. Perin steps forwards, looking at the spat between Aldeus and Orgoth. "Aldeus," she chimes in. "I do not pay you to fight those who do not threaten our town. Or what's left of it."
She walks towards Orgoth. "Allow me to apologize, on the half of the people of Scalo Est. My husband often joked that without taxes on Anafesto's caravans, we would be much poorer."
She points up at the nearby hill, and then towards the forest beyond it. "Whoever is responsible for these bandits and necromancers has deep pockets," she points towards a blue ribbon off in the distance, a bay emptying into the Adriatic. A small spur of land, covered by trees, is visible. "It would make no sense for Anafesto and other Venetian merchants to isolate us. These brigands have no flag or battle standard, so they are probably deserters hired as sellswords. We are too small to interest even the Bulgars, let alone the Greeks. So that leaves the man there."
She stops for a moment, her teeth clenching as she spits out a name. "Vizzini," she says the word rapidly, as if profaning. "We did not know much of him, but we can see torches and magic lights at night in his estate."
She turns to a militiaman, who hands her a javelin. Orgoth, Teo, Alicia, and Elgeon can see it has a strange artifact under the point similar to the one they found in the woods. "Every few days, these rain down from that hill, along with arrows and crossbow bolts. Even if you do not care for our water troubles, that hill provides a good place that allows you to see the Vizzini Estate. But those bastardos have occupied it, and keep us from retaking it."
She stops for a moment, and looks at Aldeus. "How is this?" she offers. "If you restore our water, I will send Aldeus and the militia to assist with whatever Anafesto requires, so long as it does not bring harm or danger to this town. Understand?"
Hans realizes that Mrs. Perin's primary concern lies with the water, but perhaps he could try to play on her loathing of Vizzini and allow her to see things from the bigger picture...
The group recalls the map they had seen before. The hill occupies a midpoint between Scalo Est and the peninsula that Vizzini's estate lies on. While the forests surround it to the north and south could provide cover or an alternative route, it is clear it is a strategic area. Whatever they decide, they are close to their objective.
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Post by tengen on Sept 17, 2013 2:39:41 GMT
Alicia drops her hand that was rubbing her temples just prior because of the spat. Her mouth lays open momentarily as Mrs. Perin scolded them given how she had just been about to do similarly but was beaten to it. She was beginning to like this woman she thought. The reasoning behind them stopping the water interests her. It could be simply them playing troy with this little town but it could also be more to it for all they knew. "My vote goes toward helping with the water" she says demurely to the others " beside for all we know it might hide more clues to this little mystery "She continues to state her case to the others.
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Post by aldeus on Sept 17, 2013 4:14:07 GMT
Aldeus can feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He draws a deep, measured breath and then slowly contorts every muscle in his face to force out the words one by one
"Yes." "Of course Mrs. Perin." Aldeus pauses, knowing well he shouldn't continue speaking. "As you know though, threats don't always appear the same from afar. I am alive today due to my caution when dealing with over zealous brutes..." Aldeus trails off and then shifts his eyes upon Orgoth without pivoting his neck a single degree.
"Clearly a pathetic display"
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Post by sternold on Sept 17, 2013 6:08:47 GMT
Orgoth wasn't going to take this. He was about the drop his axe and beat the life out of Aldeus, but realizes that he would probably be unable to finish it here, with all the townsfolk and the rest of his group. He keeps holding his axe and while his other hand is aching to hit Aldeus, he doesn't attack him yet. He mutters under his breath in Russian: "A fool's tongue runs before his feet." He spits in front of Aldeus, and then walks away. While the rest of the group would be making plans probably, Orgoth wait at the front gate.
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Post by henwen88 on Sept 17, 2013 13:59:48 GMT
"Nothing on this earth can survive long without water," Leath says. "And since we'll receive assistance in confronting the necromancer in return, I too am willing to try to solve this water problem before proceeding with our goal."
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Post by teodoro on Sept 17, 2013 14:11:09 GMT
Teo is not worried about Orgoth's well-being during the encounter with Aldeus. Teo is confident that Orgoth can handle himself.
Reluctantly, Teo agrees to help with the water issues. He hopes the reward of magical items will sate his curiosity while he tries to put the mysterious necromancer out of his mind.
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Post by jon on Sept 17, 2013 19:31:57 GMT
"May our party be allowed a quick moment to discuss the current situation Mrs Perin? We will be right back", Hans beckons the group several meters away from the plaza.
Once (and if) most of the party are gathered there he whispers,"I do believe she is lying about the reward. These people are poor and desperate and unlikely to have such items and if so unlikely to part with them."
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Post by teodoro on Sept 17, 2013 22:53:15 GMT
Teo loudly chimes in, "Oh, nonsense Hans! I'm sure anything we need to say can be discussed with our new friends here. I'm sure they'll answer any questions we could have!"
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Post by Admin on Sept 18, 2013 2:14:16 GMT
"We have less than a week of water left," Mrs. Perin says. "So, if you would offer to assist us, it would greatly warm this old woman's heart."
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Post by jon on Sept 18, 2013 3:46:40 GMT
[OUT OF CHARACTER] I've been told that my character actually believes there is a reward but it is unlikely that the party would be given it easily. I just fail at reading comprehension. So for the purpose of my previous entry Hans says that they are unlikely to part with the items unless we help them substantially [END OUT OF CHARACTER]
Hans slumps as he hears that the water will run out so soon, overcome by a combination of cynicism about the reward, and guilt that if he doesn't help with the water problem these residents will not last long out here.
"I am in agreement that we should help these people with their water shortage, especially considering the urgency of their diminishing supply."
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Post by elgeon on Sept 18, 2013 13:34:58 GMT
Elgeon looks very skeptical... While helping the village with the water issue seems the most logical thing to do, from what Mrs. Perin describes, it seems that the hill is well-defended. "We have to get more information about this situation. I mean, if there's a hundred defenders posted on that hill, there's not much chance that our group can take that on. And they mentioned a tunnel, is that defended as well?"
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Post by teodoro on Sept 18, 2013 16:18:50 GMT
Teo's focus starts to drift off as planning seems imminent. He asks Mrs. Perin if he can examine their javelin. [If Perin agrees, he removes himself from the crowd and tries to see if he can get the javelin it to do anything (Magic Device check)]
[If Perin refuses, he does not push the point. He leaves to go wandering around town, looking for interesting sights.]
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Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2013 4:28:17 GMT
"Why, little one, we have several of these wretched things that have fallen onto our village," she gestures to a militiaman, who drops three of them at the gnome's feet. "We were fearful at first, but these things have grown into a nuisance. The bandits mostly ceased using them after we began mounted their heads on the blasted things outside."
Teo looks at them carefully. They are standard javelins with the tube-like artifact under the head, but finds these lack the runes present on the ones he had seen before. They are much more battered and worn, but there is nothing magical about them that the gnome can detect. [Teo's UMD check=2+9=11]
"Lorenzo, tell these men about the hill," Mrs. Perin gestures to a militia officer. The man wears a wide-brimmed hat and has an ornate blue and indigo robe, with a martial step in his stride. Lorenzo looks at the party, as if addressing raw conscripts. "Yes, Mrs. Perin," he waves the group into a nearby structure, a barn with javelins and arrows sticking from the roof as if a giant porcupine stuck it.
Two soldiers have a yellowed map marked on the table, with positions around the village marked by black stones, and militia positions marked by white ones.
"My scouts have reported most of the bandit activity is on the eastern side of the hill," he taps on the map. "A tunnel, large enough for a man to walk through, carries a stream from the hot springs on the eastern side through the hill to the aqueduct."
"Obviously, those bastardos have blocked that off," Mrs. Perin says. "And left us with parched throats."
"Yes, but there are multiple ways to the camp," Lorenzo runs his finger up the hill on the map, as if leading a charge. "The western side of the hill directly faces the village, but offers no cover. The bandits launch their weapons from here at night, but have sentries during the day. The northern face is likewise exposed, but is slightly less steep and trees provide some cover. The south, however, is rocky and wooded. It has less guards, but you'd advance slower even in a full charge."
"Tell them what opposition they would face," Perin says.
"Our scouts say there are approximately two dozen enemies on the eastern flank, with a similar number of skeletons," he pauses for a moment. "However, there are at least twice that number of prisoners held in that camp. Some of our own vanished into that camp, and I hope they are still alive."
"My nephew Dante was captured by those brigands," Mrs. Perin hisses. "If you can recover him alive, I will agree to cut Anafesto's trading taxes."
"The brigands are forcing the prisoners to excavate the hillside for reasons we don't know," Lorenzo continues. "We believe that if you were to create a big enough disturbance, the prisoners could revolt or distract the guards."
"Lorenzo, rally the militia," Mrs. Perin says. "Ask these adventurers which approach they would prefer."
The officer salutes. "Yes, Lady Bianca Perin," he says. "Our militia could either provide reinforcement in a direct assault, a feint or distraction to cover their advance. I would recommend having them advance from the south, as they seem adept at traveling light. My men could attack from the north, as we'd trap the bandits in a pincer attack, while we close in on the camp. What do you think?" he turns to the group.
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Post by teodoro on Sept 19, 2013 15:45:19 GMT
Teo attempts to remove the "tube-like artifact" from the spear and pocket it. He figures there's not much reason to attach extra weight to a thrown weapon unless it's important, somehow.
He follows the group into the embattled barn. He starts to drift off while hearing about cardinal directions and hills and fortifications and other such dreary terms. Teo believes it is time for a prank.
He slips away from the crowd and removes the manacles from his pack (which he carries for just such an occasion). Amused already and stifling back his laughter, he silently slinks back towards the group with the intention of locking the manacles around Milford's ankles. These manacles were originally designed to be worn on the hands. As such they have a very short chain, which makes anything past shuffling very difficult. [Stealth check? I don't really know what would be required to pull this off...]
He tries to camouflage himself back into the rest of group. He is eye to eye with the edge of the table and has a very skewed perspective when trying to few the map.
When he hears someone mention "distraction", he blurts out "Distraction? I can assist with that!" [Casts Dancing Lights] Four bouncing, white lights appear around him and begin to circle each other above the table. They move faster and faster until they become one bright ring. Teo's smile is from one ear clear across to the other ear as he watches them moving faster. And faster. He snaps to dispel the effect, suddenly bringing himself back to reality. He shakes his head as if jarred by the sudden switch.
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Post by jon on Sept 19, 2013 19:37:17 GMT
"That could work," Hans grins in Teo's direction, following the lights until he has to stop and blink for a few seconds.
Hans ponders... "Is there a road nearby to the bandit camp? I am not a fan of direct assaults but possibly something more... karmic..."
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