Arc 3 - Glimmers in the Dark (Main Roleplay)

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

Uncertain if Revenge’s blatant lie was an attempt at getting Valac angry enough to attack the man, or if Kouri’s blatant spouting of the truth was an attempt to get the guard to do something. Ruin’s tail flicked slightly annoyed at the dilemma before him.

He had a feeling that ‘the enemy’ Kouri was talking about was his countrymen. Like ‘em or hate ‘em he still couldn’t bring himself to label them as such. And being one person who believes torture and spy work can be instruments of good... or at least used with good intentions.

“I never had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting the man myself, sir. But, if you would believe Kuori he has aligned himself with a powerful nation, Aria. And I did have dealings with them. Enough to say, that they aren’t you want as an ally or enemy. Doubly so if you are men of good conscience.” That said, he wondered why Tristan would still be above ground. If he did any of these things within earshot of Valac or Kuori  

[Mongooseh]

Valac was scowling absent minded at Tristan, Valac hadn't thought of him since he last met him and hadn't decided whether to murder the kidnapper.

It was true that Tristan did free him but as far as he could see he was still to sell him like a piece of meat.

Valac snapped out of his furious gaze when he heard his name being mentioned, "Who did I kill? There's been a lot you're gonna need to be specific."  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would sheepishly rub the back of his head as he addressed the soldier. "My apologies. Our Goliath has had a rough week and has been feeling down. I was trying to orchestrate a bit of physical comedy to cheer her up vis-à-vis her tastes, but I'm afraid I don't do low brow well, which is what I was going for."

Growing serious for a moment, he would add, "Yes, we do have some minor history with that gentlemen, though I think he is the type that is driven by monetary or personal gain. Not an enemy himself per se, but more of an inconvenience. I'm not sure we have any reason to share words with him until our paths cross directly. I was hoping a barbarian-induced fright would keep that from happening, but I think Ruin and I need to work on our communication and teamwork."  

[PupSage]

As Ruin spoke, Kuori's grip on her weapon tightened, for a brief second it was raised,and then it was lowered and the goliath would begin to breath out heavily, inhale sharply, and say the word, "Calm." Repeating the ritual over and over four times before saying, "Don't kill him now, he could be useful as a shield. He will know your wrath when you conveniently forget to heal him in the fights to come." She is not subtle, and its clear that the bladelock has just angered the party healer, a fatal mistake if there ever was one.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

"Oh... That is what you wanted." Ruin would proclaim as Revenge revealed all.

Given there week together, he cared little to actually work on teambuilding things. It was better time spent with his student. And gdue to his unbloodedness in their only combat together, Kuori's threat left him unfazed. Ruin knew his pact with the Wounded One would protect him more than ether god worshippers. But, thats not to say, team wasn't important.

"That is something, I can help with." With that Ruin drew his rod and broke from the group and headed for the seller. (If no one stops him, by the time I am off work[9 hours from this posting]. I will continue this post with Ruin's assualt.)  

[PupSage]

"You just let us know that your lips are still wrapped around your former masters' rod and now you are going to use yours to start a fight in the fort. When the guards jump in to stop you I'll be right alongside them giving you your licks." She turns to face them, "Either stop being an idiot or go running back to them with your tail between your legs like the b***h you are. Having seen what you have I would have thought that you would have seen the light as friendly as you have gotten with their former prisoners, but if you are still too afraid of them to stand against them leave."

She looks to the guard and says, "The Tiefling is right, his allegiance is to the coin. He is probably still sore over his daughter, maybe we can use that." She then says, "Later though, for now, my clansman awaits."  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

“Remind me again, who was in their face sending them to hell and who was standing more than 50 steps back? Or the one who was actually trying to talk to your sister? And who was firing arrows at her? Then you can tell me where my loyalties lay. Two bit, gods whore.” The hex-blade cursed back as he continued towards Tristan’s table. "Find me when you actually need me to protect your a**." Reaching under his armor, to scratch his back with the implement of hellish delight.

It wasn’t like Vaius was going to attack the seller or something stupid under those lines. He was just going to talk to the guy, browse the vendor's wares, s**t like that. Tristan couldn’t bother the team if he was being bothered by a possible buyer. Besides, between Kuori talking over him at the gate, Revenge's joke(?), and her sister’s stubbornness left him with the feeling he didn’t need to stay and chat with her other clansman.

“So, what do these tonics actually do?” Sliding his rod back into his boot, Ruin grabbed one of the tonic bottles and studied it for a moment.

(Arcane plus 9: To see if there were any magical properties to the tonics[equal 11]

Sorry, I fell asleep as soon as I kicked off my shoes at home. But, Seriously, What did you think he was going to do? )  

[Kowsauni]

The soldier began to look rather uncomfortable as the party began to bicker and then became visibly worried when weapons were drawn. You begin to think he is having second thoughts about letting the party into the fort. Everyone would also notice several nearby solders working on their various projects take notice of the group when weapons being to be drawn. Once Ruin walks towards Tristan, the soldier would finally speak. "I'm sorry, it seems I brought up a sore subject. That man arrived a day ago to sell his wares. I can't say I care much for his shady personalty but his potions have definitely been a life saver. Shall we continue on our way?"

Tristan

As Ruin approaches Tristan's table the man has a bit of a gleeful look on his face. Ruin gets the feeling he might have been watching the heated exchange from before, but then, so was everyone else in the vicinity. Upon inspecting one of Tristan's numerous potions, Ruin can tell it is indeed magical but nothing else beyond that. Once he finishes up his sale to his previous customer, Tristan would address Ruin's question with a sly smile. "Oh, they do many things. The real question what do you want them to do for you? Most of potions and salves you see here are of a restorative nature, but I can make potions to produce all kinds of magical effects. The only real limit is your coin."

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General Valmist

The general would stand up in his chair and return Ilikan's salute before carefully sitting down back down. "At ease, ah yes, I'm afraid that is often the case. I'm sure you are wondering why I called you here and the truth is I have an important task for you... if you decide to accept it."

The General would let out a painful sigh as he leaned back in is chair. ]"As you are probably well aware, we rescued several prisoners from the Underdark invaders at they retreated back into the earth. One among them was a goliath. He told us some very troubling news. He told us his people, known as Lightlost, resided in a village in the Underdark that lay in the warpath of the army we just defeated. Now, he could not say definitely what happened to his village, as he was captured while away hunting, but I can't imagine it went well. That is where the task lies ahead. I want to find out what happened to that village and, if they did indeed survive, how can we aid them. Unfortunately, I do not have the men or supplies right now to send a force down there to investigate. As you know, it is taking all our energy to complete construction of this Fort and lick our wounds, plus sending a full contingent of solders down there might trigger a counterattack. I'm afraid this will have to be a more covert operation."

The general would let out another sigh before looking Ilikan directly in his eyes. "You are one of the best soldiers this army has to offer. You more than distinguished yourself in this last battle. In fact, it has reached my ears there are those going around calling you a hero. I would much prefer to give you some well deserved leave and I also want you to understand this is not a direct order but rather a request in which you can deny me. I need a man to sneak into the Underdark and verify the existence of this Lightlost village, and if it still exists, how we may assist them, limited though our options might be. I would like you to be this man. You are the only one I feel I can trust with this incredibly dangerous task. If you don't feel up to it, please let me know now."  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

"So, you make these?" The question came forth with more surprise than he intended. Ruin assumed the man got the potions from a 3rd party and rebottled them with his label

Tapping his finger to his chin Ruin thought for a moment. "How much for a basic healer? And could you make a potion to help with crop yields?"

It was a schoolyard experiment idea if he ever made it back to the orphanage, or decided to start a new school, was to introduce the students to light farming and extend into the many aspects that branch from it. He was going to ask Sylvia the question closer to his return to teaching but this was an opportunity to test Tristan's legitimacy. Sylvia would have to accept an apology or create her own to challenge Tristan's.

"... Or a knockout poison?" He would add as an off-the-wall idea.  

[Rain Yupa]

Quote:

Ruin's post

"No, that fails to validate-

Quote:

Kuori's post

"You know that's not what-

Quote:

Ruin's post

"It's more complicated than-

Quote:

Ruin leaves

Revenge sighs.

"My name is Revenge, paladin of Sehanine. I protect those who are in danger of needless suffering and loss of life. This is Valac, he's a barbarian mercenary who is very adept in combat and is quite unstoppable, or at least he was with his gnome cheerleader rallying behind him (she's absent for now). And then there's these two; I think you already have a good bead on who they are," he would say to the soldier guiding them, jutting his thumb over his shoulder at Kuori and Ruin.

"Sad to say, the one named 'Revenge' and the Barbarian seem to be the most level-headed ones here. It might be best if you need us to speak with whoever's in charge, to bring the two of us first. For now, let's carry on."  

[Mongooseh]

"Oh yeah what Revenge said, let the rats squabble we're the important ones you need to speak to you want tough? We got tough to spare, Revenge here is so tough that he doesn't kill his enemies in fear of killing their soul." Chimed in Valac as he waited with revenge to continue.  

[Psychofish]

Was there anywhere to seat himself, Ilikan would recline shortly after the general had settled into his seat and taken a slightly more informal tone. At the hero comments he smiled, but lazily waved it off- glory he was less interested in than good coin or a good cause. So far he'd had a bit of one and plenty of the other here, and from the sounds of it the ratio held.

He'd never heard of the light lost, but setting him here just when a goliath tribe found itself in need sounded like exactly the sort of karmic recompense some greater spirit might have had its hand in. Hard to say no to such a thing, even if it had not sounded rather a bit exciting as the man went on.

"Stealth is not my forte, if you expect eyes on the path. If what you want is someone who can survive the traverse alone, however, I believe I may be your man." Ilikan sat forward, lingering grin still present even as he pushed his hands together thoughtfully for a moment. "The refugee you mentioned. Is he in any condition to act as a guide or draw up a map to the village? I'm familiar with goliath mountain trails, but not subterranean ones."  

[Kowsauni]

Tristan

Tristan himself seemed to be a bit surprised by Ruin's onslaught of questions but he would respond with a smile. "Oh, a basic healing potion costs around 50 gold a piece, but I am willing to negotiate a cheaper price for those buying in bulk. As for a magical solution to improve crop yield, I believe that is something I could make, but it would require some research, and you would need quite a bit of it to fertilize an entire field. To be honest no one has ever asked me about making something so... noble." Ruin could almost see the gears turning Tristan's head. He could tell his idea intrigued the alchemist. As for his last question Tristan would simply respond. "Knockout poison? Well, I do specialize in making these potions that you throw which fumes will render a person unconscious. I believe they would produce the effect you are looking for, but I'm afraid they are quite expensive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The soldier leading the rest of the party would simply nod at Revenge and continue to lead them to one side of the fort and into a building that must have been serving as their hospital. Inside the place was back with wounded soldiers. Every level surface seemed to have a person on it. Several clerics and healers could be seen moving around tending everyone, though the mood was not frantic. It had been several days since the last battle. Those who had too grievous wounds to survive had already passed on. The place was almost silent except for the occasional coughs and groans for the soldiers being treated.

The soldier would lead the party to the back of the building. There there was a young goliath maybe in his 20's sitting up in his bed looking out a window. He had a distant look in his eyes. On a table by his bed was what looked to be a half drunken healing potion with "Tristan's Tonics" boldly labeled across it. When Kuori finishes maneuvering through the throng of wounded soldiers, her heart would skip a beat. The goliath sitting in the bed was none other than her youngest brother, Augmahl. Though it had been almost ten years since she'd last seen him, he was easily recognizable to her. He hadn't yet noticed the party's approach as he continued to stare out the window.

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General Valmist

General Valmist would chuckle at Ilikan's reponse, but that seemed to be a mistake as he would quickly grimace and grab his side. Nonetheless he would continue on. "I had a feeling that would be your response. The lad has been sleeping for most of the last couple days, but with a potion we got from that traveling alchemist he seems to finally be on the mend. You may go talk to him now if you want to see what kind of assistance he can give you."  

[PupSage]

The Goliath was still adjusting to the whole heavy armor thing, but tried to run with as much grace as she could, shoving people as need be. Her dark armor, embossed with the symbol of Kuliak on its chest, and the skull-like helm went lunging across the room, wrapping her sibling in a steely embrace.

Wordless she held on for a moment, then her voice would choke through the echoes of the armor. "Its so good to see you alive Augmahl. You've grown so much." She squeezes him tighter, afraid that he may vanish if she lets go. She finally breaks off, removing the helm to get a better look. "With Maukein turning traitor, I thought ... I hoped ... Here you are." Her face was leaking some weird liquid stuff, similar to what she'd seen Revenge do every night after a big fight.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

Vaius believed the word Tristan was looking for was... strange or foolish. But, at the end of the day, this was to about helping the orphaned children, to give them a chance... one he gained by the safety of the orphanage and his master.

Quote:

"... I'm afraid they are quite expensive."

“The same can be said to most things that are fun.” Which was a shame seeing the group had a future in the Underdark, but still... “How expensive is ‘quite'?”

Setting the tonic in his hand on the table close to himself, “Tell ya what, if you can get a working formula together and produce enough to cover an acre by early spring next year. Write to Sister Demona of the Northwood Convent in Aria. Tell her that it is for Ruin and She will relay the message on to me.” He didn’t want to add, that the Sister would only relay the message if Ruin returned to see her. “We can meet up then, and discuss costs. Until then would you accept a trade? 15 of your healing potions for...” Ruin would draw his old rod out of its place of rest and set it on the table.

Diplomacy: +8 Trade Magic Rod +2(PBH sell price 360) for a 15 healing tonics... In truth, he didn’t want that many but wasn’t going to argue over it(Revenge could use them razz ). What he really wanted was a few knockout bombs and 3 tonics.