The Quest of the Missing Quill

[Haahque]

Jasmine and Kannock (Black Barrel Tavern)
The Nephilim is willing to answer Jasmine’s question, although the disappointment on the human’s face is poorly masked. “Well, it pains me to say it, but if you’re looking for an orc, you should probably leave this town. More specifically, you should go to Glash, the orc village in the Southern forest. While there are no laws there that would protect you from them, the majority of orcs aren’t xenophobic and they’re willing to talk and trade with empire citizens. As long as you’re not soldiers, they make it clear that empire soldiers are not welcome there.”

“One more thing. That orc you described sounds like you’re looking for a War Orc. I don’t know why you’re searching for this orc, but if you were even contemplating crossing him, I would suggest you don’t. War Orcs are an elite branch of the orc military, and are considered the same rank as officers in their army, despite not leading any troops. They’re fast, exceptionally strong, skilled with their weapons and they can move without a sound. There’s a reason why there are only a few of them. If I were an orc I’d probably be able to name them all, but I’m not.”

Ishan and Zurgo (Merchant District, Trevsville)
When Ishan ducks into the grocery store, he finds Zurgo there, just finishing up a transaction of his own. “Here ya go mister orc. I trust that you know how to cook ‘em, so I’ll just tell you to enjoy.” Viewing the amount of cash that Zurgo just handed him, the grocer continues. “Since you seem so interested, I’ll tell you that Fizwilliam has a farm not too far from here on the road to the Ichabodd inn. He deals in beef, milk, and various grains. I think it’s the 5th farm on the left once you leave the town? Might be the sixth. Brook has a farm to the north of here. There ain’t much of an official trail to his farm, but he’s rode a wagon into town enough times that he’s made his own path. Just follow the path that comes out near the training grounds, on the north side.”

“I doubt either of them will be too enthusiastic to be visited by an orc, nor are they going to be too happy with me for telling you where they are, but perhaps you could change their tone with a the same greeting of universal friendship that got you their locations.”

Ishan is able to complete his purchase without much hassle.
Ishan pays 10 silver and gains 2 rations.
Zurgo pays 36 silver and gains 1lb of fresh beef thigh (Fizwilliam) and 1lb of salted beef thigh (Brook), as well as information.

Gaheris (Trevsville Church)
“Well I we don’t have any holy water, blessing water is a simple task that is taught to all acolytes of Sarenrae. I can have a couple flasks of it made up by the time we leave, and if you wish I could have a few extra that you could have after, if we don’t need them during the night.”

(Turns out I think the price for holy water is way too high -> a priest makes a 25gp item with a lvl 1 spell? No thanks. I go by the "A skilled worker should make 1 gold per day" rule. Priests with cleric levels might be able to make more then 1 gold, but 100+ gold per day is ridiculous.)

Benjamin (Black barrel Tavern, Trevsville)
"Interesting move, but I'm afraid there's no trap, just a rule that you overlooked. Sliths are considered the weakest piece because their movement is so slow and restricted, but they are still very powerful pieces because enemies cannot enter or leave the square in front of them. This makes them incredibly valueable, as they can either lock down an important, slippery piece like a dervish, or they can block of squares needed to sandwich those pieces like this. Since I have a Slith in F3, you cannot move your archer into F4. Likewise the Slith in G3 stops you from entering G4. Perhaps you would like to rethink your move."

"Forgive me for my presumption, but by the sounds of the conversation in the room, it looks like you're hunting a war orc. If this is the case, I find it likely you're traveling to either the orc castle or to Achladder. I don't think you'll find any war orcs south of the mountains."

[JadedDM]

"Sounds good," Gaheris says. He says his goodbyes and then departs the temple. He remembers Jasmin mentioned going to a tavern, so he decides he'll seek out the nearest one and hope to get lucky. He takes his time, taking in the sights and sounds and keeping an eye out for anything that might catch his interest.

If he doesn't see anything along the way, he'll enter the tavern and look for Jasmin. Failing that, he'll ask around if anyone has seen her. She kind of stands out, after all.

[keymeister16]

"ah, Ishan! i'm just about done here, shall we head back and discuss our findings? i have some VERY good news to share," Zurgo's laugh cut high across the din of the populaces.

once they are out of earshot from the shopkeeper Zurgo's face took on a more serious tone. "i have meat from two different farms and ALOT of reason to believe at least one of them may be like that zombie cow we saw, could you take a look at them when we get back? also if one ISN'T poison please tell me, i just spent close to a gold on food i can't safely eat....."

[Vrindlevine]

Ishan looks over the meat and makes a big show of peering and eyeing it, he tastes a small piece and checks his journal, then listens to the sound it makes when struck before smelling it.

While so engaged he converses with Zurgo, "A plaque in the meat would be most unfortunate, then perhaps an investigation is sin order, that grocer said they might not like orcs so I will gladly tag along to assist. Who knows the villagers may even reward us, for freeing them from such a dire sickness."

"It's strange, this reminds me of the time those aliens killed all my allies. Of course that didn't happen around here. Perhaps we should find the others and see if they would come along certainly the dancer and crusader would be welcome if we may be fighting with undead.

[HorizonsDream]

"Unfortunately, I might have to cross him. Though, there is nothing wrong with a challenge," she says playfully. She leans over the table and places a kiss upon the man's cheek. "Thank you for the information," she says softly before standing. She waves good bye, and decides to find Gaheris and the others.

[keymeister16]

"if we're investigating ANOTHER potential farm like the last one i'd rather have more then just my blade and your brews for the slaughter, it's rude not to invite your comrades to a fight," Zurgo flashed a sinister grin. "to the tavern! and pray i find a decent meal at some point today,"

[Just_Ice]

Ben notices Jasmine leaving, and nods to the master player. "Ah, it seems my companion is leaving, so perhaps this confusion on my part is an appropriate note to leave on. Perhaps I will be back to play another round- I am sorry to leave in the middle, sir." Benji grabs his things, nods again, and shuffles to the exit to not get left behind by the travelling party.

[Haahque]

Entire party: (Main North/South street in Trevsville)
Each of you decides to meet up with the rest of the group at about the same time. Jasmine, stood up, leaving an impression on the group that she sat down with as she did and leaves the inn, which signals Kannock and Benjamin to leave with her. In Kannock's case this just means he finishes his drink and follows her. Benjamin has to leave his game, which results in a slightly annoyed looking old man left behind. "Oh well, I think he did learn some of the game. Better then most youth these days."

Ishan takes the time to check Zurgo's new meat for anything that could make it inedible. He finds that Fizwilliam's fresh meat is indeed, just regular meat, save to eat and nutritious. Brook's salted beef however, seems suspicious, although Ishan cant quite point out the flaw. It's not poisoned with any poison Ishan knows, nor does it appear to be unsafe to eat in any way. However it does appear to be missing some of the "meatiness" of regular meat, something that only a close inspection and knowledge of chemistry was able to tell him. Gaheris and Zurgo both arrive with a desire to visit one of the farms tonight, Zurgo's suggestion involves leaving a little earlier then Gaheris's.

The entire party soon reforms on one of the main streets of Trevsville.

Ishan makes a Craft(Alchemy) to determine the properties of the meat: 11

[keymeister16]

"cumrums!" Zurgo shouts though a mouthful of chard Burning Hands Special meat. "I must say, Humans are so interesting, all i have to do to get you to talk is keep slipping you coins, if this was my old clan i would have had to go though 3 knifes and two hammers to bring you this information," He grinned, meal contained safely in his belly, holding up Brook's provisions. "the farm this meat is from is most likely the source of this town's malnourishment!"

[JadedDM]

"Learn anything useful?" Gaheris asks Jasmin and the others when he sees them. "I visited the temple, and it seems the whole town is suffering from some kind of plague. And I think our necromancer friends we encountered on the way here may be a part of it. We know they were experimenting with turning cows undead. I think they're tainting the town's meat supply."

[HorizonsDream]

"I just ate some of that meat," Jasmine says with a wrinkle of her nose. "But, uh, aside from that, the orc that we are looking for might be a War Orc from what I'm told. I was told we might have better luck at an orc village in the southern forest."

[Just_Ice]

"I'll confirm the War Orc sentiment, coming from a different source. It doesn't sound our fellow came through here after all," establishes Benji, sliding his bottom over a barrel to join the group, "I've heard whispers of drow schemes to taint Empire food before, therefore I find it believable that another group of miscreants, even ones with so little between their heads as necromancers, hatched a similar plan."

Looking at the food they held, it seemed rotted. Perhaps the rot was able to spread somehow? "I overheard a particular farm you think the den of these creatures is at, but certainly they will make forays into the ones that are still clean. Mayhaps we should be sure we and the undead don't miss each other- check the other farms and then converge on the one we suspect, no?"

[JadedDM]

"It may be the drow, but I also suspect it might be Urgathoa and her followers involved somehow," Gaheris says, referring to the goddess of disease, gluttony and undeath. "The local priest of Sarenrae is going to check out the farms this evening. We can go with him to check it out."

"As for the orc," he adds, "do you really think we're going to find a specific orc in a village of them, with only a vague description to go on? I'm still skeptical it's possible."

[Haahque]

Entire party: (Main North/South street in Trevsville)
As the party discusses what they want to do this afternoon and evening, some of them notice a poster on the wall of a nearby building. It appears that the army has posted bounties for killing various creatures in the area. 1 gold per kobold killed, 2 gold per goblin, 3 for orc or drow. Redeemable at either the mayer's office or at a military fort. The required trophies for each will likely weigh about 1/2lb per creature.

(I had actually planned on giving this information earlier, but no one went to the mayers office and I kept forgetting whenever someone was outside so... I decided to put it here in a post which is essentially "Keep talking amongst yourselves folks, come up with a plan.")

[Vrindlevine]

Ishan feels a little uneasy as the group looks over the bounty notice, he was hoping to take advantage of it himself.

Deciding that he's not really interested in rubbing elbows right now he starts heading toward the gate, "I'll get you to the farm and help you with whatever is going on just meet me at the gate when your ready."

He starts to plan out a route to the Brook farm. (Survival)