CH. 12: Testing Grounds

[djhyland]

Though she doesn't have enough money for herself or her family, Arulia knows that she's fortunate compared to some. For now, at least, she has a roof over her head and food to eat.

After a disdainful glance at Osred, Arulia steps up to the bread vendor's stand and fishes out a handful of copper pieces. "One loaf, please," she asks, and turns to look at the boy. "Do you want to share this bread with me?" she ventures.

[Haahque]

Haahqae wants to tell Ismene that he’s still alive, but he also wants to show her his new pet, which means he has to get his new pet, which means that he has to get to his room so he can perform the ritual, but… As Haahqae enters the inn he’s reminded of his more primal needs. Specifically food. When he gets a chance, he’ll make his intentions known to Cassandra, he’ll have whatever dinner is on the menu tonight, and then look around to see who, if anyone, he wants to share his time with while he eats.

Haahqae isn’t so keen on talking to bear again at a time like this. He’s just done getting all that depressing stuff out of his head and he’d like to keep it that way. If he sat down with bear he might be guilt-tripped into giving him some money and it could easily just go downhill from there.

Haahqae’s pretty much done dealing with soldiers now. He’s got what he wanted from them and they make terrible customers from his experience. Perhaps if he wanted to put on another show with a higher price he could gather an audience, but they don’t want to pay for anything regular enough for him to live off of.
The dwarf merchants are an interesting proposition. Perchance they would have money and a task that he could do to earn it. They appear to have not been arrested when the trade guild was convicted, so there’s that going for them. And dwarves are sometimes an anti-social people but inns often cure that in them.

There’s a pregnant woman talking to a woman with an eye patch. A strange scene indeed, and probably an interesting story behind it, but the look of the eye-patch woman is a bit fearsome and it’s unlikely that they would have much money or a job for him. After all, one looks like she’s had a rough life and the other is eating for two.

Haahqae has always had a soft spot for the younger ones in other races. Perhaps it’s because they often exhibit some youthful wonder that can still relate to in himself, or perhaps it’s because their smaller stature makes him feel more on an even footing while talking to them. But whatever the reason, Haahqae feels more at ease talking to the youth of the larger folk.

With his meal, Haahqae will make his way over to the young girl. “Would it be okay if I sat with you for a bit?”

If she should agree, Haahqae will sit quietly with her (as he eats), joining in her observation of the room and seeing if he can overhear some of the conversation between the women or between the merchants. When he's done eating he'll attempt to engage her in a conversation.

If she should decline, Haahqae will make his way over to the merchants and repeat his request.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Steel Tankard)
The young woman nods and Haahqae has a seat. "Hey, I know you. You're that juggling dwarf that was attacked by that elemental. Is it true it was summoned by a heretical cleric?" she asks.

(Haahqae makes a REP check [TN 5] (1d20): 4, pass.)

Kendra Greylock (Central Haven Sewers)
Pen thinks it over. "Maybe. I can usually get into places and hear things without people noticing. But what kind of evidence would prove that?"

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth)
Tulbas uses his cantrip on the door. Unsurprisingly, it has no effect. It was incredibly unlikely that whoever locked him in here used a cantrip, since they would have to continuously concentrate to keep it working anyway. But he felt it was worth a shot.

He figures he could send the spectral hand through to make a gesture. As he considers doing so, the tower rumbles again. This time it definitely sounded like an explosion and it sounded much closer. He also hears something else this time--people screaming in pain and terror.

The Battle of Wayreth had begun.

Peering beneath the crack of the door, he spots someone coming. He sees the hem of their black robes and hears the chanting of arcane magic.

Arulia Seroth (Market Square)
Arulia pays five copper for a loaf of wheat bread (the cheapest kind). The boy, no more than 6 or 7 years old, is dressed in rags with short brown hair and big brown eyes. He is surprised by Arulia's offer and seems torn about it. "I'm...not supposed to take treats from strangers," he says, smacking his lips slightly.

Grubnick (Happee Ohgr Tavern)
"Aside from the army and the church?" the bartender asks. "I know they're always looking for master armorers and weaponsmiths. Not sure they'd hire one of our kind for that sort of work, though. Other than that, haven't heard anything. Jobs have dried up. The army and church are the only ones hiring these days. If you are okay in a fight, like you say, I'd say join the army. They supply you masterwork weapons and armor, you get paid good wages, and if you're really lucky, they'll send you to the front to see some excitement. Pretty boring here in the city, though. We didn't even have a harvest festival this year. But that parade next week might be worthwhile."

Ne-Chanz (North Haven Sewers)
Ne-Chanz falls back to the room where the spiders and Felran fell. He starts to examine the corpse of the spider with the sword-like legs. He had never seen or heard of such a creature before. Then again, he was by no means any kind of expert of the subterranean. He grew up on tropical islands to the north, after all. He remembers that the spider bit him a few times, but he feels fine. Perhaps it wasn't poisonous...or maybe his superior minotaur fortitude fought the effects of it.

Shima (Central Haven Sewers)
Shima uses the remainder of his water to wash out his bites, then tears up the black shirt in his pack to make bandages for them. He then moves back up to the door. He presses his ear against it, but doesn't hear anything on the other side beyond the normal ambient noises of the sewer (creaking pipes, dripping ceilings, rushing water, etc.). He checks for traps, but doesn't find any. No lock, either. So he opens it up.

This seems to open up into an entirely new area of the sewer. The tunnel goes north a few steps before turning to the west. From there, he then comes across an intersection. To the north is a door. To the south is a hallway that ends with another door. To the west is a bridge crossing another river of sludge.

Shima detects noise at the door [TN 45%] (1d100): 2, pass. He hears nothing on the other side.
Shima searches the door for traps [TN 20%] (1d100): 46, fail. He finds none.

[djhyland]

Arulia smiles gently and holds the bread out for the boy. "You don't have to take it if you don't think you should," she says. "But I don't think that bread is a treat. It's more of a necessity." She looks around for a place to sit down, and if she sees a likely spot, she'll gesture to it. "What is your name? Mine is Arulia."

[HorizonsDream]

"The only thing I can,think of is if you overhear someone talking if a real rebellion," Kendra says

[BishGada]

Tulbas figures his best chance is to join the black robes marching near the door, he knocks on the door shouting "Let me out!"

==================================================
(OOC: Is there anything I should know as a player about the battle of Wayreth?)

[Haahque]

Haahqae’s plans for a quiet dinner and observing the room are somewhat shattered when the girl starts talking to him. However, Haahqae’s never been one to flee from a conversation. It takes him a little to shift his frame of mind into a conversational tone, but soon he’s off and rattle off words at his usual rate.

“Uh well close. I do juggle and I am rather short, but I’m a gnome. Those folks over there by the door are dwarves.”

“It was actually fairly frightening. One moment I was performing my show la de da, rattling off jokes that I thought my audience would like and ready to go into another, harder more impressive juggling routine. I had so much planned, saving the best for last as usual, when I saw this giant fire-creature looming over from behind my audience. I tried to speak with it, perhaps figure out where it had come from or why it was there, but it just attacked with mindless aggression, destroying stuff and ruining my show. I don’t know how it got there, maybe it was a heretical cleric or maybe it came directly from the plain of fire for a more nefarious purpose, but it became very clear very quickly that it was bent on ruining my show so I tried to destroy it. But I was unable to do anything to it because sticks and stones can’t hurt a creature of pure fire very well. So I told some soldiers to go draw water from the well to douse the fire, but before they had a chance to do that a friend of mine, this Kendra girl had slain the creature.”

“I tried locating the person who could possibly have wanted to do that to me and make him confess to his sins, but I think I must have got the wrong person because his alibi seemed to hold up pretty well, so maybe it was someone else who had attacked my show.”

[Chris1234]

Shima looks around the corner to peer down to the south.
If nothing untoward, he has a listen at the northern door and checks if it has any locks.
If uninterrupted (other than Ne-Chanz) he peers at the bridge. (If this is stonework, he looks at it critically to assess its soundness ('Dwarven Stonecunning') and then looks ahead (weat) and to the north and south (up/down the sludge channel).
If all is still good, and no unusual sound detected northwards, after a quick look upwards at the ceiling, the dwarf moves silently as can be to the south to have a listen at the eastern door and to check it for locks.
If neither door has a lock and no sounds heard Shima moves back and checks the northern door for traps, attempting to disarm any encountered and then gently opens the northern door.
If either door has a lock, Shima checks the other one for traps (disarming if required) and then gently opens the northern door.
If both doors have locks, Shima checks the northern door for traps and tries to unlock it.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz shrugs, then returns to pacing and guarding.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Steel Tankard)
"I see," the young woman says. "Quite a story. It must have been harrowing. But you never found who did it? I admit, I have an interest in the old gods and have been trying to track down the supposed true clerics that follow them. Rumor is, there are a few in the city and that they are attempting to take out the occupation. When I heard such a creature appeared during a performance meant for soldiers...it sure seemed like the rumors were true, didn't it?" she asks.

Kendra Greylock (Central Haven Sewers)
Pen shrugs. "I have heard some talk. They say the thieves guild is split into two groups. One group wants to go back to normal, finding a way to continue their work under the occupation. Another group wants to work to defy the army. To hide wanted people or help smuggle them out of the city, and perform little acts of sabotage against them. But I don't know who is on which side."

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth)
Tulbas bangs on the door, but the sound of chanting does not stop for him. When the spell is finished, there's another loud explosion from within the hall. The door Tulbas is banging on flies off its hinges, taking the elf with him. He slams into the back wall and the door slams into him, landing on top of him. The world spins and goes dark for a bit. When he comes to, he has no idea how long he's been out. Pushing the door off of him, he sees the way is clear now. There are multiple small fires burning throughout the hall, and his room is a massive mess.

Stepping out into the hall, he sees that the doors to the other rooms have been blown off, as well. The wizard who did this is nowhere to be found. He can still hear people yelling above and below him, and the occasional crack of lightning or blast of a fireball, but this level is oddly quiet.

(OOC: Nope, there's nothing you need to know about it.)

Arulia Seroth (Market Square)
Arulia has a seat on a wooden bench. The boy, with some reluctance, follows after her and has a seat with her. He eagerly takes the bread and starts munching on it. "I'm Aaron," he says with a full mouth, spraying a few bread crumbs onto the ground as a result. A handful of small birds come to investigate and scoop them up. They hang around in the area, in case more crumbs are spilled.

Ne-Chanz (North Haven Sewers)
Ne-Chanz returns to his pacing, having no idea how long Shima intended to be. He can't help but glance toward Felran's still body. What was he going to do with it? Leave it down here to rot? Take it back up to the surface? Burn it? Bury it? He wasn't sure what the proper burial rites for his kind were or if it even mattered. His own people would bury the dead at sea, but that wasn't really an option here. The nearest sea was quite far away.

Shima (Central Haven Sewers)
Shima peers down the southern hallway, but it appears empty. He then puts his ear to the northern door, but hears nothing on the other side. It does appear to have an average lock on it, though.

The bridge to the west is made of creaking, old rotting wood, much like the other one. It might hold his weight, if he's careful. There is nothing to the north or south but more sludge, that he can see. He doesn't see anything on the ceiling, either. He then heads down the southern tunnel and listens at the door, but again hears nothing. It does not appear to be locked. He then heads all the way back up to the northern door and searches it for traps. Finding none, he then picks the lock. Opening it, he finds a very small room with a single chest inside.

Shima detects noise at the northern door [TN 45%] (1d100): 64, fail.
Shima detects noise at the southern door [TN 45%] (1d100): 54, fail.
Shima searches the northern door for traps [TN 20%] (1d100): 1, pass. He finds no traps.
Shima attempts to pick the northern door's lock [TN 50%] (1d100): 30, pass.

[HorizonsDream]

"Can you find out?" Kendra asks. She sidn't want to turn the rebels in as she understood where they were coming from, but the people of the trade guild were being held accountable for it.

[Chris1234]

'Wasn't expecting that,' thinks Shima. He gives the chest a poke with his spear, buckler ready, having heard tales of things Mimicing chests.

"Found a chest. Going to check it out," the dwarf informs Ne-Chanz.

If nothing transpires, he studies the alcove stonework in case anything moves or conceals other passages and then checks (and attempts removal) of any traps on the chest followed by examination for locks and opening the chest (after picking of locks.)

[BishGada]

Tulbas walks in the hall and looks at the rooms with the blown off doors, especially looking for the people he met this day, the other apprentices, Daxia and the Masters of the Orders.

[TristenC]

No harvest festival? That's a bummer, i'd like to have seen it. What's this parade? I half-saw a poster earlier but I wasn't really paying attention.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz prepares himself to help if needed.