PlanetADnD.com

"Thank you for meeting with us, Lady Querida," Arulia says with a bow. "I know you're busy, but we're not looking to buy. My sisters and I are looking for work, and we hope that you might consider us for apprentices. Our father is Thoron, a blacksmith at $NAME, and we've all helped him in the shop since we were old enough to walk. None of us are trained as smiths, but we know how to stoke the furnaces, work the bellows, and keep the shop clean and working. You wouldn't need to teach us those things, and we're quick to learn the things that you'd need to teach us."

Arulia smiles as confidently as she can. "Your business looks like it's one of the only ones that are doing well these days. I'm sure that you have your pick of people looking to be apprentices, but if you're hiring, we'd appreciate it if you would consider us."

(OOC: Damn you're cold, Jaded DM!)

Haahqae and Grubnick (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Norris frowns at Haahqae. "And let me guess...rescuing this 'friend' of yours involves going to a kobold infested mine or descending into the sewers to fight monsters or some other ridiculously dangerous line of work that would be better suited to the guard than my wife?" he asks.

He sighs with frustration. "Not that it matters anyway. She isn't here. She started ranting today about...I don't even understand what. Said she was going to join the army. I don't understand that woman anymore...not ever since she started spending time with you ne'er-do-well adventurer types. Now she nearly gets herself killed on a weekly basis! Do you not even remember she only just recovered from a coma because of you and your 'friends?'" he demands. "Get out of my shop and leave my wife alone!" He points to the door.

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
Kendra follows Mouna inside, clutching her wounds. Another couple of hits like that and Kendra would be the one who was dead.

Mouna leads her to an office. There is a desk and some chairs. There's also a beautiful landscape painting on the wall of a large desert port town. Mouna sits at the desk and gestures for Kendra to take a seat, as well. "Let me see your ID papers," she says. Once she has them, she pulls out a quill and ink vial and begins writing something out on them. "This will let the checkpoints know you are with the Fire Snakes now. You can also take this to any weaponsmith in town for free repairs. Same with the armorer. However, we don't have any armor that would fit you. You can go down to the armorer and tell him what you want. But it won't be finished in time before we march. Do you have something else to wear until then?" she asks. "This will also let you bypass the new tax hike and get you access to free healing at the temple."

She hands it back to Kendra. "Since you killed Tez, you'll be taking his place in our infantry company. It's clear you can handle yourself in a fight, but you fight without any...creativity. You just charge forward, swords hacking, like...well, like a Baaz. Hopefully I can teach you a few tricks later on. You get paid on the first of each month. A simple footsoldier only gets 2 steel a month, but if you can prove to me your worth, you'll get promoted quickly enough. There's certainly plenty of opportunity."

At this point, a woman in black robes steps in. "Are you the new acolyte?" asks Mouna. The woman nods. "Well, this one needs healing," Mouna says, gesturing to Kendra.

The woman, keeping her hood down, approaches Kendra and looks her over. She then lays her hands on Kendra's shoulder and begins to pray, like Arulia did that morning. A black glow encompasses her hands, then seeps into Kendra. She feels a cold, numbing feeling wash over her. Despite the unpleasantness of it, the first wound she took shrinks down to a mere scratch. The acolyte then repeats the prayer. The same thing happens, only this time the second, larger wound, heals by about half.

The acolyte appears drained from this act. "That's all I can do for now," she says. Kendra is able to catch a glimpse of her from under her hood and sees that her face is terribly burned under there. As if sensing Kendra's eyes on her, the woman quickly backs away.

(OOC:
Kendra is now a light footsoldier in the infantry company of the Fire Snakes (the Third Brigade of the 10th Red Dragonarmy). Her ID papers allow her to be out after curfew, pass through any checkpoint with weapons, grants her free healing, free weapon and armor repairs, immunity to the new tax and grants her two free masterwork long swords and a suit of masterwork armor.
Acolyte casts Cure Light Wounds on Kendra, restoring (1d8): 3 HP.
Acolyte casts Cure Light Wounds on Kendra again, restoring (1d8): 4 HP. Kendra's HP improves from 50% to 75%.)

Arulia Seroth (Querida's Weapon Store)
"Thoron?" Querida repeats. "I know that name..," she trails off, tapping her chin with her finger. "Wait a second...Thoron Costen, the blacksmith?" She laughs derisively. "Isn't that the guy who got cuckolded by an elf and now has to raise the half-elf bastard? I heard his wife still sneaks out to this day to meet with her elven lover, right under his nose!"

Felran and Ne-Chanz (Marketsquare)
Ne-Chanz walks up to a vendor and asks about the local happenings. The fellow, a bit intimidated by the minotaur, answers quickly. He tells Ne-Chanz that there's a new tax hike that is affecting most of the merchants in the city. It's so massive, everyone is being forced to raise their prices and now the whole economy is a bit of a mess. This is because the new prefect, a draconian named Tethys, wants to bring in more funds because the army is planning a massive attack soon on Qualinesti, the nearby elven lands. Rumor is the trade guild is going to do something about this new tax, but the vendor isn't sure what.

Other news includes that the church of Takhisis is planning to reopen the old brothel (it was shut down by the Seekers about six years ago), that the army has some kind of mines they send anyone who opposes them as slaves, and some say that the thieves' guild is looking to start up again.

"Very interesting... where are the trade guild headquarters?" When he has recived a satisfactory answer, he nods curtly and walks off around the market, looking for anything interesting. He then approaches a different vendor, one that looks... shady and says "Did you hear that the theives guild might be starting back up?" in a conspiratorial tone.

*Felran walks around nearby looking for a clothing merchant (Within visual sight and about 20ish feet)*

"I'm going to roam around nearby. I really need some better clothes for this time of the year," Felran says to Ne-Chanz, "Enjoy your... conspiracies..."

Norris's revelation leaves Haahqae muttering under his breath. She's joining the army? What a foolish thing to do.

However he pipes up a response none the less. "Now forgive me if I got this one wrong, but if your wife is joining the army, then isn't asking her for help technically 'calling the guard'. And no, this is nothing like going out to a kobold lair. This one is just a trip down to the docks district. I have no idea what this sewers thing you speak of is, nor the coma. The last time I talked to her she refused to help me slay a giant."

"Which was glorious by the way. Lots of people are going to be thankful that there's no giant eating them anymore. But Kendra wasn't there."
"But if you won't help us, then I guess we'll search for a different replacement. Or maybe her friend will die, it doesn't seem like you care. Anyways, good day sir, and good luck with your wife. It can't be easy having a wife in the army, sounds like a dangerous job, and she could be relocated to a different town at any time, or ordered to attack a far away land."

"Good day sir."

With that Haahqae will leave, and see if Grubnick can think up any ideas for finding some more muscle.

Grubnick inwardly chuckles a little at the gnome's righteous indignation and retaliatory comments about Kendra joining the army. He's actually a funny guy... when he's not endangering all our lives... Shall we see if we can track this 'Kendra' down near the base? He waits on the gnome's reply.

I imagine anyone sympathetic to the army or church, which I take it we are trying to avoid, would be aligned with one or the other already... Perhaps we can find suitable candidates by process of elimination. If someone is hurting for coin and doesn't have the look of a regular army soldier, cleric or mage we might consider them more closely. I can check my inn, and if you think we might find someone at the Steel Tankard...

Grubnick thinks a bit further. What are we willing to offer them as payment? We could make it a flat fee, though I doubt I have coin for that. The... group we're invading would likely have a small treasury, but that's a gamble itself. If we offer a percentage of spoils we'd be sure to deliver, but that's less for those of us with more to loose... What do you think?

[ooc: what time of day is it? I'll need more bandages and oil before tomorrow...]

If we've gotten far enough away from Norris that he won't overhear our conversation, Haahqae will reply thus: "Well slaying a giant might have been a little bit dangerous in terms of jobs one could get, but it was lucrative. I could easily spare five steel per mercenary, up to four I'd say. Or, if for whatever reason that doesn't impress them, we could offer a share of the loot."

"When do we march?" Kendra asks curiously. "It gives me a time frame on finding some decent armor before we move."

Arulia bites her lip to keep back a bitter retort--despite enduring such taunts since childhood, they still sting, especially when delivered with such bluntness. After glancing at her sisters in what she hopes is a warning to stay silent, Arulia replies as calmly as she can. "It so happens that you are speaking with that half-elf bastard. Thoron's--my father's--and my mother's relationship concerns only them, and whatever shape it takes, it has no bearing on the work we hope to do. Will you consider us or not?"

Haahqae and Grubnick (Marketsquare)
Grubnick looks up at the sky, squinting against the sunlight despite it being overcast. He would guess, based on the sun's position, that it is sometime during the mid-afternoon. There are a few hours left before nightfall.

The two head for the marketsquare. It is bustling with people going about their business. Merchants and vendors yell out to everyone who passes by, trying to get anything sold they can. But with the new tax, people are tightening their belts, and few sales are made. There's a feeling of despair in the air.

There are also quite a few dragonarmy soldiers, mostly Baaz draconians. They patrol the area and keep an eye on things, making sure nobody is doing anything they shouldn't.

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
"We leave the morning of the first day of Autumn Twilight," Mouna replies. Today is the 29th day of Autumn Harvest which means...they march the day after tomorrow!

"That should be enough for today. You should go get some rest. You can stop by the temple if you need more healing," Mouna says. "You'll want to be in tip top shape when we march."

Arulia Seroth (Querida's Weapon Store)
Querida laughs, as if Arulia said something funny. "Sorry, I only hire humans. There are few enough jobs in this city that we don't need elves or their bastard offspring taking them away from good, hardworking humans." With that, she returns back to her work.

"What's 'cuckolded?'" asks Cassilda.

"The people in this city are jerks," Camilla notes. "No wonder we got conquered."

Felran and Ne-Chanz (Marketsquare)
Ne-Chanz receives directions to the trade guildhall (in the harbor district, oddly enough). He looks around for anything interesting. He spots a well-dressed man wandering around while carrying a broken lute. He spots a few kender wandering around, making a ruckus. And he spots a gnome and a goblin just entering the square, both all bandaged up as if in a recent fight.

He also finds a fairly shady looking merchant and inquires about the thieves' guild. The man looks around to make sure nobody is eavesdropping then says quietly, "Aye, so the rumor goes that Necolai is starting up the old syndicate again. Word on the street is that if you are looking to join up, inquire at the Grinning Goat Tavern."

Meanwhile, Felran finds a clothing merchant and looks for warmer clothes that would fit him. A good pair of boots costs a steel coin, some nice wool breeches cost 2 steel coins, a cloak is another steel coin, while a wool, long-sleeve shirt is also a steel coin. Or he could buy an entire winter outfit for 7 steel coins--it's more expensive, but thicker and heavier and will keep him warm even when the temperature drops further.

"Well I think I should get back to my inn now. I could use some extra rest today, and maybe I could put on a performance for my meal today. That could be a good way to see if there's anyone in the tavern that could help us." This he plans to do. Go back the Steel tankard, put on a performance for supper and get some rest before he prepares for tomorrow.

He walks over across the square, passing through the people that (presumably) get out of his way, headed toward Felran who is near the gnome and goblin.

*Talk to the merchant*

"What would be in the winter outfit? Also, do you have any scarves or anything like that?" Felran says to the merchant.

(OOC: I have no knowledge of the two in the market yet, right.)

"What time should I report in tomorrow?" Kendra asks. She had to get this information to Saron quickly. It didn't give them a lot of time (if any) to do anything. Not only that, but Kendra didn't quite want to march on the elves in the first place (not that she wanted to show that side). ~Maybe I can find a way to lessen the damage that will be caused,~ she thinks to herself.