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'So... they were trying to rescue me. That's.. well... touching. But it didn't went so well apparently. I have to save myself now.' Tulbas thinks to himself.
Assuming the door would muffle a bad accent and improving his chances by using a Cantrip to amplify his hissings and give snakeline shape to his tongue Tulbas tries to cheat the guards.
"You! Histachii! Sssstop sssstanding like the fooolsssss you are! The prisssoner isss running away! Open the damn door and chasssse him down!" Tulbas tries.
Until the guards respond Tulbas looks up to see if there is any opening in the ceiling, maybe used to lower sacks and crates with new goods to the storage room.

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(OOC: if they guards will open the door Tulbas will point them to the back of the room and tell them with few words to bring the prisoner back to Belzor. He will then exit the room and try to find a large group of people which hurry with preparations for the attack and try to use the chaos to blend in until he can find the way out.
If the guards are not fooled he will go to the chest, try to pry it open if he can find any leverage and if not he will try to roll it, jump on it, drop other crates or sacks that he can lift on it, and all that after casting Cantrip to weaken the wood.
Tulbas also will collect anything that can be valuable to him such as ink.

If there is an opening in the ceiling, well let me know the details and I'll try to think of something.

If calling the guards won't work Tulbas will try another Cantrip to create the sounds of a struggle and call the guards again with urgency.
)

Grubnick resumes his investigation of the general populace from earlier. [ooc: I presume I notice a frikin Minotaur and some kender running around]

He finds a place to get some more bandages and loads up with a half dozen rolls (paying out of his pack where he stashed his coin earlier). He then moves on and acquires another trio of oil flasks from a likely vendor. Finally he looks to see if there is a leather cloak available. Unless it is ridiculously priced (5 stp+) he will purchase and wear it. Otherwise he'll go for a warm cloth one.

Arulia shakes her head and leaves Querida's shop without a word. She sighs at Cassilda's question, but sees no reason not to explain. "She implied that Mother is still sleeping with my...elven father behind Father's back. As if my elven father hadn't left long before she even met Father." She looks both of her sisters in the eyes. "She is just saying that because she is a bigot and she means to hurt me, not because of anything Mother is doing. We'd have seen something long before now if her words were anything more than hate and lies."

Although Arulia has to agree with Camilla's observation, she says, "I think that the army would have conquered any town like ours, no matter how nice." Lowering her voice, she adds, "As many jerks are in this town, there are more in the army, I think."

With little hope left, Arulia leads her sisters to the remaining weaponsmith's shop, the one in the harbor district. At least if their luck remains as bad as it's been so far, they won't have far to go when they return home...

(OOC: Arulia will once again ask to speak with the master weaponsmith when she and her sisters reach the last shop.)

Haahqae (Steel Tankard Inn, Common room)
Haahqae limps back to the Steel Tankard, passing through two checkpoints along the way.

It's too late for lunch but not quite dinner time, so there aren't too many folks at the Steel Tankard right now. R...the barkeep is standing behind the bar, while Cassandra waits tables. There are three humans sitting together over by the fireplace, two half-elves not far from the bar, two more humans sitting at the bar, and four kapaks off on their own in the far back.

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
"Come in at Third Watch," Mouna answers. "We'll do some training. No sense in going through the effort of putting you on patrol or anything since we'll be marching so soon."

Tulbas Erogund (Unknown location)
Tulbas tries a cantrip to make his voice sound different and then calls out to the guards through the door. But either it doesn't work or they don't hear him, because nothing happens. He doesn't find any openings in the ceiling, so starts working on the chest. There are no cantrips that can weaken wood, so he tries to force it open. Eventually he manages to smash open the lid by jumping on it. Thankfully the chest was not trapped.

Inside the chest are 600 steel pieces and two vials of liquid.

Tulbas collects a vial of ink, but he has no place to put it. His backpack and pouches are locked up elsewhere and the robes have no pockets.

Finally, Tulbas uses his last cantrip to make it sound like there is a struggle and he calls for the guards. Again, this seems to have no effect.

(OOC: Tulbas makes an open door check on the chest [TN 5] (1d20): 2, pass.)

Arulia Seroth (Una's Weapon Store)
Cassilda frowns in bemusement as she digests Arulia's explanation.

The three head up to the harbor district again, seeking out the last weaponsmith. Her shop isn't as big or as fancy as the other two they have been to, but it has a handful of apprentices and an overseer working the forge, hammering out weapons for the army. The master weaponsmith is a young woman, not much older than Arulia with dark eyes, fair skin and short brown hair.

"Yeah?" she asks laconically. "I'm Una. Need something?"

Grubnick (Marketsquare)
Grubnick buys six clean bandages for six copper coins and three flasks of lamp oil for 1 silver each. He also manages to find a leather cloak for 2 steel coins. This helps in warming him up considerably.

As he wanders around shopping, he spots an unusual sight. A minotaur, its fur as white as the snow. It's fairly short for one of its kind, but still nearly 7 feet tall in height. People are giving him a wide berth whenever possible, and the draconian guards keep an eye on him, just in case.

Felran and Ne-Chanz (Marketsquare)
The gnome limps off, heading south while the goblin sticks around to shop for awhile. Ne-Chanz makes his way over to Felran and then hears the sound of light-hearted and shrill giggles behind him. The kender are approaching to investigate, fearless and wide-eyed.

"Hey, are you a minotaur?" asks one.

"You're so white! I bet you could hide in the snow like a polar bear, huh?" asks another. Soon, they are all asking questions at the same time, not really giving him a chance to answer.

"How much can you pick up at once?"

"Where are you from?"

"Are you a pirate? I heard minotaurs were often pirates."

"What's in this bottle?" This question is followed by one of the kender holding up Ne-Chanz's bottle of horn polish. "I think you dropped it," she adds.

Meanwhile, Felran haggles with the clothes merchant. He explains that a winter outfit consists of fairly thick wool that has been woven tightly. There's a hat, coat, pants and he'll throw in a pair of old boots, as well. He also has a few scarves for sale, all cotton, and each one costs 5 silver coins.

"Got it," Kendra says. "Also, by joining the army, it says in my papers that I'm immune from the new tax," she says. "Does that extend to my husband?"

Arulia bows politely to Una. "My name is Arulia Seroth, and these are my sisters, Cassilda and Cassandra. We are hoping that you might consider us to become apprentices. Our father is Thoron, a blacksmith at $NAME's shop, and we've all helped him in the shop many times. We're not smiths, but we know how to work the bellows, stoke the fires, clean, and keep a shop running well--you wouldn't have to teach us those things. Your shop seems to be doing good business, and if you're looking to hire more people, I'm sure that you'll have your pick of people to hire. We just ask that you consider us, too, if you are."

Felran continues talking with the merchant, "Seems fair enough, this tax must really be a burden on everyone. I'll take the winter suit and a scarf," he says as he reaches into his pouch to grab his coins and notices the situation behind him. "Not again..."

Kendra Greylock (Old Keep)
Mauna nods. "Husband and immediate family," she clarifies. "Now go get some rest, soldier. I'll see you tomorrow at Third Watch."

Arulia Seroth (Una's Weapon Store)
Una looks over the three young woman silently, one by one. "I could use another apprentice," she eventually says. "Just one, though. Not three." She looks them over again. "Normally it's better to be younger, but if you're smart enough to pick things up fast, it might not matter."

Felran and Ne-Chanz (Marketsquare)
Felran pays the merchant for the scarf and the winter outfit, spending 7 steel coins and 5 silver. This leaves him with two steel and one silver remaining, which means finding employment will now be even more important. But at least he won't freeze to death.

Ne-Chanz growls in disgust, snatches his horn polish back, and punches the kender that had it. (OOC: Nonlethal damage intended, going for distance, not damage.

Kendra nods, then stands from where she was sitting and exits. She goes to the armor to put in her order for her new armor before she heads home.

OOC: It won't be until night until she goes out to see Sadron.

Arulia smiles gratefully. "Thank you so much! We understand that you can't take us all, and we're grateful that you'll take one of us. But if you can only take on one of us, you should take the best." She turns to her sisters. "Which one of us do you think she should take?"

(OOC: Does Arulia consider herself or one of her sisters better suited to working in a smithy than the others? Or have either Cassilda or Camilla expressed enthusiasm for helping their father in the past? If Arulia thinks that she's the best choice or if she thinks her sisters wouldn't like the work, she'll volunteer herself, but if one of her sisters are better than her, she'll recommend her.)

Kendra Greylock (Osred's Armory)
Kendra heads down to the only armory in the city, which belongs to a large, muscular man with a shock of red hair. She steps into his forge, which contains half a dozen apprentices and a couple of overseers that are working diligently to craft high quality armor for the army.

He looks Kendra up and down with an appraising eye, then frowns. "You aren't here to ask to be an apprentice, are you?" he asks. When Kendra shows him the order, he nods. "Ah, alright then. It will take some time, though. I'll need to take your measurements. And what kind of armor do you want?" he asks, picking up some measurement tape.

Arulia Seroth (Una's Weapon Store)
"These are my conditions," Una says. "Pay is 2 steel a week. And you have to do whatever I tell you, or you're out. Plenty of folks looking for work, so if you can't obey, can find someone who will."

Arulia considers the three of them. Camilla is the youngest, and therefore would have the easiest time adjusting. But on the other hand, she has a bit of a mouth on her and might not do well taking orders from someone else. Cassilda is probably the smartest of the three; she always took to books and knows her numbers better than Arulia herself. Intelligence is an important attribute in weaponsmithing, as much as strength if not more so, as it's such delicate work. But on the other hand, Cassilda is quite sheltered and naive. How well would she do away from home and her family, in such a dangerous part of town?

Then there was Arulia herself. She was the oldest and most experienced, but had to admit she wasn't the sharpest sword in the armory*. She could take care of herself, but at the same time, could she continue helping the elves and working to overthrow the occupation if she was busy at the forge everyday for several hours?

There were pros and cons regardless of who she chose.

(*OOC: Not a shot or anything, just that Arulia has an INT of 8, whereas Camilla has 13 and Cassilda has 16. )

Grubnick, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Marketsquare)
Ne-Chanz grabs the horn polish back from the kender woman and then swings his fist right at her little face. However, she nimbly drops into a backwards somersault to avoid the assault.

People all around tense up, wondering if the minotaur was going to attack other people. The draconian guards watch with interest, but make no move to help the kender.

The kender all back away, shouting at him. "Whoa, what a mean cow!" one says.

"Yeah, what manners! Were you raised in a barn? Oh, you probably were!" taunts another.

"Mooooooooooo!" calls the woman who he attacked, putting her fingers at her temples to resemble horns.

The kender continue to gaily taunt and mock the minotaur while keeping their distance from him.

Grubnick observes the entire thing.

(OOC:
Ne-Chanz swings his fist at the kender [TN 10] (1d20): 5, miss.

Ne-Chanz takes a deep breath to calm himself down... but it's just a diversion. He swings at the cheeky kender again (Medium strength)

"Why would I ask to be an apprentice here?" Kendra asks in confusion. "But, uh, I tend to like lighter armors. I need something that move really well since I duel wield," she explains.

Still conferring with her sisters, Arulia speaks half as if thinking aloud. "I can do the job and I'm not afraid of work...but I know I don't have the talent that either of you do," she muses. "I know how to help in the shop, but I'm not a quick learner. Both of you are very smart and have a lot of potential, but you're both so young. I know that Father relies on you both when you're at the shop with him, and that he appreciates your help more than mine."

Rousing herself from her reflections, Arulia looks both of her sisters in the eyes before continuing. "I think that either of you would be good at the work, but I don't want to force either of you into the job if you don't want it. Since it was my idea to come here and look for work, I'll take the job if that's so. But I think that Cassilda, you'd be the best choice for her. What do the two of you think?"