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[D&D 4e Game] Forged by Fire - Now with Equal Opportunity Impalement!
SAW776
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Forged by Fire
Table Talk Thread
The Party
Our Story So Far...
Important NPCs & Groups
Table Talk Thread
The Party
Morrigan Sakon, Human Cleric of the Raven Queen (simonwolf)
Ansis, Deva Avenger of Erathis (SniperGuy)
Scar Blackhorns, Minotaur Barbarian (Dajian)
Daiereth, Eladrin Wizard (psolms)
Tristan Sulestri, Human Fighter (Ain Soph)
Ansis, Deva Avenger of Erathis (SniperGuy)
Scar Blackhorns, Minotaur Barbarian (Dajian)
Daiereth, Eladrin Wizard (psolms)
Tristan Sulestri, Human Fighter (Ain Soph)
Our Story So Far...
The party has been assembled by Captain Kaddigen Morse, of the Crownselle City Guard, in order to escort the Duke of Hattael's daughter to a ship set to carry her to a nearby convent for safe keeping while he struggles to eliminate a local group of bandits who call themselves The Gentlemen.
Important NPCs & Groups
Lord Jehn Klees - A human. Duke of Hattael. Resides in Hattael Castle, northeast of Crownselle. Lord Klees is seeking to keep his daughter safe from the grasping hands of The Gentleman Himself, and will do anything to see that goal accomplished.
Lady Sarah Klees - 18 year-old daughter of Jehn Klees. Your mission. She is being shipped off to a nearby convent for her own safety.
Captain Kaddigen Morse - A dwarf. The devoted Captain of the Crownselle City Guard, who wants only to keep the city peaceful and safe.
Darius Chalk - A local bandit who, through the power of his personality, has risen quite high, managing to unite the local gangs under him. The group is known as the Gentlemen, while Darius, as their leader, is often called "The Gentleman Himself." According to the rumors, Darius is plotting to kidnap Lady Sarah before the Duke can send her away.
Lady Sarah Klees - 18 year-old daughter of Jehn Klees. Your mission. She is being shipped off to a nearby convent for her own safety.
Captain Kaddigen Morse - A dwarf. The devoted Captain of the Crownselle City Guard, who wants only to keep the city peaceful and safe.
Darius Chalk - A local bandit who, through the power of his personality, has risen quite high, managing to unite the local gangs under him. The group is known as the Gentlemen, while Darius, as their leader, is often called "The Gentleman Himself." According to the rumors, Darius is plotting to kidnap Lady Sarah before the Duke can send her away.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
PSN: SAW776
PSN: SAW776
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The group had gathered on the outskirts of town at the appointed hour. They had all been recruited, one way or another, for this mission that was deemed of the utmost importance. It was a curiosity then that such a motley crew had been assembled for it.
Lord Jehn Klees, the Duke of Hattael, of which Crownselle was part, has a lovely daughter by the name of Sarah. A little too lovely, as far as the rumors are concerned, which suggest that a certain bandit, the Gentleman Himself, Darius Chalk, has taken a particular interest in her.
Hearing the whispers, Klees has taken quick action, wanting his daughter safe until he can purge the gang, known simply as the Gentlemen, from his lands. Towards that goal the Duke has commanded a ship to carry the Lady Sarah to a nearby convent.
Lord Klees is sending a small group of the Hattael Household Guard to escort his daughter's carriage, but he is also expecting a group of men from Crownselle to meet with them halfway through the journey. Unfortunately for both the Duke and the Captain of Crownselle's Guard, the Gentlemen were prepared.
Agents flooded the small city and went to work, inciting riots and causing general havoc in the days leading up to the trip. By the time the day had come, Captain Kaddigen Morse had no men to spare.
Though the Gentlemen's tactics worked, Kaddigen was not above hiring mercenaries. As such, your group has been cobbled together out of necessity--some of you were simply hired, others may have been recruited after helping the city guard stop a brawl, or perhaps the Duke's own Priest found you through the local temples. However you were found, here you all are, set with the simple task of walking a few miles up the road and escorting a young girl back to the Crownselle Harbor.
A simple enough job for a nice enough payday.
"Now," Kaddigen says, eyeing the ragtag bunch before him, "the Duke's daughter should have left the castle by now. You should meet up with them a few hours up the road." The dwarf Captain takes a moment to look off towards the forest. "And I can only hope they'll be alone when you get there."
"Do any of you have any questions, or can I get back to my actual duty?"
((PInsight: Daiereth, Morrigan) It is clear that Kaddigen is more than minorly annoyed by the imposition that the Duke has placed on him, it's more than that--the fact that the event has also resulted in his city breaking into chaos has put him close to the point of breaking, which might explain why he is sending you, a group he has no evidence of being trustworthy, on a rather important mission.)
PSN: SAW776
Azulan Saul Tigh
"It seems simple enough. Are you sure the town will be ok here with the riots? Erathis willing we can end these rabble rousers quickly."
Ansis places a hand to the holy symbol hanging from his belt and whispers a prayer under his breath.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2010225/ 1d20 → [15] = (15)
"I don't want no trouble," he declare. "Fact is, they're good people, even if they've slipped a bit. My men don't use too much force. That's what'll keep this city together when everything's over."
And then he turned to Tristan, his expression souring a little more.
"There are a few roads into Crownselle. There should be carriage's coming down all of them. The Duke figures if the Gentlemen don't know which one to hit until halfway to the village, they won't have the time to organize anything you lot can't handle." He shakes his head. "Personally, I'd have just kept her locked away in that castle of his. But, too bad for us all, I don't get to give the Duke my opinion, and unless you've got some royal blood hidden beneath that dirt on your face, I don't think you do either, eh?" Kaddigen chuckled. "So, this is where we're at."
PSN: SAW776
“Not too much force will make them love you again after this?
Heh, people need to fear and respect you to keep order, but it is your town and your coin.
So, Scar will keep your little girly safe.”
She sighed, ever so softly, and reminded herself yet again of the truth - not all people understood the inevitability and pointlessness of these emotions that drive humans to such ends. But they would all meet their own time, soon enough.
When she heard the Minotaur's comment on the girl, Morrigan smiled slightly and brushed her pale hair back. "Keep her safe? We can't promise a thing like that, Scar," she said, "We can only try to prolong her safety. As long as we are able."
1d20=6 Terrible
"Best we be off, the more time we delay the more time the Gentleman has time to prepare."
When Tristan speaks, however, Kaddigen nods and returns his attention to the matter at hand.
"Aye, I'm sure there will be. When you reach meet with the carraige, give them this," he says, pulling a small wax seal from his belt. "That'll prove I sent you. If the guard's don't ask for it, assume the real guards are already dead and kill 'em again for good measure."
Beyond that, it's also told that he's one of the finest ranger's in the land, as he and his men are like ghosts once they enter the treeline. No one has ever been able to track his men to their hideout, and the Duke has hired hunters from all over the country to attempt it in the past.
Overall, the Gentlemen have earned their name, as far as bandits go. They're well trained, they mind their manners, and they always keep their word when a deal has been struck.
Handing the seal off to whoever wants it, the dwarf bids the group farewell before disappearing back inside the city's gate, leaving them alone on the path to begin their journey.
The dirt road heads due north at this point, flanked on both sides by the thick Ashfaire Forest. It is no surprise that the roads around Crownselle are such prime targets for the Gentlemen, as the adventurer's quickly realize that they could be being watch from any number of vantage points, and they'd not have even the faintest of clues.
To the east rise the incredible Hattael cliffs, upon which, somewhere, the Duke's castle sits.
PSN: SAW776
I assume we're all ready to press on?
“Don’t know why the rest of you are here, and I don't much care.
I don’t intend on letting no frilly shirted bandits get between me and my payday.”
PSN: SAW776
PSN: SAW776
Clack, clack, clack.
The prayer beads keep on counting. With every step she takes, another person has met the end of their mortality, and another person has given up their busy task of being born, and instead become busy dying. The natural cycle keeps on clack, clack, clacking along.
"Erathis may tell us to defend the light of life from the encroaching darkness," she says, watching the road in front of them, "But we all know that the darkness overcomes us eventually. Civilisation is built of the graves of those who died making it."
Clack, clack, clack.
PSN: SAW776
"The darkness may always be present, but the light is too. Death is necessary for many. But if we cannot foster life, then your Queen will be a tad bored."
Her clacking ceased.
There was something to the east. Something that should not be. Something that was trying to break the cycle of life and death, trying to cast off the chains of fate.
She breathed a little deeper than normal and paused in her stride. Calmly, she said, "The Raven Queen has sent us on this path for a reason. There's something unnatural to the east of here - something that should be dead is not."
PSN: SAW776
Religion (1d20+5) = 15
Perception (1d20+3) = 21
Yesssssss
EDIT:
Now that she was clearly watching the cold distance, she could see some tiny things that marked the east different from its opposite. While bird life was rampant and teeming to the west, it was... lacking, in the east. But this was not the most disturbing of her realisations.
There was magic in the air.
Not ancient magic, by any means. But old magic. Arcane energies had been here for nearly a human lifetime, seeping into the trees and rocks and earth itself. To the east, there was something which had been brewing for far too long past its expiry date.
Also for good measure perception check
1d20=12
PSN: SAW776
If so then your queen is in luck. Scar will be happy to dispatch those who stand in his way.
If not then I suggest we keep moving.”
Ansis lowers his hood a bit and speaks in more hushed tones.
"I'm going to scout ahead over that hill and see what lurks. Wait here."
Stealth check (1d20+9=29)
PSN: SAW776
PSN: SAW776
Daiereth stands with the others silently. He adds very little - a grunt of agreeance here, a short laugh there. He remains quiet. He is watching them, studying them. After all, any one of them could easily be a member of The Gentlemen.
In his recent time in Crownselle, he had heard about The Gentlemen. They seemed to be able to infiltrate anything. He was lost in thought, trying to think if he recognised any of his travelling companions - either from a tale of The Gentlemen, or from a tavern, or the street - anywhere, when suddenly, the tall Minotaur grunted something. In response, the Deva turned and left the group.
"Eh, " he spoke for the first time, "I agree with the Minotaur." Not really knowing what the Minotaur said, nor did he care, he decided that his own actions seemed suspicious. Also, he had heard somewhere to ALWAYS agree with the minotaur. Standing next to this 7 foot tall one now, he thought that it seemed like good advice.
EDIT: also, ready to roll.
The party returns to walking, and as the avenger had said, the road ahead was clear. They made the next few miles in good time with not a single disturbance.
As the sun grew closer to setting, however, the group found themselves rounding a curve in the road and finding that they were no longer alone.
"Halt!" shouts a man in armor, the black eagle of Hattael emblazoned across his chest, "who goes?"
A short distance ahead of you is an interesting sight--the carriage you were all sent out to meet has conveniently lost a wheel, and rests helpless in the middle of the road. Four armed men can be seen, along with a fair-haired young woman.
At the shout from the one man, the other three quickly respond. One moves between your group and the girl as he unslings a bow from his shoulder, while the other three draw swords and hold their ground, awaiting a response.
PSN: SAW776
Could this be a ploy by The Gentlemen? Daiereth leans on his staff and says little. Content to let the more charismatic individuals do the talking, he trys to remember all he can about The Gentlemen.
and so it begins. 2 critical failures, followed by a critical success.