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[D&D 4E] It's not personal -- it's just a little business (IC)
real_pochacco
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In the city of Grepool, a new gang of thieves have moved in, and their competition, the halflings who run the established Thieves' Guild, has a vested interest in moving them out. But that doesn't appear too easy, as the newcomers are quickly taking over and their influence expands with every day. Furthermore, these gnome thieves don't seem to have as many... scruples as the halflings do, and the result is making everyone feel a little more cautious walking around late at night.
The players are:
3clipse - Bharash the Ironhammer (Dragonborn Fighter)
Cleonicus - Glory (Tiefling Bard)
Esh - Neither (Elf Avenger)
Arivia - Carlin (Gnome Rogue)
samurai6966 - Kyser (Shifter Ranger)
I'm a new DM and I'm new to Maptools (which I'll be using for combat maps), so bear with me on this one while I get the kinks out. Please post dice rolls using invisiblecastle. Put OOC stuff in spoiler tags (I will also keep the recruitment thread as an OOC thread).
The players are:
3clipse - Bharash the Ironhammer (Dragonborn Fighter)
Cleonicus - Glory (Tiefling Bard)
Esh - Neither (Elf Avenger)
Arivia - Carlin (Gnome Rogue)
samurai6966 - Kyser (Shifter Ranger)
I'm a new DM and I'm new to Maptools (which I'll be using for combat maps), so bear with me on this one while I get the kinks out. Please post dice rolls using invisiblecastle. Put OOC stuff in spoiler tags (I will also keep the recruitment thread as an OOC thread).
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Unfortunately, recently the complacency of the populace has been thrown off by the current economic slump the city has been suffering. Famine in neighboring areas has led to an increase in the price of bread, and although the average adventurer might not be hurt by this, the common people are struggling.
The slums in the southern part of Grepool have been one of the places most hit by these hard times. The streets are dirty and unsafe, and on almost every street corner you’ll see some madman shouting about the beautiful creatures that haunt him.
Here, one of the most popular taverns is The Lazy Y. The sign for the tavern shows the letter Y, half-falling off. As you walk towards the entrance, you usually have to walk over the body of some poor soul lying in the street, begging or babbling. Inside is a large room, scattered with tables that roughly face a small stage in the corner. The food and drink here is cheap and filling, and even though the prices are cheap the entertainment every night is always at least decent. The innkeeper, Nate Malan, an older man with a somewhat unsettling grin, stands behind the bar. Upstairs, there are a few sparse rooms for one to spend the night, and they are generally cleaner than sleeping in the street.
Tonight, however, Nate’s grin has been replaced by a nervous expression, and he’s already broken more glasses tonight than he has in the past 6 months. Regardless, the place is relatively packed, and the drink is flowing. Glory is on stage singing a poignant ballad – not her usual performance, but she felt the crowd was not in the mood for something upbeat on this night.
Bharash, you and your mentor stayed here when you first moved to Grepool, and so you continue to come back, especially when you are recuperating after a big fight like the one you had a few days ago. You and Nate often joke that there’s some kind of restorative power in his ale for a bruised and tired gladiator.
Glory, you perform here occasionally, and you’ve known Nate for a few months now. Although The Lazy Y is probably not your best shot at stardom, you like being able to perform for a crowd who seems like they really need some good entertainment to melt away the worries of the day.
Neither and Kyser, you’re both on assignment in this district. You’ve been sent by the Thieves’ Guild to gather information about the gnomes and their movements, but you’ve found it a lot more difficult than you thought it would be. You were told that the gnomes are attempting to gain control in this area, but you’ve only gotten glimpses and hints of what’s going on, and a lot of very stern looks from passersby. Kyser, in particular you are feeling a bit desparate to have SOME kind of results, because you don’t want to go back to the Guild empty-handed. You both ended up in this tavern, planning to spend the night here and start up the search against tomorrow.
Carlin, you are actually personal friends with Nate. You have a bit of a business relationship together – he lets you rifle through the belongings of the people who stay upstairs occasionally, you try to direct drunks in the direction of The Lazy Y. He generally lends a blind eye to your thievery in his shop (as long as you don’t get caught, of course), and in return you throw him some gold every once in a while. He likes your attitude and your spirit, or at least that’s the way you prefer to frame it in your mind when you’re talking to him.
He turned away from the tiefling performing on stage and looked down at Nate; even seated, the Dragonborn towered over most folk. "What's eating at you, old friend?" he asked Nate in his bass rumble of a voice, fixing the human with his emerald green eyes. "I haven't seen you this on edge since the day I told you that Ragnor died."
He lowered his voice, glancing around for anyone in earshot who looked suspicious. "Is it all the gnomes moving in? They're starting to get to most of the city. They're even coming after me to throw fights." The Dragonborn snorted, a loud, deep noise. "As if."
"Ale, please." he politely asks Nate after gaining his attention. The ale deposted in front of him, his ears perk up as he hears the Dragonborn grumbling about gnomes. One ear to the Dragonborn and one ear and his eyes on the crowd, he takes a small sip from his flagon.
1d20=1
1 + 9 (skill) = 10 for Perception Roll
Ouch, let's get those 1's outta the way early, eh?
Another night without nothing. And I can't stand it. Everything, everyday is now a failure. I know I just started but this is my chance to become something. Maybe I'm going crazy too. Maybe my "Beast" is getting to me. Maybe its this singer. She could have sang something more, I don't know, Joyful? Maybe my mood is because of this song.
Nate replies, somewhat panicked for a moment about gnomes having been mentioned, "Oh, it's nothing, I'm just a bit off today I guess." He appears to try and get himself together a bit.
Thievery check:
After she gets enough of a haul she tosses a coin onto the long bar when Nate's not looking, a gleaming surprise the man's used to by now.
"Barkeep, I think the lady wants some service over here."
He pushes the coin back toward the gnome, depositing his own currency on the bar.
"This ones on me."
A Gnomish thief if I ever saw one. I wonder what she knows...
He definitely seems on edge, because normally he would never snap at you. He quickly moves away from you and back to serving customers, and you can tell that he's got his eye firmly on the door.
He turned back towards the stage and took another drink of his ale, conscious of an elf next to him that seemed a little too curious. He saw the elf wink and smile at a gnome and wondered what that was about, but shrugged and dismissed it as nothing, preferring to lose himself in the drink and the music.
When he turned back from the stage again, he saw Nate staring at the door and frowned again. This was all very much unlike Nate, and given the recent trouble with gnomes...
Blast it he thought as realization dawned on him. Something's going down tonight. He checked his weapons, making sure his Mordenkrad and shield were secure across his back before checking the throwing hammers and Craghammer on his waist.
If something's going to happen tonight, I'm going to stop it. No one messes with Nate on my watch.
Grinning, he said "plus, it's not as if that little letter opener of a sword would actually stop me anyway" and winked at the gnome, still chuckling slightly.
The gnome's comment pushes a smile on her face. An evil smile.
He grinned wider. "I'll bet you, though, that you couldn't carve anything with it, much less a pig."
"Boys, I'll leave the little lady alone if I was you. She could cut her name and family tree into you knees before you could move for your weapons."
She turns to the gnome.
"How about I buy you a drink?"
"Women's Intuition!"
I didn't do that! What the hell!
"Because I know!" The words come from her mouth before she can think of them.
"Shifter," he said, "I don't know who you are or why you've got a knife at my throat, but I suggest you remove it. Now."
His eyes stared at her, cold and hard, as his right hand strayed to one of the small hammers on his belt, resting there.
He's not too worried, because a knife at his throat is one thing that Nate knows Bharash can handle, but still.
I seem to be in control again. What was that?
Seeing her back down, Carlin takes a step back, whatever it was disappearing.
"Temper, friends. Temper. That blade is a bit too close to me for comfort."
"Ok, sorry about that. Its hard for a lady to get respect around here. Especially from gladiator brutes."
Neither chuckles softly.
Kyser smiles the sweetest she could.
God, if I blow this, they won't even let me be at least a whore again.
"Ive been called worst then that, love." And then leans back with a wink.
Neither rises and makes for a seat closer to the stage, he's not learning anything by the bar. He makes a note of any characters or conversations on his way to the stage. Pulling up a seat at a relatively unoccupied table he settles in and glances about.