"Father Xander, Lola, Kat, and of those who wish to lend your support to our efforts here, would be appreciated. The more we know, and can confirm before leaving.. I can help prepare for." She accepts the tuft from Tori, and sighs as Michael's wife knowing she will have to find a way to make up for butting heads with her . "First as Lola suggests we need to try to trace this form of illusion, very carefully." Already opening her mind to the Al'noth and concentrating on the bar itself for the signature of the caster.
This tiny elven woman was her first teacher. She knows her teacher's motions, the way her oval face sets when she concentrates. The auburn-haired young woman simply stands near and offers her power to aid Elly as Elly needs.
Mr. Belanbughue agrees to send some extra muscle before he and his associate head back to Wisefoot headquarters. They depart with all due haste, Father Xander's words being discussed between them as they leave.
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As Elohanna concentrates she immediately picks up a magical signature. As she widens her circle of investigation she picks up faint traces of lingering illusion magic near the doorway. Then more are found a few dozen or so feet outside. She immediately becomes cautious and alarmed. Even a novice could have picked this up. She wonders if it could it be breadcrumbs left to lead them into a trap?
Her stubbornness melts away as the look of concern crosses her face. "We really have to go at this carefully, I can already feel this trail and there is something different about it. She wants us to follow. I feel really bad about this already, like she is trying to lead us into a trap. Father Xander you may be right. Whatever you can share with us, and tell us, the better."
*A teal-haired elf studies Elly as she is intently surveying the stone streets outside the inn. He softly taps his staff on the ground to get her attention*
Elly did someone loose something? If I find it can I get a free glass of wine *Tralek laughs but the laugh turns to a stout stare as he sees Elly is very concerned about something* Well then is something amiss here?
Still covered in blood from a different debacle, Mangus's disheveled appearance is hardly anything out of the ordinary in Grogs eyes. He is seated at the bar showing tangible adoration to a mug in his hand. He gives Grog a quick nod. "Aye blood! Butchery work! Folk say'n er lassy turned after er few drinks an' done caused er big mess yell'n someth'n about revenge."
He thinks inwardly for a moment of all the times he had personally witnessed such a thing. A woman steps up to the bar, has a few drinks, then turns into something disastrous. If this were the one eyed Harpy or one of the many hardly mentionable joints where he and his Dwarven drinking buddy, Gimpy, spend more time than they should, it would be considered a common occurrence. Although, in fairness, in this case, the bloodletting does appear to be a bit more intense than usual.
He continues, "folk er say'n she got deh head of er lion er tiger, er dats how she ended up after er few drinks. Er, myself seen er woman go from be'n er ogre to er high elf after Er had me enough drinks but who knows what 'dese folk was see'n? All Er knows is, she left er heckuva mess behind!" With that he quaff's his nepenthe all at once.
She motions to what Mangus' has said, "It is good to see you Tralek, they all speak the truth, according to the recollections. A lady came in here to speak with Michael, drew on our bar, and made the images come to life in the eyes of those watching, before their delusions caused mass hysteria, and three now lay dead and several more wounded. We are keeping close watch on each one, enlisting the aid of the Wisefoots to increase security and the Deliar temple for treating everyone to assure none wind up making a change into a werecreature, but from what I can determine so far is that the lady who did this... seems to be baiting us to come after her. I am certain we oculd all use your experience to aid us in whatever way you see fit my friend. Father Xander believes we may be dealing with something very old, very powerful and very dangerous, and I was just asking him to share anymore about his theory he can think of."
Father Xander shakes his head from his bar stool. “No, not much more information. I’m not aware of anything more I can tell you.” He frowns a little... obviously not happy with the thought there is so much he does not know.
Arfur listens sensing trepidation and fear but no immediate danger. He puts away his rapiers and strides over to the bar.Challenging the barkeep he suggests "Right let's dig out your best booze and talk about me until it's time to leave!" The barkeep puts up a bottle of house red and sarcastically quips "It would be an honour Lord." The jest is lost on the self absorbed Arfur who adds triumphantly "Of course it would! but wait, wait, wait I may be renowned throughout as one of the greatest halberdiers that ever was, but I am not completely stupid I have got the feeling you wish I wasn't here. " He downs a glass of the red stuff, nudging the glass for another and switches a rare gem necklace for a collection of duller stones, which nonetheless glows with the power of the Al Noth. He slips off one designer helmet and replaces it with another professing "The she devil will not have my mind then!" The bar keep pours a smaller measure of red wine and cannot resist adding. "She would be hard pushed to find that eh Sir!" Undaunted, Arfur steps over to the group of adventurers considering what might be a foolhardy pursuit of the illusionist she tiger thingey.
He rallies the adventurers with some encouragement. "Twenty minutes I say, twenty minutes, you ask why I say that!..It's the life expectancy of anyone who goes out THAT door after her!." he stares at the door dramatically, pausing for effect and then. "That's right, hurrah, let's dooo it, helmets on, last one out's a Xeenite!"
He casually pops a now empty glass on his favourite table and stands by the door, waiting.
Elaina is still standing by the door with her cloak over arm and awaiting her escort to the Deliarian temple. Her eyes widen briefly, then narrow as tangible oblivion to circumstance roils off the Ilsarian halberdier's braggadocio. Michael sets the quill in his hand down upon the bartop with exaggerated care. "I will see her there - " Edward shakes his head. "You heard Elly, brother. You got scratches, you have to stay. In case. C'mon, 'Laina." Michael hestitates, then nods - mostly to himself - as Edward and the dark-skinned lady leave to ask for clerical assistance, both walking past Arfur without a word.
"Elly, Father Xander - do you know, can this Rakshasa thing use it's magic to know if we're tracking it? Like setting a ward? While we track her magic, she'd know if we were coming and how fast? And if she can change shapes, as Father Xander thinks, we need to mark ourselves or have a code word, or something." Lola reaches out where Elly was walking to see if she can also sense the magical trail.
After the suggestion of marking or code words, "Agreed. An' watchin' watchers is why I weren't thrilled on havin' weary 'n anxious folk sniffin' her out, but onna other hand, sometimes jus' stickin' y'foot inna trap an' waitin's easiest way to go. For actual confrontin', addin' to the list for min' wardin', silver case she got friends, body prayin' over weapons case she crazy tiger demon sort, tag ever'body whichever way so's nobody we know get swapped, an' ain't sure but maybe Sight help on form checkin', 'long with everthin' else folk usually gettin' spelled up with for tanglin' with things you wish ain't come for a drink on your shift.
"Eh. Ain't sure she goin' for no drawn out game, but best get sorted aforehand." She seems further worn out by the long string of words.
"Somebody had to have counted the bodies, all those years ago. We should know how many of them were the were-things, and how many were like her. Understanding the extent of her loss is useful." Lola heads to the nearest guard to request the full report on the incident, prepared to follow him or her to the city hall if necessary.
Elly’s magical inspection of the inn did not find anything indicating scrying, but there was something very disturbing in one of the children’s upstairs rooms. It happened so fast she was not sure whether her overactive imagination was at work, or something more tangible and sinister was present. She thought she saw a small winged eyeball peering in through a window... As she rushed to the window to engage the thing it disappeared from sight. No magical means of detection found it after that. She found nothing out of place or any sign of something being there or trying to get inside.
Lola returns several hours later with a copy of the official report. It is very long and details the clean-up and sealing of the sewers. There were approximately 40 wererat corpses accounted for. The report describes three other creatures that were labeled “were creatures”, but no species or types were attributed. They are described as having the “heads of great cats.” The bodies were all moved into a large chamber and the entrance sealed. Authorities were afraid to transport the bodies outside of the city for burning due to a fear of the spread of lycanthropy. The entrance to that section of the sewers was also sealed with stone and magic.
Mangus, Still seated at the bar with Grog gives Grog a look of excitement, at the mention of where-rats although, privately he wonders if Grog, like so many of the other Orc's he has met in his travels since leaving his grandmother and the human populated village he grew up in, was familiar with the Orc delicacy, smoked were-rat and squash soup. He doesn't actually mention it to Grog fearing that Grog may not be familiar with it, and like so many people he has met in his travels, Grog may be repulsed by it. Regardless, Mangus is reminded fondly of the flavor of smoked where-rat and squash soup. He can almost see his human grandmother preparing it. Chopping up the large orange pumpkin, in to little bits, skinning the were-rate, pre-frying the onions and other seasonings in pig fat. He, himself, would secretly have preferred she'd have not skinned the creature, some interworking of his being prefers to eat the thing with its hair on, but he enjoyed her recipe, and found himself missing it.
Many hours after order has once again been restored to Mariner's Hold, Elohanna sits in the white wingback chair of her office, at the Silver Buckle and begins to draft a letter to the Council, advising them of what has transpired this evening, the letter being the easier of the tasks she has, as the death of her friends, weighs heavy on her heart.
She carefully takes the vial of golden ink and dips in her well loved and well used quill and begins to scribe the letter in a very elaborate and elogant common style conveying in as much detail what took place over the last half day. When she is finished she enlists the aid of Lianna, her pixie companion to deliver the letter for her.
//PM sent
Andrew, returning from his trip, hears of the horrors and the deaths of the Buckle patrons. After the entire story is told, he and Elly quietly offer to the families of the deceased some coin - while nothing can bring back the lost, the Buckle takes care of it's own, and they don't want the families having to worry about food and lodging costs with one less strong back. For the injured, they are welcome to the Buckle's best care until they are well, and their families will eat at the Buckle for free until their loved/tolerated ones are returned home.
//Ravemore, if you'd like to witness, we'll donate 1000 True to each family of the deceased. This is done by family, quietly, no fanfare. If there is no local family for a deceased, Andrew and Elly will do their best to locate them and send a message.
//Just an FYI... I'm working on a follow-up post addressing everyone's actions, concerns, etc. to tie this one up and put it to bed... There are some post quest perks that I'm working out too. This week has me super slammed for work, so it might be Saturdayish before I get to everything... Thanks for your patience guys. This one was a lot of fun for me. There was a ton of involvement both in forum and in-game, which makes it equally rewarding for me. :-)
City officials arrive at the Silver Buckle soon after receiving a letter from Elohanna Reid, Priestess of the Lifebringer. The ranking member of the contingent is Alforn Bustleman, Security Officer for the City. He is a tall blond haired human with keen hard eyes. Jordan Belanboughue, one of the top representatives of the Wisefoot Trading Company is also with him. Alforn immediately begins asking questions after thanking the Silver Buckle staff for their recent heroism, confirming and clarifying information from the report, and speaks to everyone involved in the subterranean expedition.
Jordan pulls himself away and finds Andrew in his office. “Mr. Reid! Welcome back… I wish your return was under better circumstances. Good to see you. I was happy to see that your people all returned in one piece. I heard the battle was pretty intense and the Gods found it within their hearts to return the fallen to life. A Rakshasa is an evil this world is better without.” He pauses for a few heartbeats. “The Wisefoot Trading Company is again grateful for your people’s efforts. It was only a matter of time before the creature began targeting us for our role in past events. As a gesture of our sincere thanks, The Wisefoot Trading Company will match all charitable donations made by the Buckle for the next 30 days. We will also extend extremely favorable trading contracts with the Buckle for the remainder of the year.” He politely excuses himself after some further light conversation.
Before the group of officials leave, Alforn Bustleman takes a small box and a scroll case from one of his subordinates and hands it to Michael. “On behalf of Mariner’s Hold, please see that these are distributed to the party involved in the strike against the Rakshasa.” After he leaves Michael looks at what was handed to him. The box contains small silver brooches shaped in the form of the city crest, and the scroll case contains civil proclamations of thanks.
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Rumors circulate that the city sewers have been again sealed by dwarven craft and Al’Noth. The City Watch has returned to a normal duty rotation.
Mangis is seen with a glassy-eyed look on his face as he quaffs ale after ale. He is oblivious to the funny looks he receives from nearby patrons as his belly grumbles loudly.
The families of the fallen and injured Buckle patrons are thankful for the kindness and compassion shown them. The injured all recover without complications and no signs of lycanthropy are detected. Several demands for compensation have been received from the five patrons receiving minor injuries.
//Andrew, please dispose of 1,000 true in the trash for each of the fallen and seriously injured patrons and pm me when complete. Total = 15,000 true.
Provide proof of any donations made by the Buckle for the next 30 RL days to receive a match from the Wisefoot Trading Company.
The GM forum will receive a post outlining the following perks for those that took part: Recipients of the Mariner’s Hold Civil Award can apply a +2 to any gather information rolls made when interacting with city officials. Please refer to this thread. Also, the general reputation of the Silver Buckle has improved. You can add a +1 to any roll required for actions being made on behalf of the Buckle when interaction with Mariner’s Hold citizens or officials is required.
At this time I am officially closing this quest.
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Topic: Silver Buckle - Shadow from the Past... (Read 4548 times)
