D&D: The City of Shaldra~Zin

[Grimsvald]

---Moradin's Blessing---


Hemmingdal rubbed her chin and contemplated the crafting assignment. "This may take time and clever crafting..." When she pulled her hand away there was a bit of stone powder left on her face. "Are you looking for a kite shield, heater shielder, tower shield? What type of material are you hoping for; wood? iron, steel, mithral, elvish, dwarven, stone? Or 10 extra gold I can even commission help from an artist to make this ornate." She was excited by this potential project, but his answers to these questions would depict just how excited she would get.


---Krug---


Shortly after Kelter had left Krug, Jaks was arriving. "Ah a desperate customer is a friend indeed!" Nar smirked stepping forward to display his wears. There were several quivers of arrows on the cart, but they were all missmatched gatherings. Arrows from enemy factions pooled together with lesser quality arrows from tribes and villages. Each quiver is 20 arrows for 1 gp. There are 4 quivers available.


( I need to know 1-4 which quiver you buy )

 

[Yesman]

"I'll take all four quivers," panted the rogue. he quickly fished out 4 gp from his pouch and handed them over to the orc. "Actually, if you're interested in buying, I have two short swords I've managed to acquire through battle last night for sale."

 

[Grimsvald]

---KRUG---


"I would be willing to pay 10 gold for both swords, they are not in the best of shape.." Nar said pulling out his coin purse, "This is rather generous of me considering I commonly come across my inventory freely. Take the deal now or its off the table"


As Jaks gathers his four quivers of arrows. 80 in all. Something catches his eyes. He isn't sure what it is, but his thieving eye can tell it has value. An arrow with dyed red feathering and a blackwood shaft. He knew that arrows like this were used during the planner war. Cut from tree ent hide, garnished with extravagant fletchings. What may be even more exciting than the cost of this item is what abilities it may hold. Nearly all of these arrows held a spell inside of them, but it would take a closer look to be sure.

 

[Redsirrah]

Jameak pulled out his purse and counted its contents. "I have 25 gp and 11 sp. I'm looking for some kind of tower shield. With this kind of money, what kind of materials can I afford? Which one is ideal for protecting me and my tome?"

 

[Yesman]

Jaks traded Kurl the two swords for the 10 gp. He took the 4 quivers and, with a quick thank you to the orc, made his way back to the tavern. He'll have to inquire the Jameak later about the potentially enchanted arrows.

 

[Grimsvald]

---Moradin's Blessing---


Hemmingdal's smile faded. So did her excitement. "Oh...only 25 gold. Let me see what your options are..." She walked into the building. She shuffled through some shield designs and material listings compairing prices. After 15minutes she reamurges scratching her head.


"Even with my lowest quality materials your tower shield would set you back more than you own cleric. 30 gold is as low as I can manage on a towershield...." Then her smile returned. Clearly a solution came to her. "Unless...you pay me 20 gold now. That should be enough to get me started. Then help me out with a little problem I have been having." The dwarf sat down and started making notes in her ledger book. "Could you deliver this stone maul to a man in Bexley for me? Unfortunatly the man who usually transports my good lost his wagon in a fire last night. You would save me enough in transport fees to cover the rest of your expenses..." she stopped writting, "if you cannot help me maybe we can find a lesser shield to craft you?"

 

[Redsirrah]

Jameak nodded. "I absolutely can deliver this. And I have a couple of my prayers memorized, so I should be able to leave my tome with you." Jameak took out all 25 gold and handed it to her. "I appreciate your help ma'am. Just give me the details on who I'm delivering this maul to and I'll take care of it."

 

[Grimsvald]

---Moradin's Blessing---


Hemmingdal happily took Jameak's coin into one of the purses handing off her hip. Then she pulled out a scroll from a neiboring satchel. "Her name is Sul'nier. You probably won't run into her anywhere in town. She is a bit of a home body. Her adress is there in the paperwork." The dwarf hands over the paperwork. "Oh! And she had paid for this piece in full already. There is no need to collect."


Hemmingdal did a few final touches polishing up the maul. Then she wrapped it up in fine cloth. Purple silks with black design and gold trimming. This was then placed in a finely crafted cherry wood box. "I'm sure, as you are a holy man, I can trust you. But I am also not in the business of trusting strangers with 3,ooo gold worth of goods. If this isn't delivers in good care. I will know about it and it will be a problem." She maintained eye contact while handing over the precious and heavy item.


---The Dizzy Dwarves Tavern---


Shortly after Jaks had returned to the tavern a regal looking wagon would pull up to the front door. Black wood emblazend with the symbol of pelor on its side in gold. The inside of the wagon is blue and white. Cushioned seats and deep blue curtains to cover the windows. The wagon is being pulled by four brown horses, which are commanded by the same messenger seen earlier. The tiny fat man seems to be driving this wagon begrudgingly.


"Here me! Gather now willing travelers to Bexley!" The fat little man shouter from his seat on the front of the wagon.


Kelter would push away from an unfinishes pint of cheap ale and toss a few silver onto the bar. He gave a nodd of thank you to Adrik behind the bar. Then he made his way to the wagon. "Kelter Rowe, paladin on Pelor glad to be of service to my city and my god"

 

[Redsirrah]

Jameak handed over his tome and took the paperwork and maul and maintained eye contact with Hemmingdal. "I swear I will deliver this maul to its rightful owner. Thank you very much." Jameak hurried back to the Dizzy Dwarves, to find that the wagon had arrived. He stepped forward to introduce himself. "I'm Jameak Milltall, a cleric in the service of Saint Cuthbert."

 

[Yesman]

The rogue quickly downed his mug and caught up to Kelter with a short jog. Hearing the paladin and cleric introduce themselves, Jaks put his mind to finding something he could say too. "I'm Jaks, just Jaks. I'm just another person passing through this town until this cleric bullied me into coming along."

 

[Grimsvald]

The messenger pretended to check off their names on his parchment, but in reality it was blank. With all three men in the cabbin of the wagon, the messenger sits down and retakes the reigns. "Time to drive all the way to Bexley on a wagon...." He grumbled. With a snap of the reigns the horses begin to trott out of town.


The wagon slowly navigated its way through town. Avoiding debris and dead bodies was still a chore. As they left out the west gate they past a dwarven druid impaled by several spears. She looked slightly familiar. In the fields between Shaldra-Zin and Daylin Moor they could look out the window to see funerals. Long marches of people dressed in black trudging on the side of the road with coffins over their shoulders.


Seeing the aftermath so clearly sets a fire in Kelter heart. He hopes to avenge every one of these dead when the truth behind this terrible tale is revealed. What were those abominations last night and why did they come to claim our lives.

 

[Yesman]

The rogue's thoughts were not unlike the paladin's. He was supposed to be just passing through, but he felt a connection with those with him in that alley, perhaps a connection between rogues and unsavory fellows. He shook his head. Drawing put the arrow that had caught his eye, he spoke to Jameak and Kelter.


"I bought this arrow from one of the shops just now. There seems to be something... different about it, but I can't quite put a finger on it. I thought maybe one of you might have an idea."

 

[Redsirrah]

Jameak looked at the object, and uttered a short prayer for assistance, seeing as he was lacking his tome (Guidance). "I don;t have my tome but I can try to identify the object," he said, closely examining the arrow.


[dice]19957[/dice]


[dice]19958[/dice]

 

[Grimsvald]

Jameak is able to identify the item as an arcana arrow used during the planner war. It is in extremely good condition considering its age so it must have been treasured by its owner. Blackstood and red feathers, the energy eminating from it tell Jameak that it is some form of fire spell. He is unable to tell exactly what kind of spell, but it is clearly something of great power, possibly forged to take down an Ent in one shot.


Kelter attempts to gather information about the arrow as well. He is able to decipher when the arrow was made, but nothing about the spell. He leans back and looks out the window. "I hope this journey takes us one step closer to justice for the fallen. So many of my brothers are being burried today because of that chaos. What do you to make of this evil?"


The cart begins to make its way into the large moorlands. The funerals an gone on the horizon behind them.

 

[Redsirrah]

Jameak frowned. "I sensed no evil coming from many of the being we fought today, and yet, they seemed convinced we had to die." Jameak looked up from the arrow to the wastes around. "There lies a powerful fire spell in that arrow. I cannot decipher the nature of the spell, but the arrow is ancient, and is in excellent condition. I would say you have found a powerful weapon." His brow furrowed. "I hope you came of it the proper way."

 

[Yesman]

Jaks' brows furrowed in response. "I bought this, just like my other 79 arrows." His countenance returned back to normal as he returned the arrow to one of the quivers. "But fire enchanted arrows, huh? Could be interesting."


The rogue leaned back and remained silent for a while, letting his thoughts drift. He sat back up again and this time, spoke to Kelter.


"So we're going to a meeting of holy people to...ask for funds to rebuild the city? I don't get it. Why us? Shouldn't the mayor or somebody else with some kind of influence be doing this?"

 

[Grimsvald]

~A powerful fire spell within that arrow, huh?~ Kelter thought to himself ~I will be sure to keep my distance from his targets, just in case he chooses to loose that arrow in desperation.~ After a moment of contemplation he spoke allowed. "No evil among the murderers? I find that difficult to accept, but not impossible to understand. What if this is not a slaughter, but a battle in the middle of an unseen war? Often times in war good men are pit against good men, casting each other from this world for someone else's gain. Just because war wages does not mean one side is evil...." Kelter ran his fingers over the hilt of his sword. It begged to be unsheathed. "Just because our enemy isn't evil does not mean we should stop the fight. One side must submit in order for this war to end or there will continue to be casualties."


Kelter placed his hands back into his lap. "I think you are right Jaks. It is odd that we are the ones on this mission. Maybe the mayor's representatives were among the dead and injured?" He excused the oddity with a shrug. Then suddenly a pessimism overcame him and he rationalized another possibility, "Or maybe this is a trap about to be sprung....would we be the bate or the prey?"

 

[Yesman]

A hum came from the rogue. "A trap? Maybe I wasn't so crazy to buy 80 arrows at one go. Then again, maybe your first guess was correct. The entire town was attacked, I doubt the monsters thought twice about whether their victims were kings or beggers." He leaned forward and glanced at the cart's pilot, the messenger. "Do you think he'll tell us anything?"

 

[Grimsvald]

"How much would you expect a dog to tell you about it's master? I think this messenger is too far removed from the seat of power to understand the plot unfolding here. Of course I could be wrong....This little bastard could know everything...He could be the mastermind of this whole thing. Leading us into the maw of the beast himself so he can watch it with his own eyes!" He noticed he was reaching for his weapon again. He had worked himself up to much over something ridiculous. " No...I don't think he knows anything of value. Time will have to tell us what we want to know."


Kelter looked out the window again. The moors seemed endless. No animals, the rare tree and ponds all the way to the horizon. He had no idea how far away this city of Bexley was nor what it would be like.

 

[Redsirrah]

"It certainly is suspicious." said Jameak. He reached for his tome but remembered he left it at Moradins blessing. "For now, lets just keep calm and see what happens. I'm going to take a short nap. Wake me if anything happens."

 

[Grimsvald]

Kelter nodded to Jameak, "That's a good idea. Maybe we should all get some shut eye during this trip. Jaks if you want to sleep too I will take first watch. I can wake you up in a few hours."

 

[Yesman]

Jaks silently nodded before leaning back again. He readjusted his bow and rapier so that the rapier laid on top of the bow on his lap. He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and slowly fell into a light nap.

 

[Grimsvald]

For the next 3 hours Kelter looked out the window. Watching the moors pass them by. He spotted the occasional creature drinking from their watering holes or running through the open fields. They even passes a small village of 6 or 7 houses, but that was the most eventful thing to happen.


Kelter reached out and nudged Jaks awake, "It's your turn to watch. In about 3 hrs give charge to the cleric. Hopefully we are nearly there.."

 

[Yesman]

Jaks stretched and took his place as the watch


[dice]20043[/dice]


[dice]20044[/dice]

 

[Grimsvald]

30 minutes into Jaks' shift he notices a squadron of cavalry patroling the fields. It is about 12 well armored men on horseback. Matching uniforms of black and gold and official crests from what the rogue can see. They are too far away for communication but the bright sun gives away their details to the rogues keen eyes. Other than this Jaks watch is uneventful.