CH. 04 - On the Road

[Daos]

Leosin answers Zakkoth, "We're hoping that you'll be able to figure that out on your own, due to your past experiences with them.  You may recognize a few.  Just try not to be recognized yourself."

To Henry, Frume says, "Once you have the information, report back here to Solanthus.  If I'm not still in the area, leave a message here at the inn.  The innkeeper is a close friend of mine, and he can make sure wherever I may be, the info gets to me."

[Igordragonian]

"I see. Well. Then it seems like an aproriate times to see if I can read omens."
Zakkoth nod and start the ceremony of augury- a cup with few marked bones

--
Casting Augury about accepting the mission.
What kind of fate will it lead to?

[Zero Prime]

Caelin Valaerys, pariah of Takhisis
ARMOR CLASS: 16 | HIT POINTS: 32 | CURRENT: 32 | HIT DIE: 3d8; 1d10 | CURRENT: 3d8; 1d10
PASSIVE PERCEPTION: 15 | PASSIVE INSIGHT: 17 | INSPIRATION: 1

That afternoon ...

Caelin was frustrated, mostly at himself, Henry held no regard for him, caring nothing for him, or his advice. And why would he, Caelin was born in a gutter, raised in the filth that Henry and his Lord sluiced from their chamber pots. He was a murderer, a cutthroat and a criminal, he had broken every oath he had sworn, and committed acts that had destroyed even those whom he most cared for. A sigh, why then did this betrayal hurt more than the others he had suffered through his life? He clenched and unclenched his hands, the pain a dull throb as he had been clenching them the whole time he had stalked from the common room.

He needed to get out, fresh air, away from his companions, see the city. It's stone walls, high towers, and the press of the crowd made him uncomfortable, every gaze was a stranger, every eye an accusation. He had betrayed Mistress Mondath, had escaped her punishment, and Cyanwrath already had a taste for his blood. In truth, all this mattered little if only a fraction of what he had heard of Rezmir, Mondath's master, the dragonspawn, were true. He, nervously, moved through the crowd, his posture bent, his back crooked, his eyes cast downward, a good peasant, not drawing the guard's attention. He found himself on the Grand March, a wide, broad road, that ran from the East Gate towards some towering cliffs, he shrugged, and followed, his hand brushing against the charred hardwood remains of Iro's staff.

A memory came rushing back, "Khellendros?", the ear splitting voice, so low it echoed through your chest, setting your teeth to rattle, enough to unnerve even the bravest of men. He began to backtrack along the road, searching now, fear of the cult dissipating in curiosity. A purpose. He was familiar with the draconic tongue, it's written runes, and it seemed familiar to him, however, it's true meaning, to whom the name referred was lost on the young man. He sought a sage, a scholar, from whom he could purchase a book of history, a treatise on the dragon wars, perhaps he can give meaning to the name that horrible voice had sought.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Out of Character Action}OOC: Not sure if a check is called for, I am just looking for a history of dragons, or the dragon wars, and will basically pay whatever reasonable price it costs. I don't expect to find the reference immediately, it's just something I am doing during downtime. Plus, apparently, I will need something to read on this caravan ride.

That evening, Black Tiger Inn ...

Caelin ignored everyone on entrance to the private room, his eyes scanning the room, holding on Frume, determining the man's level of inebriation, before shaking his head and taking a seat. Once seated, he picked at some cheese, some cured meats, whatever was offered, but avoided the wine, slowly flipping through the pages of a newly acquired book. He appeared disinterested in the explanations of Frume and Leosin, or the questions of his companions, some of which he could have shed light upon, having had years of experience with the Children, in the shadow of Takhisis. When Eliana turned to him he started, having thought he had offended all in the room, inwardly pleased he had not. She asked for his aid, and as much as he wished to spare her, for he only brought pain and betrayal in his wake, he found himself nodding.

"Of ... of, course." His hand brushed hers, as he deftly palmed the ring, causing it to disappear into one of the many pouches that adorned his belt. As he did so, he did not look at the ring, nor try to determine it's meaning, it's owner, or it's worth, instead he held her eyes in his. It was not his place to question what it was, or why she wished it concealed, he knew only that she wished it so, and he would ensure it remained hidden. "As for a disguise, we will require supplies, dyes, cloth, ochres and powder, but it is certainly a possibility."

SPOILER: Click to show

{Out of Character Actions}OOC: Yup, I am proficient with a Disguise Kit, and Deception, so I should be able to roll with Advantage on Disguise as one proficiency aids the other. However, I am currently missing my disguise kit, so we'll need to purchase one if any of you folks want to dye your hair.

[Daos]

Zakkoth's ritual reveals an answer of weal.

[HorizonsDream]

"We shall do the best that we can with gathering the information that you need," Eliana says as she stands up from where she was sitting, and turns to Caelin. "Looks like we are doing some shopping before we leave. I'll trust your judgement when it comes to a disguise. Though, I should probably come up with a different name." Unlike Henry, she didn't have an elven name. She didn't really want to be named after some sort of spice like Chantilly either (but she felt that it fit rather well with Chantilly herself).

OOC: Eliana will buy everything that Caelin needs to help disguise herself.

[Igordragonian]

Zakkoth smile.
"Good omens. and you kids, can use my money for what ever please you, if you need."

[Daos]

The following morning, the party meets up at the stables to not only retrieve Mane, but the party's new riding horses.  Mounting up, they head east toward the nation of Estwilde, the region called Qwermish (South Shore), then turn southward to the port city and capital, Haltigoth.  They arrive on the sixth day of travel. 

Poised on a bay that leads into the New Sea, the city of Haltigoth is positioned in a key trade location for the area. The city itself is filled with dirty streets, buildings falling into disrepair and empty towers. A series of bad rulers have driven Haltigoth into the gutter, and the current ruling class only looks out for itself and not the commoners of the city.  Thus, when the party arrives they aren't exactly greeted warmly by the locals, but they are also largely ignored.  Many travelers from all over Ansalon pass through here, and another group of adventurers hardly catches anyone's attention.  The night before arriving, the party made good use of Benyt's disguise kit, especially with Caelin's aid, to help sufficiently disguise everyone in the group to some degree or another.

The party sets up shop at the Haltigoth Arms Inn, an impressive five-story structure with large windows and exterior molding and decorative columns, giving it a Solamnic flair but plenty of free rooms.  After stabling their horses, they go to meet Frume's contact, a merchant known as Ackyn Selebon.  He operates a business in the city, selling material needed for long-distance freight haulings:  wagons, rope, netting, grease, chains, wheels and so on.  He also repairs wagons.

Selebon invites the group into his office, to speak privately.  "Welcome to Haltigoth," he tells them as he sits down, lighting up a pipe.  "Sir Frume's filled me in on what's going on.  Feel free to use my name as a reference to get hired onto any caravans.  Since anyone putting together a caravan will undoubtedly come through this shop for supplies, you can lay low and stake out the place, and keep an eye out for any familiar faces.  Once you find who you're looking for, we can see about getting you hired into the same caravan.  Any questions?"

=============

It is now Yurthgreen 8th, Bracha, 430 AC, at High Watch (12 PM).

(OOC:  I'll let you guys decide what your disguises look like.)

[Matt4]

Chantilly "Cinnamon" Sweettooth

HP: 35/35 - AC: 17 - Perception: 15 - Insight: 11 - Inspiration: No

Chantilly whimpered softly, a lock of her hair in her hand, while the other was holding onto her pony's bridle.
Caelin did frankly an amazing job in crafting their disguises, maybe even a bit too much, Chantilly thought as she contemplated sorrowfully her now dark brown hair.

"Oh, Georgette." - she says, speaking with the young pony she was riding. - "You're so lucky. No one asks you to dye your hair, to change your name, to stop using Lord Frume's helmet as Gale's nest, to avoid entering the tavern's kitchen just because you almost caused the whole building to burn to the ground." - she rests her head on Georgette's blonde mane as she whimpered, once again. - "Is it my fault that I feel asleep as I was roasting Zakkoth's steak? You don't think so? Me neither!"

As she laid there, she glanced down at her new clothes. A pair of boring dark brown trousers under a boring red blouse with a boring brown jacket. She said she wanted a pink flounce dress but apparently it would "attract too much attention" or something.

"Oh, Georgette." - she whimpered for the umpteenth time, a single tear soaking the blonde mane. - "Life as a spy is too miserable. I don't know how much more of this I can take!"

And thus, it was concluded the first of the six days of travel.

------------

After many more whimpers and tears shed, Chantilly with Georgette and the others, entered the city of Haltigoth. She gasped in awe at the ruined buildings and the empty towers, those seemed such interesting places to visit. Who knows what one could find there?

Inside Selebon's office she listened patiently to what the boring man was saying, then when he asked for questions, she asked: "What's your policy about the kitchen usage while we are here? If anyone wanted to roast a steak, for example..."

[Bunny Commando]

Quevalin - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

Before departing, the now Quevalin approaches sir Frume with two letters. He smiles to the good friend, mentor and maybe even a little more than that - but it's a sorrowful smile, the kind of smile you give to someone when you're in doubt you're going to see them again "I would appreciate if you could deliver this to my mother if I meet my untimely demise." the squire gives one of the letter to sir Frume, a "Mother" written in elven on the envelope; he then hands the second one, "Onthar Frume" on the envelope in Solamnic "This one's yours. Same conditions apply to read it - if I'm gone to Huma's breast."

After a quick hug, he chuckles and jokes with the older Knight "And please do tell to Conard I'm tired of him being such a loser. If I come back, I expect him to be a full-fledged Knight." and that said, he mounts the horse and start trotting away.

--------

If life had been just a bit different, Henry would still be Quevalin and maybe that's how he would look - he's still the tall and brawny half-elf but right now he's that bit more elf than human: shoulder-long blonde hair flowing free, a cleanly-shaved face, clothes that doesn't seem taken from a solamnic barracks. He listens to what Selebon has to say, then he asks a bit insecure "I'm not a mercenary, never was. Would you be so kind as to tell us how much should we charge for our services, how much haggling is expected, if there are certain customs we should follow? Other than that, did you see anyone suspicious before our arrival?"

[HorizonsDream]

Kysriani

HP:29/29 

Sorcery Points: 4 

Spells: 4/1st Level, 3/2nd Level

Healing Word: 1/1

Inspiration: Yes

Covering up the patchy blue scales on Eliana's face with make-up was possible, providing that enough make-up was used. With Caelin's help, she did try it out, but in the end she felt it was way too much work. She would have to keep applying the make-up for her to keep up the disguise, and it just wasn't worth it. While she could cover her other scales with clothing, the patch of scales around her right eye was a problem (hence why she always used her hair to try to hide it). She knew that she was just going to have to keep herself covered with her cloak most of the time. She felt that if she had darker hair, maybe it would be easier to hide her scales behind it, so she allowed her hair to be dyed dark brown.

Eliana also decided it was probably a good idea to dress down, which meant trading out her silk shirt with a blue cotton shirt, her high quality black tights with black cotton tights. The only thing that didn't change were her black gloves and her boots. Most of that was probably going to be concealed behind a cloak anyway. She really didn't like the fact that her new clothing made her skin itch though. The only thing left for her to do was to come up with a new name. After a few hours of contemplation, she settled on the name Kysriani. It was elven, she knew that much because her father had mentioned that he had a relative by that name.

Kysriani had little time to adjust to her new clothing, hair, and name. She had spent time lamenting with Cinnamon because she could relate with the kender (aside from the helmet issue and almost burning a building down). She had to change her name, her hair color, and her clothing (which she complained about being too itchy) too, all for the sake of trying to learn more about the cult. Though, after a little while, Kysriani couldn't keep up with the dramatics (which is saying a lot for a spoiled noble girl) because she had slowly grown accustomed to the changes.

Kysriani also made it a point to spend time with each of her party members doing the trip. Benyt usually kept to herself, so she found it kind of hard to try to find any relatable ground with her. Benyt wanted to keep to herself, so Kysriani respected that wish.

Henry, or rather Quevalin as he was going by now, was fun to tease especially since he was clean shaven now as part of his disguise. Kysriani felt it was important to keep things light hearted when they could especially since she knew that Quevalin had a very heavy heart sometimes. She could only hope that the short meeting with Sir Frume helped him. She was also very curious about why he had an elven name, and how he ended up as "Henry" and not "Quevalin". Kysriani was a half elf as well, so she couldn't help but wonder why she didn't have an elven name (she finally came to the conclusion it was because she was never raised around elves aside from her father).

During the times that Kysriani spent with Zakkoth, she mostly asked him about his time serving under Takhisis. She hadn't spent a lot of time getting to know him like she should have. Naturally, if he didn't want to speak about it, she didn't push him on the matter. She just felt it was important to know more about the people she was traveling with.

Finally, there was Caelin. Kysriani could have spent the whole six days just traveling beside Caelin, but she didn't (and he probably wouldn't have let her). Much like with Quevalin, she knew that Caelin had a very heavy heart about things. Unlike Quevalin though, it was harder to keep things light with him. She knew that Caelin felt a little more at ease with her around though, so she hoped that her presence was enough to bring him a little comfort from time to time. Oddly enough, she found it easy to confide in Caelin too. After all, she had some problems of her own. Her power was steadily growing, and with that power came more patches of scales. She still couldn't completely connect the two together just yet. Every now and then, she still pondered on why that blue dragon she managed to scare off called her Khellendros. There had to be a connection between her scales, magic, and Khellendros, but she didn't quite know what.

----------------------

Kysriani nudges Cinnamon with her foot once she mentions the use of the kitchen. "It is a good idea to stay away from kitchens for a little while," she says. Despite the fact her features were mostly hidden behind the hood of her cloak, by the tone of her voice, she was smiling a little bit.  It seems as if Quevalin had the questions well in hand, but she couldn't help but comment when he asks his question about suspicious people. "In a place like this, a lot of people would be considered suspicious. We look suspicious," she points out before quickly looking to Selebon. "I mean no offense, of course," she adds a little sheepishly.

[Bunny Commando]

Quevalin - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

Nov 8, 2021 1:58:25 GMT -8 HorizonsDream said:

Henry, or rather Quevalin as he was going by now, was fun to tease especially since he was clean shaven now as part of his disguise. Kysriani felt it was important to keep things light hearted when they could especially since she knew that Quevalin had a very heavy heart sometimes. She could only hope that the short meeting with Sir Frume helped him. She was also very curious about why he had an elven name, and how he ended up as "Henry" and not "Quevalin". Kysriani was a half elf as well, so she couldn't help but wonder why she didn't have an elven name (she finally came to the conclusion it was because she was never raised around elves aside from her father).

During the trip to Haltigoth, Quevalin doesn't talk much and shares no jokes; even Kysriani's teasing doesn't seem to affect much the somber and quiet half-elf. If one pays attention, it's quite apparent the squire's not acting - it's like he had another side buried deep that just now has chosen to show the others in order to fulfill his mission. When asked about his name he answers in monotone and distant voice, some truths painful enough that he tries to hide them.

"I grew up among the Silvanesti who sought refuge here in Solamnia, my mother one of them. She gave me an elven name, but her people never accepted me. When I become of age, I chose to leave to seek fortune in the human lands. Since the Silvanesti never considered me one of their own, I took a human name. I knew little of the humans at the time, so I just chose one of the first few names I heard that sounded good."

[Daos]

Nov 7, 2021 20:02:02 GMT -8 Matt4 said:

"What's your policy about the kitchen usage while we are here? If anyone wanted to roast a steak, for example..."

Selebon looks baffled by the question.  "What?  There's no kitchen here, this is a place of business."

Nov 8, 2021 0:35:53 GMT -8 Bunny Commando said:

"Would you be so kind as to tell us how much should we charge for our services, how much haggling is expected, if there are certain customs we should follow? Other than that, did you see anyone suspicious before our arrival?"

"Really, it depends on how well you sell yourself to the merchants," Selebon replies.  "But the standard rate tends to be between five and ten steel a week, plus food and living expenses.

"And if by suspicious, you mean dragonspawn or anything like that, then no, not so far," he answers.  "As you lot have actually seen some of these people before, it'll be up to you to try and recognize any of them in town."

[Matt4]

Chantilly "Cinnamon" Sweettooth

HP: 35/35 - AC: 17 - Perception: 15 - Insight: 11 - Inspiration: Yes

Cinnamon crosses her arms and pout at Kysriani and Selebon's answers. "I was just making an hypothesis anyway..!"

She thinks over about something to ask, then she spurts: "Oh, oh! I have one! Is there a food market or something? Maybe a couple of us could go take a look. Now that they don't have the deal with the hunters anymore, they'll probably have to restock somewhere else."

[Zero Prime]

Caelin Valaerys, 'Matrym', hunter, ranger, tracker
ARMOR CLASS: 16 | HIT POINTS: 32 | CURRENT: 32 | HIT DIE: 3d8; 1d10 | CURRENT: 3d8; 1d10
PASSIVE PERCEPTION: 15 | PASSIVE INSIGHT: 17 | INSPIRATION: 1

Caelin worked closely with Eliana, helping her conceal the striking nature of the scales which graced her collarbone, and the smooth skin around her right eye. While doing so, he watched her intently, his hands running through her hair, as he applied the dark dyes, staining her blond locks a deep brown. They agreed that it would be easier to conceal the scales beneath a cloak, rather than under a base and ochres that could wash off in the rain. As she began working with the clothes they had purchased, Caelin turned his back, began weaving in sandy blond horse hair into his own hair, adding length that would conceal his face, dying it a wheat, golden brown, the horse hair adding an unwashed, almost stringy, quality to his look. A thin, but noticeable layer of scruff adorned his jaw, chin and upper lip.

Once Eliana, no, Kysriani, he would need to remind himself of that fact, was adorned in her costume, he had to remind her that her disguise was not just appearance and clothing, but demeanor, and posture. He worked with her, "If you are low born, keep your head down, you don't want to make eye contact." A sigh, "You make yourself small, so as not to draw attention to one's self. Curve your back, roll your shoulders forward." Once bidding 'riani goodnight, he moved towards his room, getting a night's rest before they prepared to head out the following day. That morning, he arose before his companions, dressed in deep greens, browns, and cured leathers, he attended to the horses provided by Henry's patron, Ser Frume.

Selecting a nasty tempered strawberry roan, he was mounted and ready to ride as the others joined him, their rations secured in saddle packs, Mangy their pack horse feed and brushed as well. During the six days to Haltigoth, Matrym ranged ahead of the party, scouting the path, while hunting for game, pheasants, rabbits, and, even, a stag. They were able to eat well, conserving their trail rations for times when game was not so abundant.

As the group spoke with their patron's contact, Matrym watched quietly, chewing on a stalk of grass, a habit of one of the orphan's Caelin had known in his youth possessed. Cinnamon's suggestion was not incorrect in watching provision brokers for the Children's caravans. "Could be easy enough to get hired on as hunters, we know they'll be needing them, ya? And a caravan can't travel with an empty stomach, so there's that." He shrugged, "I could make the rounds."

[Bunny Commando]

Quevalin - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

"I would advise against splitting our group." Quevalin starts, his voice calm and collected "Since we know they're going to buy supplies in this establishment, it would be better to have as many eyes as possible watching this building" the squire makes a short pause while looking at Matrym "And your eyes in particular - you know our quarry best; the others and I might miss someone that you would've spotted."