Nym was tired. This had been the longest day she'd had in some time, and she was glad it was at least mostly over. She slowly made her way back to Odin's shop in the dark. The shop was dark, and the door locked. Nym shrugged and teleported into the shop to unlock the door and light a few lanterns. She then unlocked the stable and helped Nesme settle in before re-locking the stable and returning to the shop interior.
Nym sat down behind the counter and counted her earnings for the day. "176 gold. Not bad," she said to herself, putting it in a small sack on her belt. Pipper was smelling all the unique smells of the shop, and Nym was quickly becoming bored alone in the shop. For a bit, she wandered around the shop looking at the various odds and ends before she noticed Violet's pile of papers from their meeting aboard the ship the night before. A plan slowly began to form in her head and she sifted through the pile looking for the parchment with the information about Baroness deHaville's missing husband and child. When she found it, she read it thoroughly, and whistled in happiness at her plan. "Now I just have to wait for the others to get back to see if they know where I can get a copy of a sending ritual," she murmured, wiggling with impatience. She pulled out her ritual book and turned to the blank pages. "Hopefully one I can copy and use repeatedly!" she added, slamming the book shut and standing up triumphantly.
Alas, Nym was still alone, so she sat back down and tapped her finger on the nearby display case impatiently.
What does the Baroness deHaville's request say? How much is the reward and is she in Baldur's Gate?
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
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After a few minutes Evelaen wanders in (Talathel can come too if he likes, but I didnt want to make that decision for you). "Hey Nym, was your day productive? I mostly spent the day reading and defending the Lady Narath from monsters of the deep!"
ReplyDeleteNym hopped up from her seat, excited to not be waiting alone any longer. "It was weird?" she replied, thinking about all that had happened. "Violet, Odin, and Johan were talking about stealing from locals to pay for the lien," Nym continued, frowning. "I made 176 gold toward paying it off. I know it's not a lot, but it's better than robbing someone, I think."
ReplyDelete"Say, do you know how to perform any rituals? Maybe sending? I was thinking we could use it to solve the missing child case Violet brought up yesterday to pay for the lien."
Evelaen frowned. "Now, in classic terms I'm a bit morally ambiguous, but robbing from the locals to pay back the city's lien seems like a poor decision to make..."
ReplyDeleteShe tapped her chin a few times. "If we only have six, well five, days to collect the money I think we'll really have to get to work. I do know how to do sending, though it's been a while. Why, what are you thinking?"
"I was thinking we could use sending to contact the child to find out where he is, depending on his age, of course." Nym smiled, excited.
ReplyDelete"Intriguing..." Evelaen grabbed a seat across from Nym. "I love that outfit by the way." Evelaen said as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a thin leather bound volume. "I've always loved a more natural look and feel, but sadly, the courtly life tends to demand a bit more frivolrous clothing." She flipped through the book. "Ah, here it is! Sending... sending..." She bit her lip and scanned the list of ingredients. "Nothing too out of the ordinary in terms of ingredients..." she frowned "do you know the child in question? My notes of this ritual say that you can only contact people with whom you have met and are at least somewhat familiar."
ReplyDelete"From my readings today, it seems that prayers have been going unanswered here with the Paladins. While sending doesn't invoke the gods, I wonder if it would be effective. Still, worth a shot, provided you know the child."
ReplyDeleteTalathel mulled over the consequences of the struggles the paladins were having when he suddenly realized. "Wait, you know the child, Nym?"
At Evelaen's compliment to her clothes, Nym looked down at herself. "Ahhheeeeh?" she replied, confused. She was just wearing what she'd always worn in the forest; something comfortable and simple that she could move in. Nym wondered if she'd have noticed style more if she'd grown up in Silverymoon like she was supposed to rather than wandering the wilds in Faerun. Nym was glad when Evelaen's attention returned to the sending ritual.
ReplyDelete"Oh! No, I don't know the child. I was thinking we could use the ritual on behalf of the mother, so we'd do the ritual and she'd to the connecting," she replied to Talathel and Evelaen.
"Ah, I didn't know that was possible. I haven't done the ritual that often and in the past it was just me communicating with people I know. Tomorrow we'll have to go get the ingredients and then contact the mother."
ReplyDeleteNym shrugged, "Yeah, there are a couple shops in Silverymoon that specialize in sending specifically. It's a pretty good business since the ritual goes for 360 gold! It wouldn't be worth much of anything if they could only contact people they knew as opposed to their customers' contacts." Nym laughed, thinking of a business with a sign out front saying 'contact any of my friends for 360 gold!'
ReplyDelete"I probably have the components. They're cheap in Silverymoon, so I always stock up while I'm there. Maybe we could trade rituals while we're traveling," Nym said hopefully. "I'd love to get my hands on sending. I have raise beast companion, gentle repose, purify water, dancing lights, bloom, tree shape, and speak with nature. Gentle repose is especially useful what with the undead in the region! I suspect we'll have a lot of time on the ship once we get out of Baldur's Gate, so we could spend some time copying rituals into our respective books. If you're interested, that is."
How are rituals different from spells? I've never really understood that about 4e.
ReplyDelete4e doesn't have a spell list like 3/3.5 (which is one of the few things I miss from 3/3.5 when playing 4e, but not having an aneurysm putting together a spellcaster is worth it). Rituals work the same as in 3/3.5 where they're basically just super complicated spells you can't memorize and need bits of junk to complete.
ReplyDelete(Also, on a totally different note for 4e, I usually just assume spellcasters can do some innocuous spells like prestidigitation or making a single plant grow into a rope or shniz since I find it weird that a spellcaster would only know battle spells.)
Johan entered the shop, the little bell tinkling merrily as the smell of fish wafted in. He grabbed the same copy of Volo's Guide from Odin's shelf, and began thumbing through it as he took a seat in the corner of the shop.
ReplyDeleteDan or Whittaker, how much is the reward for returning the child and husband?
ReplyDeleteIt's 2,500 gold.
ReplyDeleteViolet arrived shortly after Johan, and walked in grumbling about, "Damn people never want someone killed when you want them to," or something like that. It's obvious from the way she is walking that her search did not go well. She stomps to the back wall of the shop and searches in a small cubby for a hidden bottle of wine and quickly plucks out the cork with her teeth, takes a quick pull, and then grabs a wine glass from a display of sturdy eating ware that is obviously made more rugged for long travel and pours herself a glass.
ReplyDelete"Well, I hope your searches went better than mine. I got some more info on the Syndicate, but I couldn't find any Prey that we could Hunt down in the time we have. Could be that my reputation as an assassin is shot." She downs the glass of wine, and then pours herself another, looking around the room to see whether people seem to be pleased with themselves or not.
Odin, in contrast, came back singing a merry song. From what sounded like a block away, they could hear him singing at the top of his lungs, "... you can call me a liar, but I know what I know! And it's a great day! I say a great day for feelin' fine!" As he sang this last line, he flung the door opened and beamed, holding his hands out as if expecting applause or something. Of course, as soon as he saw the way Violet was holding her bottle of wine, he immediately grimaced, and went over to his section of maps, and became very interested in a big map that he pulled out, studiously ignoring Violet's glare.
ReplyDeleteNym's eyes grew wide and face grew pale at learning what Violet had been looking for all day. "She was going to murder people?! Where the hell is Beranhond. This group is questionable at best," she thought. Nym rolled up the information about the Baroness's child and shifted uncomfortably.
ReplyDeleteJohan shrugged at Violet's news. "There's some sort of big to-do soiree tomorrow night. Going to have a word around the merchant's associates, see if I can secure myself an invitation."
ReplyDeleteGrowing bored with the book and setting it back again, he leaned back and took a swig from his hip-flask. "Could be lucrative, but at the very least we can ask some questions and get some answers." Remembering seeing Nym and her little service stand distantly when he was searching around town, he waved a hand towards the half-elf. "Might be I could find enough folks looking to speak to their dogs and have you magically scrub the warts from their arses that we could get this lien business settled even sooner!"
Nym glared at the vampire. "I happened to bring in 176 gold above the table without ripping off local merchants. It seems all you've brought back is the hope of an invite to a party and a bad attitude."
ReplyDeleteOdin thought for a moment, and walked over to his cashier's counter, where he dug through a small pile of papers before grabbing one and triumphantly holding it up, "I believe the 'big to-do soiree' is more commonly known as the Equinox Ball. I have two tickets, if you would like to use them. I am not sure why they invite me to these events. They know I never attend."
ReplyDeleteNym glared harder, crossed her arms, "And I have a decent plan to earn another 2500 above the table,Johan Riopel."
ReplyDeleteNym shrugged, the glare melting from her face as she looked at the others, "I mean, if it works out."
Smirking, Johan replied "On the contrary, I have an exceedingly bright outlook: I shall get to enjoy a proper party with fine music, food, and dancing, discover out all manner of leverage-offering secrets, possibly locate riches to re-appropriate for the good of the city, and of course, there will be plenty of...appetizers."
ReplyDeleteHe takes the tickets from Odin, giving him a bow that is mostly show but holds a hint of sincerity, echoed in his voice as he says "Ah, my thanks. I was thoroughly not looking forward to punching a caviar-trading fishmonger to get one. I do hate the smell of seafood," he added with a touch of disdain.
Looking back to Nym, he cracked a mischievously smirking grin as he fanned the ticket to reveal the second one. "You could always come and dance, hobnob with potential clients, and have a chance to really enjoy what a big city can offer." Lowering his voice, he muttered "Of course, I could always take other female company with me. I'm sure Violet would like to hear of what jobs the rich and powerful might have for her."
Beranhond entered with a heavy sigh and stopned the days dust off his boots.
ReplyDelete"Well, that was an interesting day of politics for me. I think i might have talked the city council into giving us a certificate of privateering. I have another meeting tomorrow with them and, unfortunately, an required to attend a formal soiree tomorrow evening."
Nym glared at Johan again, a thin layer of ice beginning to form on her exposed skin. "FINE," she replied, a little too loudly as she snatched the ticket Johan was holding out at her. Ice tinkled as it fell from her skin and hit the floor. In a pidgin mix of Elven, Common, and Chondathan, Nym growled something about hoping Johan enjoyed a sunny day tomorrow, although it was decidedly not meant as a blessing. Nym huffed, brushed the remaining ice from her arm, picked up Pipper, and teleported into the stable. She released Nesme and walked off into the night, glad to be away from that damned vampire. Nym continued to mutter to herself angrily in a mix of languages.
ReplyDeleteIn the quiet echo following Nym's departure, Johan looks to Beranhond with a grin. "Well, it looks like almost everyone will be at the soiree then!"
ReplyDeleteHe strides over to the former cleric, and says quietly "Of course, if you're thinking about giving away your ticket, I would advise against granting it to Violet. Nym seemed to find my suggestion to that effect a few moments ago...disagreeable, to put it mildly."
Beranhond looked closely at Johan and then noticed something odd. "Do you have a hot symbol carved into your forehead?"
ReplyDeleteJohan cocks his head, tugging his hat further down over his forehead and shaking his head. With an embarrassed sigh, he says "No, I just forgot my hat as I stepped outside this afternoon. A quick fry and dash back inside, and the sun balm was only able to relieve some of the burn."
ReplyDeleteHe shrugged at Beranhond, privately amazed that the cleric could see the patch of flaky itchy skin underneath the brim of his hat and his dashing red bangs.
Also Bluff check to feed Bernahond the lie about the "sunburn":
Bluff(+26): Rolled 19, so 45.
Beranhond frowned and squinted his eyes.
ReplyDeleteHeal:
Roll(1d20)+14:
19,+14
Total:33
Insight:
Roll(1d20)+12:
14,+12
Total:26
"That's doesn't look like a sunburn." He said peering at it through the bangs. "It looks like more like a bright hot white scar... I really should take a look at it. I haven't really seen anything like it."
He frowned, reflecting on how he didn't really know that much about vampire physiology, so suspected it might have been something odd. Still, the thing glowed white hot cross the room.
"Does it hurt? It looks a bit like molten iron. The look really reminds me of when the Tormish Paladins would carve the symbol of Bahamut on the undead. It was a way to track them in case they weren't fully killed." Still, he shrugged his shoulder, though he didn't quite have the divine powers he used to there were still some odd moments when things that were religious, or in this case, appeared religious really stuck out to him.
"Ah, the effect money can have on a happy reunion. I do hope Nym will come back to us. That was a decent sum for one day. But, to come up with the sum, we may have to cobble together a few other plans, transparent or otherwise. It is quite possible, Beranhund, that your day of politicking isn't over."
ReplyDeleteJohan chuckled at Bernahond's reply. "Well, in that case I'll be damn sure to steer clear of Tormish paladins then. I'd hate to be the poor skeletal sot who got branded by them."
ReplyDeleteJohan is making numerous mental notes to do a little "home surgery" and carve that damn symbol off his forehead with his own knife, if necessary.
Beranhond gave Johan a weird look, and then shrugged his shoulder. "Yes, that's a good plan. Most of them are undead at the moment, so if that really was a sign of Bahamut on your forhead you might already have undead Paladins on their way." He laughed thinking of such a ridiculous image of Zombie's chasing after a Zombie.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond gave a heavy sigh as he Talathel's comments. "Definitely not, I'll be in full political mode tomorrow, fortunately." He said glaning over at Evelaen, "I'll have a wonderful date."