The World of Skara Brae

Kalan walked up to Drek and lightly tugged his sleeve "Master? May I say something?"

edited 22nd Oct '12 1:16:43 PM by Clawthewolf

"Yeah, I don't have like... any arrows left. I try to conserve them, but lately it has become a tad harder" says Sam before ruffling Claire's hair and then turned to Drek "Please Drek, I would be thankful if you take me to buy some more"

"Then I imagine it is resting time for the lot of us. I'll be in the roof of this establishment then. Might get a look at the stars at night... I'm sure that will reassure me" says Mellara as she heads for the door.

Drek said to Kalan: "Of course. Speak your mind. Oh, and you know, you needn't call me "master". I'm your employer, not your master. Call me Drek. Everyone else does. Even James doesn't have to call me that, and I actually am his master."

Clair interupted: "Do I call you master?"

Drek shook his head: "No, Claire. Just call me Dad."

Claire said: "Mmmm... I would... and I have... but you're not my real dad. My real dad is dead. I mean, I'm grateful for you taking me in and everything you've done for me, but.... it feels weird calling you dad. I'm sorry..."

Drek said: "Don't be sorry. I understand. Just call me Drek, then. You only have to call me father if it's a very formal occasion. Ok?" Claire smiled and said: "Okies!"

Drek chuckled, his sunken and mournful spirit lifted by Claire's implacable spirit. It cheered him up to see that, even when talking about her recently deceased father, Claire could light up the room just with her face.

Drek turned his gaze back to Kalan and said: "Now, what's on your mind?"

"If we need need resources for an upcoming war with the drow... Perhaps my creators assets could help. He is a very influential buisness man" Kalan said the words creator and buisness dripping with disgust "And I'm a weapon you just happened to pick up, would not be right to call you by name."

James simply nodded to Fey. "Sorry, we can talk after I deal with this issue. Tagana prepare to teleport back, we need witnesses."

Tagana said to James: "Very well. Where do you want to teleport to?"

Meanwhile, Drek was saying to Kalan: "Interesting. What kind of assets are we talking about here?"

edited 25th Oct '12 2:18:08 PM by TheSarge

Kalan put a finger on his chin as he was thinking. "Treasures, magical objects, mercinaries, drugs, slaves, secret supply lines and a couple of hidden bases spreadacross the country."

James said "Well I want to teleport back to the rest of the party...wait, you said you have only three teleport spells in you if it's just me and you. Do you know of any other teleporters that can help us?"

Drek said to Kalan shook his head: "It doesn't sound like he'd just up and give us all that without quite a bit of persuading, and we don't have time to go on a quest to get that all right now. Our priority has to be to shut the gate to The Underdark. The longer we delay, the more Drow come to the surface. It's was a good idea Kalan and I'll keep it in mind but I'm afraid we'll have to pursue your former master and his resources later. In the meantime, get some rest. It's a long day tomorrow."

Drek then turned to Sam and said: "Come, Sam. Let us go get some arrows."

Claire said: "I'll come too!"

Drek was about to tell her no, but he thought better of it and said: "Oh, very well. but stick close by. No wandering off. And remember what I said: After tonight, you go back to the tower, where it's safe, and go to school."

Claire cheerfully responded: "Okie dookie, Drek!"

Meanwhile Tagana was saying to James: "Besides, Micheal? Only three, and none of them are mages. From what Micheal has told me, the old Amkethranian Gnome named Ananya Rangarajan has a machine that can teleport. The trouble is, she's probably not inclined to help us. She's part of the isolationist faction of the gnomes of Amkethran, the home island of the Gnomes. She doesn't like non-Gnomes, she considers them to be barbarians compared to Gnomes. The only non-gnomes who I know have eve met her are Drek, Micheal, Marcus (King of the Lizzardmen), and Eruantian. Even if we were to somehow get an audience with her, we'd need to teleport to Amkethran... I mean, we could fly or take a boat, but I don't think we have time for that. The high druids of The Great Oak that lies 100 miles north of Targos in the Trenthold Forest can do something they call "treewalking." Treewalking allows them to move virtually instantaneously from any one tree to any another regardless of distance. I don't understand how they do that, but I have seen them do it so it's a real power they have. Also, it is said that the high-priests of the Temple Of Tyr in Skara Brae City can call upon their god to move them from place to place across vast distances; I have never actually seen a Cleric of Tyr do such a thing, but I have read about it in books. They would be the most likely to help us. After all, Tyr is a god of law and justice; Since our purpose is to deal out justice to the invading Drow, how could they refuse us?"

edited 28th Oct '12 8:16:00 PM by TheSarge

"Great! Lets go then Drek. You take my hand as we go, right Claire?" says Sam as she smiles at the little girl.

Mellara, meanwhile, had gotten herself comfortable on the roof of the inn by now.

From her perch high atop the roof of the inn, Mellara had a good view of most of the town, obstructed only by Micheal's tower, the mayor's palace, and the two local temples. She could see a few townsfolk who had fled into the woods coming back to town. What was left of the town guardsmen were manning checkpoints and standing guard at the gates. They had apparently reorganized organized themselves into two-man patrols that were keeping an sharp eye out for looters. Meanwhile, those shopkeepers who has survived the battle in the market square were surveying the damage that the battle had wreaked upon their businesses, and salvaging what little they could (which wasn't much.) Thankfully no fires had started, and so the members of the volunteer fire brigade that had apparently turned out to look for fires now turned their attention to helping the shopkeepers of the market square clean up the mess.

Just as Mellara was about to look up at the sky and gaze at the setting sun, she caught a glimpse of a woman moving quickly across the nearby rooftops. This woman was clad all in black and was incredibly fast an nimble, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with amazing agility, grace and speed. She was obviously using some sort of magic, as no normal person could move that fast. As Mellara tried to focus her attention on this strange sight, the woman she was looking at ducked down behind a chimney and was suddenly lost from view. Mellara wasn't sure, but she thought the woman clad in black had seen her.

"Well then... two can play at hide and seek... and I do think I'm strong enough for one last transformation for the day" Thinks Mellara in amusement as the form disappear from view. She pretends to catch sight of something interesting down in the street as she shifts out of view from the chimney where she last saw the black clad woman. Then she willed her body to change into the shape of an animal she knew well.

Soon, standing on the roof of the inn, was a small European Robin. A tiny mostly inconspicuous bird that soon spread her wings to fly out of the roof and to take a look to the black clad woman's hiding place from above and the side.

"I guess to help Selune we're going to get help from Tyr" said James.

Drek, Sam, and Claire went out of the inn and into the streets. Drek said: "I think there's a fletcher's home about two blocks north of here, or at least there was last year. Follow me."

Meanwhile, Tagana was saying to James: "Very well. I've been to that temple before, so just stand close to me and I'll open a portal there." Tagana began casting his teleportation spell, and a few moments later James and Tagana were standing in front of the Temple of Tyr in Skara Brae City. The temple was a magnificent structure, hundreds of feet tall with soaring arches and an enormous marble staircase leading up to the main entrance. As James looked around he could see off in the distance what could only be the castle of the king, looming high up on a hill overlooking the city.

At the same time Mellara, in the form of a robin, was taking wing and flying up into the sky. She could now see the black-clad woman, but she wasn't behind the chimney anymore. She was using a length of rope to climb down off the roof.

edited 2nd Nov '12 12:02:41 AM by TheSarge

"Will do Drek! Hope he has a lot in stock" says Sam, just a tad naive about how many arrows a fletcher might possess in their workshop.

Meanwhile, Mellara landed on the roof, right next to the length of rope the woman was using to get down onto the street. She tilted her head to the side and if she had lips she would be smiling as she took notice of every movement the woman made from her vantage point.

Despite the view, James wasn't in the mood to take it in. "Well, no time to waste, we need a summoner."

He proceeded to head towards the temple's main entrance.

Drek, Sam and Claire went down the street together, looking for the home of the local fletcher Drek remembered. Drek was saying: "It's been a while... let me see if I can remember which one it was..."

Meanwhile, back at the Inn, Prince Richard was saying to Kalan: "Barron Drek is correct that shutting the gate to The Underdark must be our first priority, but that doesn't mean it's the only priority. The king has been most clear on this crime of slavery: The buying, selling and owning of slaves is simply not to be tolerated. Any scoundrel profiting from that dreadful activity deserves to have the full weight of the law come down on them, preferably in the form of a public execution! You, boy... tell me what you know of this dastardly rouge and leave out no detail.... begin with who you are and how you know of this slaver."

At the same time Prince Richard was speaking, Mellara was observing the woman dressed in black from up-close. The woman's clothes were tight-fitting and covered her face almost completely, leaving just her eyes and nostrils uncovered. Her hands were clad in finger-less linen gloves, and her fingertips were blackened with some sort of dark coating... possibly ink, tar, or oil. From this close up, Mellara could see that this woman was a human, or possibly half-elf. What little she could see of the woman's skin told Mellara the woman was not a Drow, or if she was she was very cleverly disguised. She was in her early adulthood, possibly in her early 20's if human. She had a set of blackened knives strapped to her thighs, and a six small black-metal throwing knives were in holsters on her chest, with another two on the back of her hands. She was wearing a small black leather backpack. The rope she was climbing down was secured to the roof by a steel rod that she had apparently driven into the roof somehow. The rope itself was ordinary hemp rope, and the woman was quickly climbing down it. Mellara could also sense something unnatural in the woman. Something not of nature... but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was like mother nature was tying to tell her something, but she couldn't make out what the goddess was saying.

Meanwhile, Tagana was following James, saying "Aye. The priests of the temple should be able to help us." They went up the stairs and when they got to the top there were two guards standing on either side of the massive 50-foot-tall entrance arch and the huge wooden doors they contained. The doors were closed, and there were six monks standing outside the doors, facing the doors, and burning incense while chanting prayers. Both guards were dressed in gold ceremonial full-plate armour with red capes, red epaulettes with gold crests on the shoulders, purple silk sashes running over the right shoulder and fastened at the left hip with a silver star stamped with the symbol of Tyr, large fancy open-faced gold helmets with eight-inch high red horse-hair crests running front-two back in a 40 degree arc, and gold-braided chin straps. For weapons they held heavy steel halberds, six-and-a-half feet long with gold-and-red tassels on the point, gold leaf on the face of the axe-head, and multicoloured silk ribbons wrapped around the entire length of the shaft. For a shield they had heavy round bronze shields 40 inches in diameter, the outer rim of which was covered in gold leaf, and it had a large and ornately decorated silver-relief symbol of Tyr in the middle, covering approximate 80 percent of the face of the shield. The shield was not carried, however, it was just propped up on a stand behind which each guard stood, holding his halberd upright and standing at attention. This was, obviously, because a shield that large would be extremely heavy; None but the strongest man could not be expected to lift both it and the halberd and all that armour at the same time. Besides, a halberd is a two-handed weapon, and nobody could be expected to use it while carrying a large shield. It just wasn't practical. But then, the purpose of all this extravagantly decorated gear was obviously not intended to for use as practical fighting gear, it was purely decorative. The only pieces of gear on them that seemed at all practical was the steel short sword hanging off the left hip in a white leather scabbard, and a silver whistle hanging from a cord around each guard's neck.

As James and Tagana approached the guards, the guards left their posts on either side of the door, came together, and stood directly in front of the doors. They crossed their Halberds together between them and said (together): "Halt! The temple is closed until sundown. The priests are in conclave as they prepare to choose a new High Priest at the Feast Of Eddas. Come back at sundown and ye shall be admitted."

Kalan looked up at Prince richard and nodded "My name is Kalan! Pleased to meet you!" Kalan exclaimed happily and reached out his small hand towards Prince Richard to shake it "And regarding that man first of all, He is both my biological creator and my smith, as in, he is my father and the one who made me into what I am. My mother was a slave whom he decided to use one day when he was drunk, when she was revealed to be pregnant he only saw the possibility of profit, he is a buisness man, anything he does is for profit. He decided to make me into a weapon for hire, probably as a prototype to see if he could make more like me. He has extensive contacts in both the underworld and the upper echelons of society and used those contacts to get me the sufficent training. He is a very tall man, easily over seven feet tall, and he is broad too! Though the biggest threat is all the magical trinkets he carries on him all the time! He also never told me his real name, instead demanding that I just called him Master. But he is not my master anymore, Baron Drek is." Kalan grimached when he mentioned the training and his mother.

"How did the place look like, Drek?" asks Sam, thinking that with her keen eyes she might be able to help find the Fletcher's shop.

Curious, very, very curious

Given Mother Nature's warning about this individual, Mellara had to resist the impulse of flying down to where this particular figure would touch ground to interrogate her... no, for now observation would be best. This figure was already most suspicious... but if she caught her doing something damning then she need not worry about the bothersome law of the city being used against her for interrogating such a person.

So, the little robin would continue to follow and observe this woman.

James was tempted to growl at the guards but that wouldn't help win them over.

Keeping his cool, James said "I'm sorry but now is not a good time for waiting. I am a servant of the goddess Selune and in dire need of a teleporter to help pick up people necessary to settle a dispute that needs to be settled quickly!"

Prince Richard said to Kalan: "Yes, but what does he look like? Any distinguishing features like scars or tatoos? Hair colour, eye colour? Specifics boy, I need specifics. Give me names, places, dates, etc."

Meanwhile Drek was saying: "It was a red brick house, single story, no... ah, there it is. At the end of this lane, down there, the one with all those turkey in cages piled up in front. Hmm, he must use the feathers for making arrows. Makes sense, turkey feathers make for good fetching." The house Drek was pointing at was at the end of a narrow dead-end lane. In the distance, the gobble-gobble of turkeys could be heard as they stood in their cages.

Claire said: "Ohhh! Turkey! I had that once. It's a yummy bird. Papa caught a wild one and we roasted it over a fire. Fed us for four days." Thinking of her father made her sigh. She continued. "I miss papa. Can we buy a turkey Drek? Huh? Can we? Please? Can a we?" Drek replied: "Sure. You want to pluck it, clean it, cook it and serve it?" Claire shook her head: "Nuh-uh" Drek said: "Neither do I. It's a lot of work. When you do, we can talk turkey. For now, let's go talk arrows." Clair pouted and made a face: "Awwwww... but I wanted turkey..." Drek frowned and said: "I'll have none of that pouting, young lady. When it's your own money you're spending, you can buy what you want. For now, not so much. Besides, there's plenty of food in the inn, I'm sure. Those looters can't have eaten all of it, now can they." Claire whined a bit, saying: "But I want turkey.." Drek said: "And I want world peace, the Drow to stop bothering me, and a nice quiet life in the forest; You can't always get what you want. Learn that lesson well, dear child of mine. It will serve you greatly throughout your life." Claire hung her head, pouted some more, and said: "Yes sir." Drek looked at Sam and said: "Oh, sir am I? I'm a knight now. My princess has knighted me and now calls me Sir. I am honoured, fair maiden." Claire giggled despite her intention to stay pouty, and said: "I'm not a princess." Drek said: "Well, technically, I am still a prince, or at least those two goofball Suldeneselarian sibling elves would insist I am. And now you're my daughter.. so that makes you... my very own princess." Claire's mood brightened noticeably for a moment but then she said: "Aw, I am not. You're just trying to cheer me up." Claire reached up and kissed Drek on the cheek. She said: "But thanks for trying anyways. You're right, I shouldn't ask for everything I set my eyes on. We don't really need a turkey." Drek nodded and said: "Glad that's settled. Now, can we go buy some arrows?" Claire smiled, took his hand and said: "Yes, please."

Meanwhile, the guard James was talking to shook his head and said: "I don't think so. If you're a priest of Selune, then I'm the king of Chult." One of the monks who had been praying at the front door came over and said: "Brother Darian, what is the commotion? What do these two want?" The guard (who's name was apparently Darian) said: "Nothing that needs your attention, brother Dyaus. Go about your prayers."

The monk held up a finger and scolded the guard, saying: "We who model ourselves upon Tyr strive for justice in all things, do we not brother? Yea, unto thee I say that justice demands fairness, brother, and fairness demands a fair hearing! Let us hear these two speak their peace, and then we shall see what Tyr demands." The guard scowled and grumbled under his breath bit, but all he said was. "Fine, we shall see." The monk turned to James and said: "Greetings, and may Tyr's justice be upon you. I am Dyaus Glasia, a humble solicitor monk of the Beninese Monastery. I couldn't help but overhear you, good ranger. You say you require teleportation? To settle a dispute? What is it that is being disputed?"

As all this was going on, Mellara watched as the black-clad woman crept silently down the street she was on, sticking to the shadows until she came to the entrance to a cellar next to a red-bricked house. When she was in the shadows, she seemed to be unnaturally hard to see. The background she was up against seemed to blend into her, as if she was some sort of chultic chameleon. But, since Mellara already knew the woman was there, she was able to keep an eye on her. Arriving at the cellar, the black-clad woman bent down and took a small black metal case out from the folds in her clothes. inside were small thin metal tools. She began using these tools to manipulate the lock on the door to the cellar. Somewhere not to far away, possibly on the other side of the house, what sounded like a flock of turkeys could be heard making gobble-gobble noises.

edited 9th Nov '12 6:28:15 PM by TheSarge

Well then, I think that's enough shady behavior for the day out of you, shadow woman Thinks Mellara as she noiselessly takes to the air, her diminutive form landing about three feet away from the shadowy woman. She then turned back to her human form, staff in both hands which she used to poke at the lady, letting just the tiniest amounts of electrical energy shock the woman with the same intensity of a mild static electricity shock.

"My, my hello there Miss. May you explain what are you doing?"

"Don't worry Claire. One day I'll cook a turkey for you" says Sam as she ruffles the girl's hair with a gentle smile on her face.

"Thank you for listening" said James "Well, I need teleportation to get witnesses for a major event, which I should tell you about too. The Drow have returned and I'm trying to recruit people to my cause and I need to teleport some people so they can be convinced about my cause."

Before he could let Dyaus Glasia continue, James said "And I'd like to point out, I'm not a priest of Selune, I'm just one of her worshippers. I'm sorry if I made that unclear by using the word servant."

Kalan then proceeds to describe the appearence◊ of his father and tell Prince Rochard about his teahcers "... Nivas The Rat, a master of the thieves and assassins guild in the city of Lamarr thaught me how to get unnoticed into buildings as well as how to handle my knives, Madame Louvise and her companion Simon thaught me how to aquire 'favours' and act in high society... Hmmm, there was also this doctor that thaught me poisons."

Prince Richard said to Kalan: "The city of Lamarr, eh? That's in Sutherland County... over in the the country of Thulle. Unfortunately, that means it's outside my jurisdiction. If I or any of my agents were caught meddling in the affairs of Thulle... even with the best intentions, well it would be rather unfortunate. The diplomatic situation between Skara Brae and Thulle is strained at best, and this country has nothing to gain from making that situation worse. The king has given me explicit instructions that I am to stay out of their internal affairs... officially at least.""

Orandious said: "What about unofficially? What if a group of adventurers that you have never met and know nothing about happened to find their way into Thulle with no support whatsoever form yourself and then proceed to apprehend these criminals and bring them to justice?"

Prince Richard responded with a wink and a nod: "Ah,and what kind of support from myself that I won't be giving to any such adventurers that I have never met are we not talking about?"

Orandious replied: "Oh, say.. maps, supplies, assistance from undercover agents that you no doubt do not employ and can't tell us about."

Prince Richard nodded again and said: "Ah, I see. Well, since I'm not in a room with a group of such adventurers, I can't tell them that I can put them in touch with such agents that I know nothing about and and will deny ever meeting. In fact, I might just leave with such adventurers the name of one such person that I have never met and know nothing. Perhaps in the ear of a young adventurer." The prince pointed at Kalan and motioned him to come closer.

The woman Mellara was confronting quickly dropped her tools. Then, before Mellara could react, the woman spun around and threw a small black ball (about half an inch in diameter) at Mellara's head. The ball hit Mellara in the forehead and then burst into a cloud of black smoke. The ball didn't really hurt Mellara, but the smoke was so thick that she couldn't see anything. Worse, the smoke was irritating her eyes so much that they began to water, impairing her vision that much more.

Meanwhile, Dyaus Glasia was saying to James: "So.. you seek to prove to some people that the Drow have returned to the surface. And to do that you have come to a place where you may find the teleportation that you need. It seems to me you seek to serve the cause of justice." The guard Darian said: "That's all well and good, but the fact remains that the temple is closed until sundown. None may enter!" Dyaus Glasia responded: "You tell a falsehood, brother. It is true that the temple is closed to the public until sundown, but you and I are permitted, are we not?" The guard, now visibly flummoxed said, "Well technically.. yes! But I may not leave my post, and you are supposed to be praying at the gate!" Dyaus said: "Really brother, you have surely been lax in your studies of the sacred texts. Did not Tyr say that service of justice overrides all other duties? Did not you and I take solemn vows to that effect? The rules of this feast-day do not override our duty to justice. In fact, I say that our duty, yours and mine, is to do everything possible to see that this man meets out justice to those foul Drow!" Darian said: "But we don't even know if he's telling the truth! He could be lying just to get inside the temple for some nefarious reason!" Dyaus responded: "True, he could be lying, but it matters not brother. If he is telling the truth and we do not help him, we will have broken our vows. And if he lying and we do help him, then he will receive justice from Tyr himself, for Tyr would never let his temple be defied with lies. And so our duty is clear: This man must enter the temple, and you must slay him in Tyr's name if he be proven a liar." The guard growled and said: "Very well, but let it be on your head if the high-priest expels us both from the order for interrupting their rituals." Dyaus nodded and said: "As you say, brother." He turned to James and said: "You may follow me... erm.. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

Meanwhile, Drek, Sam and Claire were approaching the turkey cages. As they did, the door to the house behind the cages opened and a young man exited. He said: "Hello? Can I help you, m'lord?"

Drek said: "Yes, two quivver-fulls of your finest arrows please. No, make that four quivvers. Don't know when we'll get a chance to buy more."

The man said: "Ceartainly, m'lord... did you be wanting that with bodkinheads or with broadheads?"

Drek said: "Bodkins. Steel, if you have it."

The man said: "Oh yes, m'lord. We have that indeed. It will come to 30 gold, m'lord."

Drek nodded and said: "You have a deal." Drek fished around in his coin purse when suddenly a woman dressed in black came around the corner of the house at breakneck speed, looking over her shoulder. Not looking where she was going, she crashed into Drek, knocking Drek to the to the ground and causing the woman to tumble and fall to the ground. The woman lost her face coverings in the process. Sam immediately recognized the woman; That was the unnaturally fast woman that had, along with some others, tried to burn down the inn where she had first met Drek and Zelph and Aaron! She'd know that face anywhere!

edited 15th Nov '12 11:45:52 PM by TheSarge