As worlds go, Terrene is pretty much the usual.

You know, with everything from goblins to dragons.

Similarly, Berth is your average human town (although it also has several demi-human citizens). With less than a thousand dwellers, it would be almost totally obscure if not due to the fact that it laid along a merchant road. Thus it was a haven for weary tradesmen, travelers- and adventurers.

Located on the western side of the Kingdom of Suzeraint, not far from the Billows Ocean, the village was bordered by the Eminent Mountains to the north, the Wildwood Forest to the East, and the Quaggy Swamp to the south.

Within The Wandering Star inn, people can find a wooden board covered with parchments: wanted help ads. Most are for mundane things, like finding lost pets. But one stood out in particular. It read:

Adventurers for hire wanted, to deal with local problem.

For further details, come see me at the Town Hall.

-The Mayor

Signup Thread

Discussion Thread

edited 29th Aug '17 6:44:52 PM by Sijo

Berth, The Wandering Star Inn

In that in was a certain Druid, Fyterion by name, he was currently kneeling on a table (chairs fit for Centaurs were rare maybe even nonexistant) while a small Mantis - about the size of a normal hand - was standing on the table, currently feeding on some insect. Fyterion looked around in the inn before turning around to look inside his satchel. At the moment it was empty, leaving him to sigh. Hopefully he could find another errand soon.

Looking over at the message board he considered for a bit, the offer from the mayor seemed different than the other ones, he couldn't pin it down on something specific but he certainly had a strange feeling, as if this was only the beginning of something much bigger. In the end he shrugged, it couldn't hurt to find out. The Centaur held out his hand causing the Mantis to hop on it quickly before climbing up his arm and coming to rest on Fyterion's shoulder.

edited 6th Aug '17 9:01:43 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Giving thanks would have been easier had Gabatim been a praying man. That took time though... Perhaps he wouldn't scratch himself and belch under the light of the moon or some compromise like that.

Not like this town—Berth?—hustled and bustled even compared to herding livestock in the tundra or those towns that just needed a sheriff to hold his drink with the local card players er town guards.
If only that had been his first idea. The last place Gabatim looked for gainful activity was the inn., yet a call for help all but smacked him in the face as he entered—not at all aided by Gabatim's attempt to walk and stare into a map at the same time... The mayor's handwriting was atrocious—not to mention the parchment sitting half-buried and stained with tar at least—but the problem probably wasn't camp organization. In a town. Yeah, probably not camp organization.

On the other hand, the town hall didn't seem too welcoming when Gabatim had gone the first time. Well, he had proof of business this time. Hmm...well it was a public notice. He could probably just take the thing and scribble a copy in the same spot or on one of those other, minor bulletins. The parchment was still there. Obviously no one else had accepted the task.

edited 7th Aug '17 6:56:57 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Walking into the Inn, Mia sighed as she looked up and down the bounty board.

There was a time where all she had to do to get coin was read a book. People respected her. They respected her thoughts. More importantly, they paid for those thoughts. Now... now people only paid her if she could stab something with her sword, or otherwise blast it with otherworldly energy. In this case, that work seemed to be in the form of a notice by this bumpkin town's bumpkin mayor.

Well, she had walked quite a good deal to get here, she may as well get a drink before heading over.

Sighing again, she sat down at the countered and flagged down the barmaid so she could get a pint of mead.

Berth, The Wandering Star Inn

Whistler was bored.

Most people didn't like being bored, but for a Kenku, a veritable font of unending energy, it was an even more so un-enjoyable experience. Whistler liked to be active; staying in one place for too long made his feathers itch.

Lately, he had been getting along by taking odd-jobs around town. His near-perfect memory made finding work easy- who didn't want a scribe that could recite an entire book from memory, or a messenger who could recite a message in your own words- literally, in your own words. While he had run into some problems- plenty of humans didn’t like “his kind-” it was a stable, if unexciting life.

And he hated every minute of it.

He craved adventure! Crime had its ups and downs, sure, and even if hadn’t been a stable career, it was interesting! Whistler may have gone clean, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want his life to be interesting.

Strapping on his cloak and armor, the Kenku packed his things. Taverns and Inns were where you went to get hired onto an adventuring party, right? Maybe he could join a Tomb Raiding expedition, or guard a caravan. Granted, guarding wasn’t really his area of expertise, but anything had to be better than this.

As he entered the Inn, Whistler sighed as the familiar jovial air of the Inn surrounded him. There was usually a fifty-fifty chance that he would get stared at if he went anywhere in a human- or really, a non-Kenku- dominated town, but this time most of the eyes in the room weren’t on him. Instead, that honor belonged to a… oh, Bahumet, was that a centaur? And why did he have a mantis? Whistler tore his eyes from the large figure with some effort, wondering what the hell had possessed one of the four-legged folk to visit such a boring town.

Standing at the message board was a human and an elf, both seeming to be eying the same piece of parchment. The latter sat down at the counter before the Kenku could walk up to the message board; indeed, even the centaur seemed to be interested in a specific advertisement.

Slipping next to the short human- who was around his height, Whistler noted- the Kenku studied the advertisement with interest. Producing a dagger in his hand almost as if by magic, the bird-like humanoid sliced down the parchment, stuffing it into a pocket under his cloak. “Looks good,” he muttered to himself, his voice deep and gruff- something you’d expect from a half-orc, not a small Kenku.

Indeed, that particular saying had been from a half-orc Ranger that Whistler had traveled with. Traveling companions were just a veritable source of phrases.

With that, he walked over to the counter and sat down. “A small drink, if you’d please,” he said, his voice suddenly smooth and charming- suddenly rather human.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Berth, Town Hall

As Town Halls go, Berth's was very unimpressive. It was just a plain wooden building. But hey, by Berth's standard's, it was classy.

Inside, in a rather small office, sat a portly, middle-aged, well dressed man, munching on some mutton almost casually. This was Mayor Mitchell, and he did *not* look happy.

He had already given the guards outside orders to let in any adventurers coming to claim the job he posted at the inn. And the sooner they came, the better.

edited 7th Aug '17 8:13:22 PM by Sijo

Berth, Town Hall

Fyterion came to the town hall soon after, looking around, well it certainly wasn't the biggest or fanciest one but given the village it was still impressing. He noticed some strange looks directed towards him but largely ignored them, after all Centaurs were quite rare here. Inside he followed a guard to the Mayor, bowing his head. "Blessed be Mannad" the centaur looked towards the Mayor "You posted that you would need help?"

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Gabatim wasted little time returning to city hall after reading the posting. Sure the walking bird—really big walking bird had sliced off the parchment before he could take it, but the vaquero scribbled a copy of the note for posterity from memory anyway. Yep, only a little time that. And his writing was still better than whoever. This job had better be more important than the scribe considered his work to be.
Of course he didn't have the actual note when he returned to town hall, but the guards just waived him through, before much explaining happened actually. "New orders."

Getting to the mayor's chamber the first thing Gabatim observed, the eyes of a centaur that far out-sized him. Oh, he wasn't the first here. A slight stir began, odd considering the centaur far out-sized him—oh yeah the boar's face.
The vaquero lazily lifted a palm, smiling, one that none would see but always seemed to help. "Ah, it is a long story. And you should have seen the walking, talking bird I found earlier. Suffice to say, I understand you have a problem. Please take heed I handle those and well."

Yes there were others in the room. Gabatim tipped his hat twice to the centaur and mantis before removing it to make an exaggerated bow. "And I would be Gabatim come to your aid." City folks loved this stuff, right? Small towners too sometimes. Alas, he couldn't give them a clan name of course. Not yet anyway...

edited 7th Aug '17 8:09:08 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

City Hall

A short while later, Mialee found herself walking into the City Hall, resigning herself to having to do whatever menial task the Mayor would want in exchange for some gold in her pocket. The centaur and the cattle-herder from the inn were there too, and seemed to also be there for the posting. Oh joy.

"If you wouldn't mind explaining the posting... sir," she muttered, not too keen to have to address someone probably not even a quarter her age like some sort of venerable font of wisdom. "The sooner it will get done."

Whistler drained the drink the barmaid had brought him, skillfully managing to slug it down despite his beak. Drinking from glasses designed for other humanoids was an acquired skill, but it was useful- especially at social events, or when he needed a good stiff drink. Plopping down a gold piece on the bar, the Kenku got up. A gold piece was more- much more- than the cost for the drink really was, but considering how many times he’d taken off without paying before, whether due to greed or mere necessity… well, it eased his conscience a bit.

The rest of the people that had been eying the advertisement had left- he figured that he needed to get going. He scribbled down the writing on the parchment on a blank piece of paper on the message board, perfectly copying the Mayor’s handwriting.

With that, Whistler left the Inn and headed into City Hall. No one stopped him, although he caught a few guards glancing at him- Kenku were no doubt rare here- which was a relief. The elf was there, as was the Centaur and the human- an interesting group. They seemed like they were there for the job offering- interesting. Would he be working for him?

Because he didn’t really have any phrases memorized that would suit the situation, Whistler instead held up the parchment with the advertisement, and jabbed a thumb at himself.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Mitchell stopped eating as soon as the first adventurer came in. But the pace at which they came made him uncertain if they were one party, or several individuals all looking for the reward. Not that it mattered, he decided. If they worked together he would just split it.

After the fourth one, no more seemed to come, so he decided to speak up:

"Welcome. I assume you are all here for the job?" Not waiting for a response, he continued. "I'll go straight to the point. We've been having certain- incidents around Berth of late. And being a town that makes its living mostly from traveling merchants, we don't need rumors that may scare them away. You understand that, correct? So I expect this matter to be handled quietly."

"You see, for several nights now, my wife has found that some of her jewelry is missing. I posted guards but they have seen no one come in or out during the day or night. She is, as you can guess, very angry. So if you can catch the thief and recover the gems, I'll pay you 2,000 copper pieces. Apologies for the amount but we are a small town and the local tax money must go to more important matters."

"Also, this might or might not be related, but Thomas, the local baker, has also reported that some of his bread is missing as well, and again, with no sign of entry. He will pay you 30 copper pieces if you solve that problem."

"If you have any question or need anything, come back to see me."

[[OOC: Assume the characters know or are told where the Mayor's house and the Bakery are.]]

"Someone stealing bread? I'll put an end to that," Mialee replied quickly, giving the mayor a nod and heading out the door towards the bakery in question.

This job was considerably less than the other, but both were chump change anyway. Having to split 2000 copper at least four ways wasn't going to be much use. However, saving the livelihood of a baker who could only afford 30 pieces? That seemed like the sort of job that could get her free bread for life.

Berth, Town Hall

Fyterion bowed his head again, not really the kind of job he normally did but it was for a good cause. He gave a small nod "I can help with such, yeah." He bowed his head again and went on his way, as he went outside he followed the Elven looking woman, after all now that they all did this they could do it together. As he had catched up to her he bowed his head "Blessed be Mannad."

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Well Green sure showed her moxy then. But then of course. Who doesn't like bread?

Not that Gabatim did not feel an obligation to the suffering baker and his livelihood, but...
"If I may use your help," the vaquero addressed the giant bird, whom he wasn't eager to race against, "jewel-hunting sounds like a promising time. That fellow's obviously not going to try his luck once and skip town—unless the mayor's security sucks and there's a procession going through his home."

"Further, it seems the crimes may be related, but Mr. Mayor's wife's jewels are tangible things and there is not much market around here. Between us both, we may pick up their trail far more quickly than well the breadcrumbs. I can't imagine precious stones changing too many hands around here and..." The vaquero suddenly became conscious of the mayor's presence again. "And if that's all honky dory for you, I'm on the way to the wife. Hope she can describe the items better and all that jazz."

In truth, while theses town bosses always had some kind of security, Gabatim did not know whether the baker's account was trustworthy or the man just Failed a Spot Check or seven. Either way, he could roll the dice and solve both issues in one sweep or he'd have to get more to go on from the baker anyway.
All the better if the crimes were related. The green wrapped woman and the Mantis and the Centaur would have some kind of clue between them from the baker when their paths crossed again. Not that the vaquero was being lazy. Far from it!

edited 8th Aug '17 2:40:30 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Whistler grinned- thank Bahumet that he didn't look like a horrible monster when he smiled- and nodded. "I believe that we can get more done working together rather than opposing each other," he told the human, his voice once again smooth and human.

He paused for a minute, before taking out a quill and writing on the back of the parchment he'd taken from the notice board, and handing it to his new friend. Or acquaintance, at least.

Although I'm sure you've probably noticed by now, I am a Kenku. We cannot speak common of our own volition, and instead copy the words and noises of others, the parchment said. As such, if we're going to be working together, I feel like you should know that- miscommunication can be deadly, after all. In general, my kind also uses animal noises to signal danger or important discoveries; for now, just know that if I caw like a raven, prepare to fight.'

Whistler glanced at the mayor. "I'll be accompanying my companion here," he said curtly, his voice once again gruff. He looked at the human. "My name," he said smoothly, "is..." Whistler whistled, grinning. "Whistler."

edited 8th Aug '17 2:59:37 PM by Cwest5538

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

As the adventurers made their way out of the Town Hall and towards their destinations, they were exposed to the sights of life on Berth.

Commoners went about their daily duties- women cleaning, men carrying stuff, etc. There was one man dragging a goat by a rope, presumably to take it to the market. No one paid them much attention (other than aside glances at the centaur and kenku.)

Mayor's Mansion

Lady Hilda was a haggard-faced middle-aged woman in a grey dress. She was drinking tea when Whistler and Gabatim arrived. She immediately gave them the stinkeye. "You are the men hired by Mitchell?" she scoffed, then sighed. "Whatever. My jewelry is kept in my room upstairs. Just for tonight, you may stay inside and wait to see if the thief shows up. Oh and I have already removed any valuables, just so you know."

[[OOC: If the PCs stay in the room all night, at some moment during midnight, one of the windows will open from outside, and something small, black and winged will fly inside.]]

Town Bakery

"Hello!" a merry, portly baker said as soon as Fyterion and Mialee arrived. "Are you customers?"

After a brief explanation, he would add "Oh I see! I'm so glad you have come to help. I cannot pay you much but I would appreciate any help. Plus you can have any bread you want!"

"Anyway, the bread has been disappearing from my stock room, one loaf every night for a week now. Yet the door is never open! Can I ask you to stand guard all night and see what is going on?"

[[OOC: If the players agree, then late that night, one of the windows will open from outside, and something small and furry will jump into the room, hiding behind a crate.

edited 8th Aug '17 4:32:46 PM by Sijo

Kenku is that what they were calling giant bird these days? Who cares? That was awesome. If he could do that voice mimicry thing with his mask and hat on top of an oxen with a bullhorn, why they would be shouting "Gabatim" from here to all four quarters.
After having repeated his own introduction—hat tipped an all of course—Gabtim tried to learn some about his companion on the way...tried.
The vaquero doubted he was making much headway asking what the kenku's Ger technique was—or the best places to trade goat's milk. On the other hand they were passing notes back and forth up to the mayor's place. And what a pair the two made. They would certainly be remembered. And that would be quite the help when it came time to settle and found that clan.

Bonding of a sort came to an end with Lady Hilda's welcome.
"Lady Hilda, charmed to meet you as well..." It was best the lady could not see the gentlemen's expression. "I won't deny your generous offer," Gabatim sincerely hoped the thief was daft enough to keep hitting the same spot. "I hope my companion will not either." The vaquero gestured toward Whistler. "I can't tell you now he will be one of the finest guards of your home and you've no reason to believe my own stories. But Whistler there has coolest voice ever, and I saw him do a number on some really vicious-looking parchment. And I throw a mean lasso."
"So, please be at ease. I'm sure the jewels look loveliest on you. Or at least, they would not go with boar's head. I must ask for tea, though if you please. And perhaps a description of the jewels already gone...and the ways points of entry for your fine home." Gabatim ended his request with a slight nod and a tip of the hat, eyes behind the mask but trained firmly on Hilda. This would go much better with a cooperative witness.

edited 8th Aug '17 5:23:22 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

"Very well then," Mialee told the baker.

Later That Night

She held her breath as something entered the bakery. It was dark, but she could start to make out some details. Trying to remain still in case it hadn't noticed her yet, she tried to get a better look.

A perception check I guess?

[[Note: since the party is currently split, I'll post for each half separately.]]

As the elf watched, a Rat suddenly jumped on the crate!

The rodent then climbed into a sack full of loaves of bread... but instead of starting to eat there, it dragged one out, and began to pull it back towards the window.

[[Players: what do you do?]]

edited 9th Aug '17 7:10:35 AM by Sijo

Berth, Bakery - Earlier

Coming in together with the elf Fyterion bowed his head to the baker, muttering his usual greeting before listening to his story.

Berth, Bakery

A rat that was pulling a loaf of bread? Now that was something new, Fyterion silently knelt down, stretching his arm to the ground, moments later the mantis that was perched on his shoulder climbed down his arm. Silently following the rat while trying to keep behind the loaf of bread so it wouldn't be spotted.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Whistler had met many people in his travels, but one thing was certain- Gabatim was definitely one of the most interesting humans he'd ever met, and in a good way. He didn't seem to overly care that he was a Kenku, which was a welcome relief. Granted, Whistler didn't fully understand a couple of things his new human friend asked- what was a Ger technique? Was that some kind of sword fighting style?- they still had plenty to talk about.

While Gabatim had explained that he was a Vaquero, which thankfully Whistler recognized as a horse-riding herder, the Kenku told the human about his own story. While he left out the more... unsavory details of his past... he'd informed Gabatim that he was a treasure hunter who longed for adventure.

The mayor's wife was certainly... interesting. And not in a good way, either. Whistler decided that he didn't like her almost immediately- she was one of the people that he would have robbed himself back in his glory days- but he was smart enough to realize that hiding his dislike of this woman was beneficial to everyone involved.

He was glad that few people could read his facial expressions without practice, otherwise she might have noticed that his beak was curled in disgust.

The Kenku glanced at his friend when he asked about the pointy of entry. "No need," he said in his curt persona. He walked over to the front door, and examined the lock, before shaking his head. Pulling out another piece of parchment, he scratched something down on it and held it up; no visible signs of tampering via lockpicks. Whatever did this was using magic, or it didn't come through the front.

He repeated the process with the other doors to the mansion, and each time he shook his head. Afterwards, he pointed at the windows, scratching down another note. Magic, or through one of these. Whatever the case, we should be ready for a magically inclined thief, or someone able to fit through the windows.

After Lady Hilda chatted with Gabatim some more, the pair went upstairs. Take shifts, he wrote. Remember- raven's caw means danger.

And that was that.

---

The night was rather boring.

Working in shifts had been a good idea- Whistler had gone first while Gabatim rested. And then he'd fallen asleep while the human had watched for intruders.

It was around midnight when something finally happened.

A small form flew through the window, black and winged. Whistler, sitting in the corner of the room polishing his daggers, noticed it immediately- the soft sound of wings beating was unmistakable to a Kenku, considering their dreams of flight.

Slowly drawing to his feet so not to draw attention to himself, Whistler inched towards Gabatim, before cawing like a raven. It wasn't overly loud, but it should have woken the Vaquero up- he seemed skilled in perception, after all. Hopefully that included hearing.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Bakery

A rat? A rat! A rat in the bread!. That definitely couldn't be clean.

She continued to stay still as the centaur had some tiny... bug thing... crawl out. Yes, of course, just in case the rat didn't drag in enough feces to the bakery, the bug would help finish the job.

Still, a rat stealing bread was rather odd. If it wasn't eating it right there, it was probably taking it back for something else - or someone. She would wait until it left and then try to follow it.

Mayor's Mansion

Whistler's tactic had an unexpected side effect:

An echo.

Or was it? All the kenku could tell, is that something cawed back at him!

And, a moment later, the black thing became visible, as it came to rest on the back of a chair that was conveniently exposed to moonlight:

A Raven.

Tom's Bakery

The rat failed to notice the adventurers (or the bug following it) and continued to drag the loaf of bread outside and into the darkened streets of Berth.

[[Note: If followed, the rat will lead the characters to a hut just outside town.]]

Hut

"Now that's rather strange," Mia whispered to the centaur as she hid outside the hut.

She looked for any windows and tried to sneak a peek inside.

Berth, Hut

Fyterion nodded silently, waiting for his six legged friend to return. As that happened he knelt down, lokin up to the Elf "Soon we'll know more." With that he picked up the Mantis, holding it before him <<What's it like in there?>>

He uses Speak with animals here, the thing in <<>> is towards the Mantis

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"