The Rolling Stones join forces with another adventurer
Score: 542 | 5/24/19 |
9th Veltom, 1517
The Rolling Stones, Valteri Tomser, Sean Shamshara, Boris Hillmens, and Vyktor Wyvernjack, have finally arrived to Axalalail. Departing the raft that carried them across the Coil River, they meet up with Delmuth Lorafir. After informing him that they would, in fact, join him the next morning for the final leg of his journey to Urupa, he hands over the receipt the Axalalail patrol gave him for the capture of the bandits. Letting them know they should head to the Crown Watch to redeem that, he reminds them that he will pick up the tab at whatever inn they stay at. He recommends the Trunk and Bough, as that is where he plans on trying to get a room later in the day, if there are any available. As his cart is loaded on a platform and raised to the city proper, he bids them farewell and rushes to climb one of the many rope ladders leading up.
The heroes quickly decide that the first order of business is to redeem the bandit receipt. They climb up among the thick limbs and branches of very large trees. Signs of life are all around them as flashy t'skrang move about their business. Faint whistle sounds and strange bird calls, all different, emanate from all over. It takes a moment for them to realize it's the ropes people are using to swing from place to place, each one making their own unique sound.
Unsure of where to go, Sean approaches a dwarf lounging and smoking a pipe. Asked how to get to the Crown Watch, the dwarf responds first with how boring that is and suggests checking out the Flying Bind but follows that with a quick slew of directions involving several bridges and rope swings, heading past the Heartwood, and finally arriving at the Crown Watch. Valteri, always looking for a good time, asks about the Flying Bind. The dwarf regales them with how much fun it is, swinging out over the Coil and back again to attempt to leap off and catch a rope net. He also mentions the Long Fall, which is a setup with ten people attempting to knock each other off. The mention that you can win prize money on these games, betting, and tournaments, piques the group's interest.
Sean finishes their conversation by asking where the Trunk and Bough is and finds out that it is in the Heartwood, which is on their way. Using his abilities as a Scout, Sean takes the directions he's been given and actually finds a slightly better route through the bustling tree-top town. The Heartwood is a large platform ring circling numerous trees. Various carts and stalls with barkers selling their wares line the inside of the ring while buildings sit on the outside. Like spokes on a wheel, bridges and other platforms pass between buildings to connect the Heartwood to the rest of Axalalail. The Rolling Stones decide to check in at the Trunk and Bough since they are already at the Heartwood, just in case it should run out of room.
W'ranan is a hearty t'skrang of blue skin and yellow eyes. He's just recently arrived in Axalalail and in search for his master at the Trunk and Bough. Unfortunately, all that was waiting for him was a letter (Letter to W'ranan), left with the innkeeper, telling him to meet up with an Annabelle. Heading up to her room, he finds it broken in to and trashed. After doing a quick search, he heads downstairs and calls the Innkeeper, an elf Named Torel, over to talk with him. Flustered about this, Torel angrily sends his dwarf guard up to stand watch outside the room while W'ranan heads to the Crown Watch. Four men, the Rolling Stones, walk in as he's leaving, but they hardly mind each other as W'ranan heads out.
The Rolling stones take the last five rooms available, the extra one being for Delmuth. They check out their rooms and relax for a short while. Valteri manages to grab the biggest room on the corner, while Sean's room is actually next door to the room being guarded by the dwarf.
W'ranan approaches the Crown Watch. It's a large building, single-story building made of cut stone, encircling three trees. A covered walkway leads from this building to another structure connected to a lone tree. Fronting the Crown Watch is a large wooden platform, capable of holding a couple hundred people. Off to the side of this platform is a raised wooden stage or deck. As he enters, W'ranan finds a guard seated behind a desk. To the side is an elemental sculpture, clearly of t'skrang construction, made of a floating ball of stone out of which burbles water continually flowing into a crystal basin resting on the floor.
"How may I help you?" W'ranan quickly informs the guard of Annabelle's kidnapping. The man leaves the room through a door behind him and soon returns with two other guards who are to begin the investigation. They follow W'ranan back to the Trunk and Bough and straight for Annabelle's room. Discussing what has happened with W'ranan, the dwarf, and Torel, one guard leaves to spread the word so that the other guards can be on the look out. The other guard remains behind to continue investigating the room while W'ranan, unsure of what to do, heads downstairs.
Sean, being the ever curious elf that he is, tries to get a look inside the room, though he's unsuccessful. Ultimately he strikes up a conversation with W'ranan. Everybody is introduced and an offer to help is made, which W'ranan takes them up on. They gather in Annabelle's room, looking for any sign of tracks that Sean might be able to use with his Tracking talent. They also ask Torel and the guard how no one could have heard the door being busted in. With the generally rowdy atmosphere and nearly nightly fireworks of Axalalail, being a town of t'skrang and windlings, it was likely that the bashing was covered up by the din outside.
Eventually the guard is successful in finding a heel print in some blood on the floor. Sean uses this to begin Tracking the kidnappers. Whomever they were, they left by the window and climbed down with their hostage to the walkway below. Everyone assembles outside and begins to follow Sean. The guard, knowing they may need backup, rushes off to gather men. He asks that the group not run in to anything but instead send for help once they find the culprits.
Naturally, that's not what a group of heroes would ever do, and certainly not this group of heroes.
As they run across the walkways, the crowds thin out and the buildings become shabbier. Heading into what must be an older, poor district, the only people they see are drunks or suffering from some other addiction. Finally, though, the tracks lead to a lone building at the end of a bridge. The building is constructed so that the tree it is on rises up through the middle. They discuss cutting the tree down, but the shear size of the tree dissuades them of that idea. So they decide on a quick frontal assault with Boris and W'ranan leading the attack.
A man is lying down in the building's entryway. Alerted to the group's presence when they're only halfway across, he yells and starts to head in. Unfortunately he's too slow and Boris lands a solid blow. The man makes it inside shortly followed by the Rolling Stones, though Sean climbs the wall and sets himself up in a window.
The room inside is two stories, with the second story only covering half the building. A ladder is attached to the tree to provide access up there where a human stands ready with his bow. The human that was outside is joined by two mean looking dwarves. Further back stand two t'skrang, one wearing flashy armor and wielding a sword in one hand, a shield in the other, and a dagger on his tail. The other is adorned in a black robe and begins moving his hands in a similar fashion as Vyktor often does. Lying unconscious on the floor behind the t'skrang is a young woman.
Vyktor, though, quickly casts Mage Armor on Boris and W'ranan, and it proves to be the decided factor in the battle. While everyone on both sides manages deft and skillful swings, the blades leave little mark on the bodies, and no marks in Boris's case as the magic flares to absorb the blows. Even the t'skrang Swordmaster has trouble landing solid hits. W'ranan, on the other hand, decapitates the human thug from outside. Sean trades a few arrows with the human upstairs, but both fail to do much harm. However, the human's bow string breaks. Valteri, naturally, circumvents the battle and heads to the black-robed t'skrang, taking a spear of ethereal energy for his troubles. Boris, Sean, and Vyktor wound the dwarves enough that they flee, letting them then turn their focus on the Nethermancer and Swordmaster.
Heavily wounded and fighting worse odds, the Nethermancer says, "We need to go." The human above quickly climbs down the ladder as the Swordmaster and Nethermancer head towards the tree. W'ranan yells up at Sean to focus on the Nethermancer, and Sean takes the suggestion to heart as his arrow slams into the t'skrang and knocks him down and out, though likely not dead. The Swordmaster picks him up and slams his tail against the tree which causes a trap door to swing down. He bolts down it as stairs extend out from the tree. The human rushes down after him.
Sean runs out after the fleeing dwarf and then shoots a few arrows down at the escaping t'skrang and human. Boris and Valteri, instead, run down the stairs. However, the trap door begins to swing back up and the stairs recede back into the tree, so Boris leaps up and climbs back inside the tree house. Valteri continues to give chase, harrying the human and t'skrang. The human pauses to try and get a solid hit on the pestering windling. This backfires as the stairs rapidly recede from beneath him, and he falls.
Legend Point Awards:
- Meeting Up with the New Guy: 100
- Tracking the Kidnappers: 500
- Beating the Bad Guys: 600
- Relentless Pursuit!: 200
- Total: 1400