Completed Play-by-Post: In Search of the Sorcerer

[nikolokolus]

Zaral, Ophelia and Hyginos all take turns examining the platinum coin but they all just shrug. "Never seen anything like it before," says Zaral. "Looks old," says Hyginos. "Big." replies Ophelia.

 

[Grimgravy]

"I think I could track the horse. The question is how far has it gone and how long will it take to find." Rhenmyr replies. "Given it is the lead most likely to expire, I say we should follow it."

OOC

Can't outright say it in front of the ferry staff, but we should be wary of them. The people smuggling Hyginos were expecting Zelkor. It may be nothing but it could be something.

 

[nikolokolus]

As people are debating the merits of trying to track the horse vs. going to the city, Zaral informs everyone that he'll be making his late morning run to the other side of the river in about a half hour, depending on traffic. He might be making another trip this afternoon, but he can't make any guarantees - He's just received signals by mirror that there are passengers waiting for transport on the other side of the river.

Looking through the door of the longhouse when the slave comes into inform Zaral, you are instantly aware that the weather appears to be changing. The fog from the morning has blown out and a stiff breeze appears to be kicking up and the temperature has dropped several degrees, not freezing, but chilly now. Ker's senses and experience tell him that rain is probably on its way.

 

[nikolokolus]

In the meantime, four slaves come into the longhouse and wrap Zelkor in a linen sheet and carry him out, Ophelia trailing behind. But, before she exits, she turns to the troupe and says through clenched teeth, "500 gold marks, for the man that brings me the head of whoever did this. And do what you will with those two out in the stable, but you can't leave them here."

 

[Grimgravy]

OOC

With rain coming, we track the horse now or forget it. I say we cast votes as to track the horse or go into town.
My vote if Ker thinks we have several hours before the rain, track the horse, releasing the thugs. Otherwise, I vote the head to town taking the thugs with us.

 

[Helly]

OOC

With rain coming, we track the horse now or forget it. I say we cast votes as to track the horse or go into town.
My vote if Ker thinks we have several hours before the rain, track the horse, releasing the thugs. Otherwise, I vote the head to town taking the thugs with us.

Spoiler

Technically, the head of the man that did this is still in the barn. Well, it's liquid now though. Anyway, Ker doesn't have Predict weather memorised and we don't have the time, so we'll have to choose. Unless, well... nikolokolus Can the ranger and me try to predict the weather just by having a look at it just like real meteorologists

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Perhaps Ophelia is operating under Heron's assumption that the sorcerer who killed himself in the barn wasn't making a permanent exit?

As for the spell 'predict weather' it will give you very precise information about the next twelve hours of weather - severity, temperature, precipitation amounts, etc., whereas your knowledge of woodcraft and natural phenomena can still give you a pretty good general idea about things - this is sort of equivalent to a farmer's intuition more than any kind of hard and fast rule. If you actually want to make a more detailed prediction without the spell I'll allow a simple saving throw.

FYI: Rhenmyr's woodcraft skills apply to his native terrain; in this case jungles and tropical areas, so he's out of his depth here.

 

[Helly]

Spoiler

Thanks, I'll go for the simple prediction of the soon to be weather.

"Finding that horse before getting to town might be a good idea, hum... After all, he might come back here for revenge afterwards! Let me get a feel of the weather first, comrades. If rain, or worse, is coming, I say we let it go. No way we'd be able to follow its traces then."
Ker leaves the building, looks at the clouds and birds, then checks the grass for dew and throws a bit in the air.

Spoiler

Check the weather Day 1 [1d20] = 7

 

[nikolokolus]

The wind has shifted out of the North - not entirely unusual for the fifth month in the springtime year (remember Theia has a four earth-year solar cycle).

Ker walks backward toward the river until he has a clear view of the sky; unobstructed by the tall beech and alder that flank the slopes next to the river on its north bank. Looking northward, you can see great black clouds roiling over the high bluffs of the local mountain range locals call "The Drop" some twenty or thirty miles off. It looks like heavy snows are falling, which means a nasty, soggy afternoon down here in the lowlands.

 

[bert]

Spoiler

I'd say go to town personally.

Sokrates's ears and eyes perked up the moment Father Inniros' name came up in the conversation. "Inniros..! Father!" He shook his head sadly at the topic of Pellagia. "Pellagia...dead? Dead..?" His hand went to wipe his eyes suddenly. "Go..Help?" He missed Pellagia very much, and hoped she was still alive. He hoped the old man would understand his message, would help him find the lady.

When everyone started to leave, he looked around bewildered and tapped his friend Borric on the shoulder. "Sokrates..go?"

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Borric turns at Sokrutiz's tapping, and guesses his urgency in finding his associates. "To find Pelagia, Big One? You may well be right." He turns to the rest. "I do not think we can stop the Big One from searching his friend out right now if he so wills it, and it would be reckless to leave him at the mercies of his gods. Zeral can deal with finding the horse if he wants to. With any luck, the horse will end up finding us."

Spoiler

Hey nikolokolus the map you put up on page 2 is missing, you might want to use imgur instead of photobucket for this.

 

[Grimgravy]

"With a storm brewing, tracking the will be miserable and likely fruitless. Odessos looks to be more promising. Lets make ready for the ferry." Rhenmyr says.

 

[nikolokolus]

Borric turns at Sokrutiz's tapping, and guesses his urgency in finding his associates. "To find Pelagia, Big One? You may well be right." He turns to the rest. "I do not think we can stop the Big One from searching his friend out right now if he so wills it, and it would be reckless to leave him at the mercies of his gods. Zeral can deal with finding the horse if he wants to. With any luck, the horse will end up finding us."

Spoiler

Hey nikolokolus the map you put up on page 2 is missing, you might want to use imgur instead of photobucket for this.

Spoiler

Thanks for the heads up, I'll fix it. I guess I didn't realize that categorizing stuff (which I neded to do because I couldn't find anything anymore) on photobucket breaks all links.

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Sorry if anybody hasn't had a chance to reply and firmly state their case for following the horse. It's on to Odessos.

Also, what are you doing with the two prisoners?

Zaral is hurriedly making preparations to depart as the wind lashes your faces and the rains begin to pelt the ground. "Come aboard if you like, we'll be off in a few minutes."

 

[Grimgravy]

OOC

As to the thugs, aren't we taking them to town and letting them go?

Rhenymyr checks all his gear, boards the ferry, and wraps his new cloak around himself. "Storm brewing. This northern clime will take some getting used to. Zaral, we will do what we can to avenge you and your mother's loss."

 

[nikolokolus]

You settle in on the top side of the barge as the slaves go belowdecks and Zaral tosses off the line from its cleat on the pier and jumps aboard shouting orders to shove off. The barge slowly backs into the current before it turns about, and pushes its bow at angle against the current. The going is slow and rain begins to fall in heavy sheets around you, making the transit particularly unpleasant; those so equipped pull up the hoods on their leather cloaks, Hyginos wraps himself in the heavily waxed tarpaulin, and the two prisoners - The hulking and gibbering Erasmos and the fat and sly Theron - get lashed by the rain, tied to the rail as they are.

It takes nearly an hour for the ferry to make the half-mile crossing and as you get nearer you can see the landing on this side of the river is little more than a simple outbuilding and a wooden corral built on stilts in the shallow saltmarsh; smoke from the rude building's chimney whips haphazardly in the wind and you can make out several oxen and a donkey milling about miserably as the deluge gathers force and thunder echoes across the narrow valley. When the ferry is thirty feet out, lines are tossed and shoremen grapple with them and haul the ferry into dock.

One by one, you jump from the ferry. Zaral tosses Marcán a small purse that jangles when it he catches it, "That's for delivering my message to Petrakos. Like I said before, he's a factor with one of the merchant houses in town. But seeing as how the docks were on lockdown when I left this morning, it might take some doing to get that message delivered . . ." He points at the purse, "That should come in handy if you need to get past the guards and there should still be something in there leftover for your trouble." He looks up at the clouds as they scud by, squints and wipes his face with his sleeve. "Hell of a fucking day innit? If you need to get out of the rain, make yourself at home in the lodge o'er yonder. It isn't much, but you can get a drink and dry yourselves out by the fireplace." Zaral turns around and unties the two prisoners from the rail and turns them over. "If you want my advice, drown these two rats!" He spits, turns on his heel, jumps back on the boat and disappears below decks.

Downriver to the east, the mouth of the bay is nearly obscured by heavy rains, while the cliffs below Odessos' citadel are shrouded from view. South of the landing you can make out a plank road winding its way through the marsh up to the steep, rocky hillsides that flank the river and you can just make out the start of the switchback trail that climbs the scrubby sandstone.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Borric removes the furs draped across his shoulders and hands them to Sokrutiz. "If you're wearing the Hyperborean armor, Big One, it's best to obscure it so you do not attract attention."

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Maybe it got missed, but the bronze coat-of-plates will have to be resized/refitted before one of you can wear it. Hyperboreans are very tall, but also very thin and frail.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

Hence the If.

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Hence the If.

Spoiler

Fair 'nuff

 

[Grimgravy]

"To the lodge first, to see if there's any more information on events in town this side of the river?" Rhenmyr asks the group.

 

[Smashing Axe]

"A good place to start, aye. Though I wonder how they will react to our two friends. Ought we not to release them in exchange for an oath of good behaviour? If so, let me know beforehand. I might convince them to keep to it earnestly."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"Hmmm, there may be someone eager to kill them for what they know, or worse, what they might know. If we can convince them of that, it may well be that they can be persuaded to work with us if they wish to live."

 

[Grimgravy]

"Both are good ideas. Perhaps we start with Borric's suggestion and move on to yours, Heron, if they are less than enthusiastic about working with us." Rhenmyr says.

 

[Helly]

"I'd say, first we find this merchant man. Maybe old Hyginos could help us find him, or maybe those ruffians know him? I'll let you handle those two; I couldn't possibly judge their crimes myself, but do whatever is needed to get an answer. And now that I think about it, we don't even know if it's the first time those two or their comrades did a job for the hyperborean...or whatever that black puddle in the stables was."
Ker go check on the refreshed Hyginos.
"So, old man, did that porridge hit the spot? Say, I was wondering, with all the relations a smooth talker like you must have, maybe you know how we could find that guy Zaral was talking about? What was his name... Petrakos, from a merchant house? "