ThLunarian
Member
Thaddeus shrugs, tensing up slightly at her touch. "W-well, I do not know the source, in truth. Perhaps it is a physical malady rather than a magical one. By all means, run whatever tests you deem necessary."
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Excalibur: a NeoGAF Pathfinder Play by Post Campaign
- Thread starter KittenMaster
- Start date
KittenMaster
Member
<I didn't intend to make it unknown to you guys that it's the armor and weapon that has been cursed, not Thaddeus himself (besides the transformation spell being dispelled). I honestly don't want to figure out how to get Arianna to find that out, so if you guys can help me out I can move on to what you guys are here for.>
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Tiberious stiffles a laugh as the elf lady gets up close and personal with Thaddeus. As they try and figure out where the curse is, he asks Thaddeus "Hey, where's your armor at? I haven't seen you wearing it much since you got cursed."
KittenMaster
Member
"This armor... did you continue to feel ill effects once it had been removed?"
ThLunarian
Member
((It didn't even occur to me that it was the armor itself that was cursed. I actually did think that they'd done something to Thaddeus during the procedure. Oops. So I guess the proper answer to her question is 'No.'))
Thaddeus frowns. "In truth, during the only time I was out of this armour, my state of mind was such that I would not have noticed a difference."
He gets out of the armour and puts his weapon down; he is still wearing modest smallclothes underneath. Immediately he feels lighter. "It seems that was the answer. Can you remove the curse?"
Thaddeus frowns. "In truth, during the only time I was out of this armour, my state of mind was such that I would not have noticed a difference."
He gets out of the armour and puts his weapon down; he is still wearing modest smallclothes underneath. Immediately he feels lighter. "It seems that was the answer. Can you remove the curse?"
KittenMaster
Member
<Yeah, notice how during the 'operation' they kindly asked you to remove your armor and allow them to take it away from you for awhile? I was actually expecting people to begin panicking and become paranoid OOCly when that happened.>((It didn't even occur to me that it was the armor itself that was cursed. I actually did think that they'd done something to Thaddeus during the procedure. Oops. So I guess the proper answer to her question is 'No.'))
Kneeling down near Thaddeus, the priestess examines the armor, the fabric of her cloak lining the curve of her back, "The magic seems quite strong... I am afraid I would only be able to dispel it temporarily without also negating the armor's strength.. but there is something I would like to show you. Would you mind coming with me? The rest may follow as well." She stands up and begins making her way to a set of stairs leading downward.
ThLunarian
Member
Thaddeus looks around at the others, shrugs his shoulders, and follows his friend down the stairs.
KittenMaster
Member
Arianna takes a lamp, and clicks the flint mechanism to set it alight, instantly making the lower room appear before you with the glow. Knowingly, she steps to the bottom and makes her way through the room, lighting other lamps set in fixed places to enhance the visibility for those that choose to follow.
Once that is done, she makes her way to a tall curtain draped around a rectangular space in the room, and she looks to Thaddeus, explaining, "This is the armor and weapon of a Paladin I once knew; she was one of the first to see the waning ways of Heironeous' knights even before the god's death, and had converted to Pelor to seek what it means to find good in one's heart. This was her old armor of Heironeous, and this was the weapon she had used following the tutelage of a Priest."
She pulls open the curtain.. and in that moment a warm glow eminates from a longsword stood in front of the armor, making it difficult to look at directly even with Thaddeus' surface vision. The room becomes lit brilliantly, overcoming even the lamps that are currently lit.
Once that is done, she makes her way to a tall curtain draped around a rectangular space in the room, and she looks to Thaddeus, explaining, "This is the armor and weapon of a Paladin I once knew; she was one of the first to see the waning ways of Heironeous' knights even before the god's death, and had converted to Pelor to seek what it means to find good in one's heart. This was her old armor of Heironeous, and this was the weapon she had used following the tutelage of a Priest."
She pulls open the curtain.. and in that moment a warm glow eminates from a longsword stood in front of the armor, making it difficult to look at directly even with Thaddeus' surface vision. The room becomes lit brilliantly, overcoming even the lamps that are currently lit.
ThLunarian
Member
Thaddeus squints briefly, his Drow eyes taking much longer than normal to adjust. When it becomes apparent that his eyes will not adjust completely, he studies the full-plate as carefully as he can without blinding himself. "It is quite the marvel," he admits. "In truth, Lady Arianna, my faith in Heironeous has faltered recently. Granted, I am aware that the prevailing wisdom is that he has been dead for years, but I had never believed it to be true."
He chances grasping the hilt of the sword and---
He chances grasping the hilt of the sword and---
KittenMaster
Member
Arianna stops him here, shaking her head, and quickly closing the curtain, "I am afraid I cannot allow you to have these items, Sir Thaddeus... You would not make the previous owner proud." She goes on to explain, "I didn't want to mention this earlier, but I can sense a darkness growing in you. You are a different man than the person I once knew."He chances grasping the hilt of the sword
ThLunarian
Member
"I see," he says unhappily, his eyes narrowing. "So you would dangle such treasures in front of me, and then pull them away. I suppose that I should come to expect such cruel japes by now. The fates continue to laugh at me from on high. Farewell, Arianna."
He storms out of the house and goes straight to the Golden Griffin, slamming ten gold on the bar. "This ought to cover my tab for the evening. Give me your finest ale, and keep them coming."
He storms out of the house and goes straight to the Golden Griffin, slamming ten gold on the bar. "This ought to cover my tab for the evening. Give me your finest ale, and keep them coming."
KittenMaster
Member
After the Drow leaves, she says to the others, "I am sorry... he needed to know what greatness his heart is keeping him from achieving as of right now. I had hoped to pass these down to a worthy suitor someday, but Thaddeus must find himself first. I will allow his friends and Lovegood to stay here tonight; let us gather for tea, I would like to get to know you all better." She begins to move back up the stairs where tea will begin being prepared.
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Tiberious looks towards Ariana a little sadly as Thaddeus storms out. "Poor Thaddy's been real bad off recently. Most of it's stuff I don't really get, but it seems pretty severe. I think he really wanted to not be a drow, and got his wish for a little bit. Then the girl here snapped her fingers and made it go away. I think being re-Drowed snapped something in him. He probably needed to hear from a close friend that he's being scumbaggy and have cool, shinny things taken away from him. I know that would work for me, anyway. It'll probably throw him deeper down in the short term though. Speaking of which, I should probably get to whatever bar he roamed off to and make sure he doesn't kill everyone in the bar brawl he'll inevitably start. Besides, it's been a while since I've been in the midst of a good bar brawl!"
KittenMaster
Member
As everyone gathers around with tea set and prepared, she sits in her chair, placing a hand at her chest and tilting her head lower, "I wasn't aware of the circumstances... but I did detect evil growing within him."
Soon Lovegood begins to sniff, curling up in her chair, "I just wanted... I just..."
Soon Lovegood begins to sniff, curling up in her chair, "I just wanted... I just..."
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Tiberious manages to hear Lovegood's murmuring before going after Thaddeus, which catches his attention. "Huh, I guess she wants to talk now."
"Huh? What is it you say you just wanted?"
"Huh? What is it you say you just wanted?"
Dreadstone sips his tea politely. It was never really his drink of choice, but he doesn't want to be rude. He is not especially moved by Lovegood's show of remorse. "There're consequences fer th'things you did," he tells her. "We're a bit beyond writin' it off as th'folly of youth."
Turning to Leo, he adds, "You go keep an eye on Thaddeus. The Orphans already think they caught you, thanks t'the Avatar of Kord. You're can move most freely of us all."
Turning to Leo, he adds, "You go keep an eye on Thaddeus. The Orphans already think they caught you, thanks t'the Avatar of Kord. You're can move most freely of us all."
KittenMaster
Member
Arianna looks between the each of you, "You are his friends now, I fear I may have made too quick a judgement of his character. Please find him and ensure he doesn't continue his self-destructive path. I can watch over the girl until you come back."
<With two characters leaving the house, I'm having a change of plans.>
<With two characters leaving the house, I'm having a change of plans.>
ThLunarian
Member
The rest of the party finds Thaddeus slumped over the bar at the Golden Griffin. Since they weren't too far behind him to begin with, they find that he's only halfway through his first ale and is still completely coherent.
"If you're to join me," he says, glancing at them, "You'll have to start drinking." He downs the rest of his drink and calls for another.
"If you're to join me," he says, glancing at them, "You'll have to start drinking." He downs the rest of his drink and calls for another.
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Tiberious shrugs and pulls up a seat beside Thaddeus. "No objections here, I didn't come to a bar to not drink."
ThLunarian
Member
"Arianna used to be a prostitute at this bar years ago," Thaddeus says as he digs into his next drink. "As a matter of fact, that's how I met her. She was far kinder in those days. I don't know what turned her into such a mean-spirited person. Perhaps she never got over the man who left her to care for his child.
"In any event, it seems she has at least taken the brat off our hands. As for our next stop... on account of the distinct lack of leads in our possession, I suggest we make for Ruby Keep come the morrow. An audience with the Queen would seem to be in order, given the extent of corruption that has run rampant through the kingdom."
"In any event, it seems she has at least taken the brat off our hands. As for our next stop... on account of the distinct lack of leads in our possession, I suggest we make for Ruby Keep come the morrow. An audience with the Queen would seem to be in order, given the extent of corruption that has run rampant through the kingdom."
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Tiberious takes a drink and chugs it with gusto, in part to not get chased off by Thaddeus and in part because he'd have probably done it anyway.
"A prostitute, huh? I thought there was something weird about the way she was detecting magic, that explains it then."
Tiberious orders a second drink, and while waiting says "Yeah, that bit with waving the sword and armor in your face was kind of fucked up. She sounded like she was concerned for your well-being after you left. I guess she's into tough love or something now. No matter, we'll figure out something to do with your sword and armor. Oh, and the little girl looked like she was about ready to say something before we left. Since she didn't talk under pressure, it probably won't be anything good and helpful, but who knows?"
"The queen? I've never met a queen before. Well, there was this orc woman in an arena I fought in who went by The Queen of Chains and- no, I haven't had enough drinks for that story yet. You think we can manage to see the queen? And do you think she's in on the corrupt stuff too?"
"A prostitute, huh? I thought there was something weird about the way she was detecting magic, that explains it then."
Tiberious orders a second drink, and while waiting says "Yeah, that bit with waving the sword and armor in your face was kind of fucked up. She sounded like she was concerned for your well-being after you left. I guess she's into tough love or something now. No matter, we'll figure out something to do with your sword and armor. Oh, and the little girl looked like she was about ready to say something before we left. Since she didn't talk under pressure, it probably won't be anything good and helpful, but who knows?"
"The queen? I've never met a queen before. Well, there was this orc woman in an arena I fought in who went by The Queen of Chains and- no, I haven't had enough drinks for that story yet. You think we can manage to see the queen? And do you think she's in on the corrupt stuff too?"
KittenMaster
Member
<lmao>"A prostitute, huh? I thought there was something weird about the way she was detecting magic, that explains it then."
ThLunarian
Member
"In truth, I know not if the Queen would see us. I only bring it up due to lack of other options. I'll be a Paladin in shining armour; that ought to at least help." He chugs the rest of the second drink and starts on a third. "Do you think, Tiberious Thunderfist, that life is worth living? I'd always thought so - that a discip-p-p-plined up-ringing would get me into Heironeous's afferlife. But if the gods're dead, then what of it? Do you go anywhere when you die now? And if not, then why keep on living? I just don't understand what I'm supposed to do now, Tiberious Thunderfist. I mean Leo. I mean Tiberious Thunderfi-face... no, fist. No. Face. Tiberious ThunderFACE. Do you know?"
Evidently, Thaddeus's alcohol tolerance is far lower than he thinks it should be.
Evidently, Thaddeus's alcohol tolerance is far lower than he thinks it should be.
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Tiberious laughs a bit as the alcohol seems to be hitting Thaddeus. From here, he sees two options. He can slow down his own drinking, attempt to keep a cognitive high ground, and try to advise Thaddeus through his troubles, or he can rush to join him and have a soulful conversation with totally unknown consequences.
"Bartender, I'll take one of those," he says, pointing at an entire bottle of Alydar-brewed whiskey. After putting down his gold, he opens the bottle and throws back a good third of it. A few minutes later...
"*hic* That hit the spot. I think you're on to something Shaddeus, queens love people in shiny armor. If that doesn't get us in, I'll make up the difference! What queen would turn down the great Tiberious Thunderface?"
"Living, that's a deeeeeep question. I've always treated life as a great long performance. You do as much cool shit as you can, impress as many people as you can, and die in an awesome manner. I don't know about all that theological life after death stuff though. I do have a story for you though! A story! It'll help with... with.. uh... death and shit! Yeah, fuck death!"
"I once knew another warrior in the arena named Kip. Kip was a good kid, always insisted on fighting with a club for some reason. He always talked about how he was going to be the greatest club-wielder in the world. A weird goal if you ask me, but to each their own. One day, Kip's fighting a minotaur in a crowded showing, and the unlocky bastard's club breaks over the minotaur's head! The minotaur picks him up and dashes his head agaisnt a wall for 5 straight minutes. By all accounts, Kip was dead after that, but the clerics were able to get a pulse back in him 15 minutes later. We asked Kip if he saw anything on the other side, and he looked at us and said "POTATO!" After that day, all Kip ever said was potato. I'm not sure if he saw things not meant for mortals, or if being dead for 15 minutes fried his brain. But he still kept fighting after that, and by fighting I mean mostly standing around drooling. But the story has a happy ending! Kip got hit in the head again and became even more braindead. He never was that good of a club user, but we wound up contracting a giant down the line, and he used that kid as a club. Said he was the finest club he'd ever used, too. Surely being the finest club is an ok result in life if he wanted to be the finest club user."
Tiberious looks down at Thaddeus's drink and says, "You're getting kinda low *hic* there. Let me top that off." He then pours some of the whiskey straight into his mug.
"Bartender, I'll take one of those," he says, pointing at an entire bottle of Alydar-brewed whiskey. After putting down his gold, he opens the bottle and throws back a good third of it. A few minutes later...
"*hic* That hit the spot. I think you're on to something Shaddeus, queens love people in shiny armor. If that doesn't get us in, I'll make up the difference! What queen would turn down the great Tiberious Thunderface?"
"Living, that's a deeeeeep question. I've always treated life as a great long performance. You do as much cool shit as you can, impress as many people as you can, and die in an awesome manner. I don't know about all that theological life after death stuff though. I do have a story for you though! A story! It'll help with... with.. uh... death and shit! Yeah, fuck death!"
"I once knew another warrior in the arena named Kip. Kip was a good kid, always insisted on fighting with a club for some reason. He always talked about how he was going to be the greatest club-wielder in the world. A weird goal if you ask me, but to each their own. One day, Kip's fighting a minotaur in a crowded showing, and the unlocky bastard's club breaks over the minotaur's head! The minotaur picks him up and dashes his head agaisnt a wall for 5 straight minutes. By all accounts, Kip was dead after that, but the clerics were able to get a pulse back in him 15 minutes later. We asked Kip if he saw anything on the other side, and he looked at us and said "POTATO!" After that day, all Kip ever said was potato. I'm not sure if he saw things not meant for mortals, or if being dead for 15 minutes fried his brain. But he still kept fighting after that, and by fighting I mean mostly standing around drooling. But the story has a happy ending! Kip got hit in the head again and became even more braindead. He never was that good of a club user, but we wound up contracting a giant down the line, and he used that kid as a club. Said he was the finest club he'd ever used, too. Surely being the finest club is an ok result in life if he wanted to be the finest club user."
Tiberious looks down at Thaddeus's drink and says, "You're getting kinda low *hic* there. Let me top that off." He then pours some of the whiskey straight into his mug.
((Dreadstone would avoid being seen as much as possible, so he would stay with Arianna unless he had to.))
((Val tried to make it work!))
"Arianna used to be a prostitute at this bar years ago," Thaddeus says as he digs into his next drink. "As a matter of fact, that's how I met her. She was far kinder in those days. I don't know what turned her into such a mean-spirited person. Perhaps she never got over the man who left her to care for his child.
((Val tried to make it work!))
KittenMaster
Member
<I didn't get a chance for this to come up, but I figured Arianna would've said her name was Arianna Reyneel, and her child was studying overseas to stay safe from the war.>
DeadPhoenix
Member
Draco also decides to stick around after Thaddeus leaves, "Any chance you have any info on the Thieve's guild? I mean, in your line of work... as a priestess, I imagine you've meet few members in your time."
KittenMaster
Member
With only a few still around she shakes her head, "I'm afraid I've never heard of such a thing. Alydar has been a town of peace and prosperity since The Fall, and the city has been able to sustain itself separate of the Kingdom's authority."
DeadPhoenix
Member
"Haven't heard that one before..."
KittenMaster
Member
Meanwhile, the tenderess scouts the bar counter, and notices the two of you completely destroyed by your own indulgence. She says, "You look like you've had enough for tonight."
ThLunarian
Member
((Finding it hard to get into character right now but I don't want to hold the game up so I'll just do a summary-style post))
A thoroughly intoxicated Thaddeus listens in awe as Tiberious relays the tale of Kip the Club-Man, and shares a story of his own about the time he accidentally stole the wife of a troll by besting her husband in combat.
The rest of the evening is kind of a blur as the two carry on for a while, until finally they're told in no uncertain terms that it's time to go.
Thaddeus gets up and leaves the bar, somehow stumbling his way back to the disguised wagon, where he passes out face-down on the floor and doesn't wake up until morning.
A thoroughly intoxicated Thaddeus listens in awe as Tiberious relays the tale of Kip the Club-Man, and shares a story of his own about the time he accidentally stole the wife of a troll by besting her husband in combat.
The rest of the evening is kind of a blur as the two carry on for a while, until finally they're told in no uncertain terms that it's time to go.
Thaddeus gets up and leaves the bar, somehow stumbling his way back to the disguised wagon, where he passes out face-down on the floor and doesn't wake up until morning.
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Once Thaddeus makes it back to the wagon, Tiberious stumbles back to Ariana's place. Once inside he loudly proclaims "Mishin complete! Thad didn't hurt anyone. He's in the carriage." He then proceeds to face plant on the floor.
((Great RPing guys.))
Dreadstone sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose as Leo keels over before him. "Well, at least he kept Thaddeus out of trouble."
Turning to Draco and Arianna, he adds, "Not sure what t'do now, short of ridin' down Excalibur's throat t'make her choke on my black hide. But I doubt we could get anywhere near her..."
Dreadstone sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose as Leo keels over before him. "Well, at least he kept Thaddeus out of trouble."
Turning to Draco and Arianna, he adds, "Not sure what t'do now, short of ridin' down Excalibur's throat t'make her choke on my black hide. But I doubt we could get anywhere near her..."
KittenMaster
Member
<I assume everyone is ready to turn in for the night?>
DeadPhoenix
Member
"Yeah, not much progress being made here..."
KittenMaster
Member
Arianna states, "We have a guest bedroom. Lovegood can use my daughter's bed. You can simply toss your drunken friend onto the couch."
---
Even as night falls, the city is well lit with brilliant white light emitting from lamp poles spaced elegantly through the streets, allowing gold to reflect the lights brilliantly and the air seem lighter than it is; it gives the sense that the night is alive, and there is always somebody watching.
Checking his watch under a light, Caren Lambert quickens his pace to return to his home. Not that he has a mistress to attend to, but sleep begins only after business ends, and he yearns for the comfort of his desk to continue mathematical rituals analyzing financial trends.
Once arriving at his door, the man kneels at the door and begins to trace his finger at the crack, seemingly searching for something. It's still there, a hair carefully lodged over the frame of the door and the door itself, which would easily be destroyed by carelessly pulling the door; this means that nobody had sought to entertain breaking into his home through the front. However, for Caren Lambert this does not mean he is safe. He stands again, and reaches to pull a small pin from his jacket and begins prying his own lock with it. Satisfied that nobody had booby trapped his lock, he finally makes a check of the hinges to ensure that they were not modified in any way.
Such paranoia fills the man's life. Statistically, it is incredibly unlikely that somebody would be out to kill him, or want his things, but there is still that gaping fear that even just one day of carelessness will be taken advantage of; the day karma would mock abandoning everything he knew at that moment. He cannot let his ego take that.
Once he is finally inside, he makes a tour of his home, glancing around. Windows aren't broken. He looks through his cabinets, shelves, and under tables to scour for anything foreign. Once that is done, he finally makes his way to his desk where he first continues his through search.
Something is amiss.
He can feel something soft yet wrinkly as he pries the desk lock with his pin. Such a thing would not be here before, indicating somebody had tampered with his lock in some way. He leans down to gaze further, closing one eye as he squints, using the pin to leverage the object and pull it from the lock. He reveals to himself a small piece of paper. He quickly tosses it and his pin onto a flat surface and moves to collect some safety gloves; one cannot be certain what kind of poison that was laced into the paper. Even with the gloves he is not confident he is safe, he finds a cutting tool and begins slicing away the very edges of the paper as poison is often applied to where the hands are most likely to touch yet where the poison will not run ink (which in itself could be poison). Once the paper is cut up at the edges, he opens his leather case, full of documents and papers and uses some of the documents he has to collect the shredded edges onto his own paper. Finally, he discards all of the paper into the fireplace below.
Once that is all said and done, he is free to view the letter and reviews the objectives within. How predictable of a thing they want him to do, forcing such a high profile target upon him; a job is a job none of the less.
He moves into his kitchen, where a variety of potions are placed in his medicine cabinet. He takes these potions, all alchemy concoctions designed to heal and improve the well being of those that ingest it, and begins to combine, boil, introduce new materials, and whatnot to muck with the chemical compositions of such. His ultimate goal is to separate certain components of the potions so that he may use them for a different purpose. These potions contain many things critical to being part of a formula to help somebody, but an individual component can be used for just as deadlys of a chemical. Surely, it would be much easier to simply keep a stash of roots and herbs, but not in Alydar where only registered herbalists are allowed such things while these are over the counter potions; that, and it is a much more thrilling challenge this way to understand how different liquids and substances react, and to reverse engineer products in a very sneaky way.
After several hours, he has managed to separate chemicals for his own use, and begins to very carefully and deliberately mix them together to form a toxic substance.. all of this for a thin vial of poison. Once he is done, Caren collects the tool he will use to deliver the poison: a set of wires that he has.
---
When Thaddeus had collapsed in the wagon, he won't have realized that Dortumn, Curly, Curly's half-orc assistant, and Forrester have departed to find their own place of rest. Only the Kobold remains, prodding Thaddeus as he lays passed out. Suddenly Coka shrieks and cowers away, finding a little hole to squeeze into. An Alydaran high guard, a soldier in black full plate armor rimmed with gold hoists up Thaddeus though not violently and says to him while turning his face at his chin in assumption that he's out of the world, "Time to wake up, Sir Birchwood." Another guard approaches the Drow and inserts a syringe into the neck. Suddenly Thaddeus will be wide awake, his drunken state being healed. The guard gently sets Thaddeus back down and orders another guard, "Strip down. Captain's orders." The guard told to do so salutes, "Yes sir!" and removes his armor, and proceeds to toss his full armor (complete with a helmet), a battle axe, and a shield. All three of these share the same black and gold motif. The man states, "These are yours now."
---
The rest of you will be woken up by a series of loud thunderous booms fill the room you are in. Said explosive booms end before you can even wake to consider what they are. A man topples over on the floor, bleeding and with a vial rolling along the floor from escaping his grip.
Once you finally come to, and you are able to look up... you see a glimmering gold firearm steaming with thin white smoke, carried by someone in a well tailored black and gold trenchcoat. As you look up you see a familiar face looking before you. Once he sees that you are awake, Dorthlenne tells you, "If you want a chance to end this war with Excalibur, and earn your rightful innocence, I suggest you do everything I tell you."
---
Even as night falls, the city is well lit with brilliant white light emitting from lamp poles spaced elegantly through the streets, allowing gold to reflect the lights brilliantly and the air seem lighter than it is; it gives the sense that the night is alive, and there is always somebody watching.
Checking his watch under a light, Caren Lambert quickens his pace to return to his home. Not that he has a mistress to attend to, but sleep begins only after business ends, and he yearns for the comfort of his desk to continue mathematical rituals analyzing financial trends.
Once arriving at his door, the man kneels at the door and begins to trace his finger at the crack, seemingly searching for something. It's still there, a hair carefully lodged over the frame of the door and the door itself, which would easily be destroyed by carelessly pulling the door; this means that nobody had sought to entertain breaking into his home through the front. However, for Caren Lambert this does not mean he is safe. He stands again, and reaches to pull a small pin from his jacket and begins prying his own lock with it. Satisfied that nobody had booby trapped his lock, he finally makes a check of the hinges to ensure that they were not modified in any way.
Such paranoia fills the man's life. Statistically, it is incredibly unlikely that somebody would be out to kill him, or want his things, but there is still that gaping fear that even just one day of carelessness will be taken advantage of; the day karma would mock abandoning everything he knew at that moment. He cannot let his ego take that.
Once he is finally inside, he makes a tour of his home, glancing around. Windows aren't broken. He looks through his cabinets, shelves, and under tables to scour for anything foreign. Once that is done, he finally makes his way to his desk where he first continues his through search.
Something is amiss.
He can feel something soft yet wrinkly as he pries the desk lock with his pin. Such a thing would not be here before, indicating somebody had tampered with his lock in some way. He leans down to gaze further, closing one eye as he squints, using the pin to leverage the object and pull it from the lock. He reveals to himself a small piece of paper. He quickly tosses it and his pin onto a flat surface and moves to collect some safety gloves; one cannot be certain what kind of poison that was laced into the paper. Even with the gloves he is not confident he is safe, he finds a cutting tool and begins slicing away the very edges of the paper as poison is often applied to where the hands are most likely to touch yet where the poison will not run ink (which in itself could be poison). Once the paper is cut up at the edges, he opens his leather case, full of documents and papers and uses some of the documents he has to collect the shredded edges onto his own paper. Finally, he discards all of the paper into the fireplace below.
Once that is all said and done, he is free to view the letter and reviews the objectives within. How predictable of a thing they want him to do, forcing such a high profile target upon him; a job is a job none of the less.
He moves into his kitchen, where a variety of potions are placed in his medicine cabinet. He takes these potions, all alchemy concoctions designed to heal and improve the well being of those that ingest it, and begins to combine, boil, introduce new materials, and whatnot to muck with the chemical compositions of such. His ultimate goal is to separate certain components of the potions so that he may use them for a different purpose. These potions contain many things critical to being part of a formula to help somebody, but an individual component can be used for just as deadlys of a chemical. Surely, it would be much easier to simply keep a stash of roots and herbs, but not in Alydar where only registered herbalists are allowed such things while these are over the counter potions; that, and it is a much more thrilling challenge this way to understand how different liquids and substances react, and to reverse engineer products in a very sneaky way.
After several hours, he has managed to separate chemicals for his own use, and begins to very carefully and deliberately mix them together to form a toxic substance.. all of this for a thin vial of poison. Once he is done, Caren collects the tool he will use to deliver the poison: a set of wires that he has.
---
When Thaddeus had collapsed in the wagon, he won't have realized that Dortumn, Curly, Curly's half-orc assistant, and Forrester have departed to find their own place of rest. Only the Kobold remains, prodding Thaddeus as he lays passed out. Suddenly Coka shrieks and cowers away, finding a little hole to squeeze into. An Alydaran high guard, a soldier in black full plate armor rimmed with gold hoists up Thaddeus though not violently and says to him while turning his face at his chin in assumption that he's out of the world, "Time to wake up, Sir Birchwood." Another guard approaches the Drow and inserts a syringe into the neck. Suddenly Thaddeus will be wide awake, his drunken state being healed. The guard gently sets Thaddeus back down and orders another guard, "Strip down. Captain's orders." The guard told to do so salutes, "Yes sir!" and removes his armor, and proceeds to toss his full armor (complete with a helmet), a battle axe, and a shield. All three of these share the same black and gold motif. The man states, "These are yours now."
---
The rest of you will be woken up by a series of loud thunderous booms fill the room you are in. Said explosive booms end before you can even wake to consider what they are. A man topples over on the floor, bleeding and with a vial rolling along the floor from escaping his grip.
Once you finally come to, and you are able to look up... you see a glimmering gold firearm steaming with thin white smoke, carried by someone in a well tailored black and gold trenchcoat. As you look up you see a familiar face looking before you. Once he sees that you are awake, Dorthlenne tells you, "If you want a chance to end this war with Excalibur, and earn your rightful innocence, I suggest you do everything I tell you."
DeadPhoenix
Member
"Who the hell are you and what the fuck is going on now?"
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Leo sits up and rubs his head. "Explosions and ghosts? Ugh, I must have drank more than I thought."
KittenMaster
Member
"Who the hell am I? You ask? I'm sure you know me perfectly well. I'm out of bullets, that's who the hell I am." He slides the golden revolver back into a holster. "And I remember you vividly. You are the person that just pissed off the only man on this continent that knows how to enter Excalibur's base."
ThLunarian
Member
It is a strange sensation, being immediately cured of all alcoholic inebriation. Thaddeus's brain lags behind his biology, and he notes a strange desire to slur his speech.
"What izthe meaning of this?" he demands impotently, trying to make sense of it all. "Who are you and why have you invaded my wagon? Do you have a warrant? Why do you presume I am part of the city guard? Wait - how do you know my name?"
"What izthe meaning of this?" he demands impotently, trying to make sense of it all. "Who are you and why have you invaded my wagon? Do you have a warrant? Why do you presume I am part of the city guard? Wait - how do you know my name?"
KittenMaster
Member
The guards look between each other, and one reaches under his belt and tosses Thaddeus a document.
It is a documented order to find Thaddeus Birchwood, a Drow Paladin of Heironeous currently in the city, and get him equipped upon recovery.
<+3 Battleaxe (or whatever the one handed martial axe was), +3 Full Plate, +2 Steel Light Shield>
It is a documented order to find Thaddeus Birchwood, a Drow Paladin of Heironeous currently in the city, and get him equipped upon recovery.
<+3 Battleaxe (or whatever the one handed martial axe was), +3 Full Plate, +2 Steel Light Shield>
Dreadstone retires to the bedroom and sits in the edge of the bed. Gnaw leaps on top of the bed beside him, and promptly begins to soil Ariannas comforter by rolling around on top of it with gusto. Dreadstone makes a mental note to offer to reimburse the cleric for the costs of having it thoroughly cleaned to remove the smell of filthy dog.
With his augmented vision, theres no need for the tiefling to light the lantern on the nightstand. He can see just as well in the absence of light as he does in full daylight. Hed always considered his sight to be an asset, but only recently does he realize that the knowing the comfort of darkness is just one more thing thats been denied to him his entire life. Nothing is hidden from him by shadows, his is the burden of always knowing exactly what dangers are lurking while others are at liberty to carry on, oblivious to their surroundings.
Sighing, Dreadstone closes his eyes and sits upright, trying to find a place within that has long since been forgotten. He has not been on his own, not to this extent, for years. Even as an outcast of society in Ruby Keep, he was at least not being actively pursued by the authorities like this. Sure, he has Gnaw, Draco, Thaddeus, and Leo, but they are a far cry from the fraternity of the ranger corps back in the day.
Part of being a ranger was being taught the use of magic. Dreadstone had no particular affinity for the stuff, but neither did he have an aversion. He was simply a practical man who preferred to do things the less complicated way. But in these troubled times, he would need to fall back on every trick he had ever learned. In the quiet of the guest room, he brings to mind an assortment of spells that he feels might be useful in the day to come.
((Cant update the sheet right now, but hes changing up to Gravity Bow, Delay Poison, and Summon Natures Ally II))
---
Dreadstone is roused to immediate alertness as booming explosions rip through Ariannas home. The sight of Dorthlennes smoking firearm is the one thing that stays Dreadstones hand in reaching for his bow and quiver to drop the elven engineer where he stands. Why should we listen tyou? he spits. Thought you anher were in cahoots together.
With his augmented vision, theres no need for the tiefling to light the lantern on the nightstand. He can see just as well in the absence of light as he does in full daylight. Hed always considered his sight to be an asset, but only recently does he realize that the knowing the comfort of darkness is just one more thing thats been denied to him his entire life. Nothing is hidden from him by shadows, his is the burden of always knowing exactly what dangers are lurking while others are at liberty to carry on, oblivious to their surroundings.
Sighing, Dreadstone closes his eyes and sits upright, trying to find a place within that has long since been forgotten. He has not been on his own, not to this extent, for years. Even as an outcast of society in Ruby Keep, he was at least not being actively pursued by the authorities like this. Sure, he has Gnaw, Draco, Thaddeus, and Leo, but they are a far cry from the fraternity of the ranger corps back in the day.
Part of being a ranger was being taught the use of magic. Dreadstone had no particular affinity for the stuff, but neither did he have an aversion. He was simply a practical man who preferred to do things the less complicated way. But in these troubled times, he would need to fall back on every trick he had ever learned. In the quiet of the guest room, he brings to mind an assortment of spells that he feels might be useful in the day to come.
((Cant update the sheet right now, but hes changing up to Gravity Bow, Delay Poison, and Summon Natures Ally II))
---
Dreadstone is roused to immediate alertness as booming explosions rip through Ariannas home. The sight of Dorthlennes smoking firearm is the one thing that stays Dreadstones hand in reaching for his bow and quiver to drop the elven engineer where he stands. Why should we listen tyou? he spits. Thought you anher were in cahoots together.
KittenMaster
Member
Dorthlenne looks to Dreadstone and turns to face him, "You'll just be wasting your time if you kill me again.. You've very much ruined whatever business relationship I had with the woman's army, not that it matters anymore as I didn't care much for her cause to begin with. It was just that: business. What matters now is that I am the captain of the Alydaran Guard, and I am about to take up the operation that the Keep had begin."
KittenMaster
Member
Dorthlenne simply shrugs, "Very well. Continue to be wanted criminals. After all, Marcallus Billem is still dead and eventually the news will spread to the East about your apparent assassination to him, not to mention that even if people see that Rosina Montague, AKA Lovegood, is still alive, they will simply assume you are the captors that set up that ransom. Meanwhile I'm sure Excalibur will find a way to use the pool of the gods to crush the kingdom from below and it was all for naught, and that's not to mention nothing was done about the Thieve's Guild!"
Axelhortsemchi
Member
Having had a few minutes to recover from shock, Leo is mostly back to his usual, overly trusting self.
"All right, any help sounds good to me right about now. I am curious though, how'd you become captain of Alydar's guard?"
"All right, any help sounds good to me right about now. I am curious though, how'd you become captain of Alydar's guard?"
DeadPhoenix
Member
"No. Nononono, no. We keep jumping into this shit half cocked like idiots and no explanation and shit goes horribly wrong. Either you explain what the fuck is going on, and I mean EVERYTHING going on, or get the fuck out of my town!"