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Post by Ossular on May 8, 2019 22:42:27 GMT
Orin would look down to the silver coins being slid back across the table. She understood generosity and the situation- at least to the cause of the lack of payment- and she appreciated the ale, but while he turned, she simply slid them to her other side, closer to the wife, and didn't take them back. She would at least pay for the ale in some form, hiding them behind her elbow as she leaned forward slightly.
"Thank you," she would pick up the tankard set before her, looking into it. It didn't seem like anything special, honestly, but ale was ale and Orin was thirsty. The eladrin would look at it for a moment, as Gyleon spoke of the wierdos, and she would left the ale to her lips, tilting it back. Slowly, at first, but she didn't stop. Never found a body. Never found any signs of physical evidence. That clearly meant it was magic, right? Well, in her experience? Not all of the time, but Kara had already asked her question, and Orin was still drinking.
The big gray one? Maybe a half-orc or goliath of some kind? The small brown one, maybe a dward, going by the name. It sounded like a dwarf, at least, though might also be a literally small race, too- maybe a halfling? The kid- Wentz?- well, she didn't know outside of 'kid'. Solstice asked the next question, and it was answered as Orin still drank, head tilting a little further back, the ale going faster. Wentz, this kid, disappeared how long ago, now? Interesting. With as many children disappearing, you'd think it would have attracted adventurers a bit sooner than twenty-four years.
Orin would set her mug down with a small wipe of her mouth across the back of her hand, though it was nowhere near the amount she watched the kenku spill all over themselves. The general outrage struck Orin as weird, and she was sure that could have very well been his first time drinking ale. There would have been a small chuckle if there wasn't a slightly greater amount of concern. "Maybe... water would help?" she would offer, looking back over to Gyleon before tilting her head toward Quill. "Would water help down there?" she'd ask Quill, a small amount of concern coming from her, though she didn't move, not wanting to overwhelm him.
Either way that whole situation played out, Orin would ponder for a brief moment before standing back up. "Right, so- the fancy house at the end of the street?" she'd shrug to Kara, making sure it sounded good to her as well.
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on May 8, 2019 22:54:35 GMT
The reaction from Gyleon and Jess was telling, even before the man beside Solstice spoke up. She was hoping to speak with him anyway, so she was certainly going to listen to what he had to say. Nodding, she cast a sympathetic gaze to the couple and her voice grew quiet and gentle. Even the kenku's antics couldn't prevent her more subdued tone and demeanor. "I'm sorry, that's a hard turn for anyone to bear. Your town deserves better than this." Glancing back to the man, the firbolg grows thoughtful. "If there's anything news to give you fine folk, I'll gladly seek it. One last thing, will those folk speak with us? Are they welcoming to outsiders?"
As Kara hauled Quill outside and Orin followed, the firbolg raised an eyebrow and pushed away from the bar. She glanced an apologetic smile at the locals. "Speaking of work, excuse me...." She wasn't quite sure what that was about, but Solstice wasn't about to be the only one remaining in the tavern when there was work to be done.
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Post by moralhazard on May 8, 2019 23:04:37 GMT
Kara left Solstice and Orin to deal with Gyleon and his wife and to question the others in the tavern if they so desired. They both struck her as better than she would be at such a task. Instead, without any sign of hesitation, Kara did something that her work as a bouncer had left her very experienced with. She reached over to the coughing, screaming kenku, hoisted him effortlessly off of the stool, and carried him outside.
Kara set the kenku down on the ground outside the tavern. She unhooked the waterskin from her bag, handed it to him, and looked firmly down at him (not something the small human got to do very often). She crossed her arms over her chest, a deep frown creasing her face. No adventurer who made jokes like the kenku had earlier would have so much trouble with an ale. Something was wrong here, and Kara meant to find out what it was, and now.
“Explain.” Kara said.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 9, 2019 0:35:30 GMT
Quill was only a little aware of what was going on around him as he continued to kick his legs, flail his arms, and scream. His eyes were still pressed shut. It burned-burned! He thought he heard the new tall-tall lady say something at his side. Something about water and fancy-fancy houses and streets, but what he heard more than anything was ‘help’. Help! He needed helps! Much helps! Many helps! It burned-burned! Before the kenku could so much as nod, though, he felt himself grabbed, lifted, and then carried off by…someone. The new tall-tall lady? His friend-friend? Or, or maybe…maybe the kidnappers! His heart thumped as he began to thrash around even harder. He was no big-big adult, he was a kid, and now they knew that, and he was going gone-gone too! Quill screamed some more.
Help!
It was only once he had felt his feet touch the ground did Quill dig his talons into the dirt, shake his head, shut his beak, and then open his eyes. His vision was blurry. His throat was raw as much from the drink as his screaming. The someone who had grabbed him, though, was a familiar someone. Short tall-tall lady! With…something? Eager talons snatched up the waterskin as the apprentice poured its contents down his throat, stamping his feet as the liquid, water, soothed his throat and washed away what remained of the real-real adventurer potion. Good-good water! The kenku clicked his beak and looked up. His shoulders sagged. He was happy to not be going gone-gone, but the look on the lady’s face was not happy too but…bad-bad. Maybe angry? Disappointed? She only said one word.
Explain.
Quill’s heart thumped even louder. He opened his beak and cocked his head to the side, ready to mimic the mercenary again, but the voice caught in his still sore throat. He clicked his beak. He offered the waterskin back to the lady. And then he cried. Tears dripped down the sides of his face as the kenku, throwing the waterskin to the ground, leapt forward and wrapped his talons around the short tall-tall lady’s stomach. He buried his beak into the bulk of her cold armor. He was no big-big adult! The potion had hurt him, so he was no real-real adventurer either! His head just hurt and he was a little scared-scared and he wanted to do the good-good stuff but it was hard! It was very hard!
He mimicked words, between sobs, from something the Gyleon guy had said earlier.
“Never. Big.”
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Post by moralhazard on May 9, 2019 0:51:26 GMT
Insight: qY0nleUq1d20
Kara kept her arms crossed over her chest as the kenku finished chugging the waterskin with the desperation of a man dying of thirst and looked up at her. He opened his beak, shut it again, offered her the waterskin back, and – burst into tears?
Kara’s eyes went wide, and her arms dropped from her chest as she stared, confused and a little bit afraid, down at the sobbing kenku. He dropped the waterskin, which Kara hadn’t even thought about taking, and flung himself forward. Kara tensed, ready for anything; her hands clenched into fists, and she was ready to break his grip, shove him to the ground, lift her glaive and – no, it wasn’t an attack, Kara realized at the last possible moment. He appeared to be… clinging to her and sobbing desperately, like a child.
Kara stood very still, doing her best to process the situation. She had no idea what was going on. Slowly, mostly because she hoped rather desperately it would help him stop crying, she patted the kenku’s back. What did never big mean? He was too small to fight? Kara frowned. She was an odd person to complain to about that.
No, she didn’t think that made sense. He’d started getting upset when he drank the beer. Before that he’d been making jokes and… all sorts of stuff. Weird, inappropriate jokes, but jokes. And now he was sobbing like a child. Kara patted the kenku’s back again, making a sort of rubbing motion with her hand. No. She couldn’t figure it out.
“… What are you, then?” Kara asked, very tentatively. 1d20
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Post by Ossular on May 10, 2019 19:22:03 GMT
"Small," Orin's voice would answer Kara's tentative question quietly, politely. She had turned, earlier, to say something to Kara, only to realize that Kara wasn't actually there, having moved down the bar to help the kenku. She nodded to the firbolg companion, and as Solstice moved to ask about the possibility of visiting the house, Orin would follow Kara out of the tavern door, easy enough to track thanks to the kenku. It's not like they had gone far either way.
"Looking at the way they're clinging?" Orin would look around, taking another gander outside the tavern at the... ghost town. "They're young. Small. A child. Right?" Orin wasn't mad- more concerned now. "But-" Orin would take a small step up, then crouch down, some of her armor shifting against each other as she got down to Quill's level. "-children can still be brave." Honestly, at this point? Now knowing that they brought a child to a town where children were getting kidnapped? It added another layer of complexity to the entire situation. Was Gyleon this desperate for people to help that he would endanger other children?
She would inhale, thinking back on everything that had happened. Gyleon didn't seem like he knew- hell, Orin hadn't known until now, even- but everything else made a bit more sense, at least in terms of the reaction to the alcohol. She remembered her first reaction to ale- grog- flip- any kind of alcohol, really. It wasn't pleasant. It never was, for anyone, really.
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Post by enchilada on May 16, 2019 19:42:34 GMT
The three around the bar looked at each other, trying to find words in each other’s minds. Finally, Gyleon decided to speak.
“They are very friendly, they always were. They also kept to themselves, but I never got the impression they’d turn anyone away. It could be different now, but that’s really up to you to find out, now.”
Then there was some silence, as the people inside watched Quill. The group returned to murmuring, the man returned to his dinner, and Gyleon shook his head and buried it in an embrace with his wife. She just shrugged and held him. Have faith.
Everyone make a perception check if you are outside
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Post by Ossular on May 16, 2019 19:51:03 GMT
Orin's Perception Check: Fy8xBncG1d20+21d20+2
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on May 16, 2019 19:51:11 GMT
"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Solstice nodded with a grateful smile before following her companions out of the tavern. She could probably think of more questions, but perhaps it was best to just get on with it and meet said folk.
As the last one to step outside, Solstice was the least informed and perhaps the most confused. She nodded to the others, though her curiosity and concern lingered on Quill. His state could hardly go unnoticed, and she crouched down to have a better look, blue eyes alight with sympathy and her usually merry voice now gentle. She doesn't need every detail shared to know that there's someone in pain and want to alleviate it somehow. Kara had done right in taking him out first,
"I don't know what I missed, but if you need a moment, it's alright. We can give you that much, I think. Just breathe, aye?"
Orin's words sunk in and her eyebrows raised. She hadn't met kenku in person before, so discerning their ages wasn't a strong point of hers, but now that it had been pointed out, she could see it. "A child? Is that true, lad? No judgment, just be honest with us."
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on May 16, 2019 19:52:34 GMT
Perception check: 7ytmkuMr1d20+31d20+3
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Post by moralhazard on May 16, 2019 19:54:44 GMT
Perception check: _7_BHD171d20+31d20+3
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Post by enchilada on May 16, 2019 19:59:59 GMT
Someone in the house, the big nice one, moved from one room to another, taking the light with them. If they hadn’t done that, you might not have caught them looking at you from the window, just briefly, before heading away from it. All you see is a silhouette.
Solstice wasn’t out in time to see that, but she definitely remembered the light being in a different window when she first arrived to the town.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 17, 2019 9:35:13 GMT
Quill continued to cry. No big-big adult. No real-real adventurer. No good-good stuff. Each thought repeated in his head, louder than the last, and his stomach felt queasy again. He wanted to go home! Now! This was a bad-bad mistake. He was going to get into much-much trouble and everything was really scary and – the apprentice twitched, feathers fluffing up, as he felt something rub against his back. And he was going gone-gone again! He pressed his face more into the short tall-tall lady’s chest and cried even harder at that. He clicked his beak, though, and slackened his grip around her stomach as the something began to move back and forth. Quill cooed.
It was…nice.
Familiar, even. Kind of like what his Mom would always do whenever he got scared-scared or stubbed his talon on a rock. Good-good memories! One sob. A second. A sniffle. Eventually, wiping a talon across his beak and smearing his nose clear, Quill quieted down enough to hear the people talking around him. The other tall-tall ladies had joined them. He opened his eyes, stepped back, and gave all three of them a wide, wet, and frightened look. Young? Small-small? Child? He sniffled again. Then…he nodded.
Yes. Never. Big. He was a small-small kid. Quill rubbed his eyes. The new tall-tall lady, though, had also said something about being brave-brave. He was no big-big adult, no real-real adventurer, but…he could still be brave-brave, right? Even without a real-real adventurer potion. Quill wrung his talons. His Uncle had called him brave once too – when he had tried climbing a really big bookcase in the tower library to get a book from on top. The librarian had called him foolish instead, but his Uncle was a good-good wizard. Smart-smart! Smarter than that mean librarian, at least. So, that must mean…he was brave-brave! His stomach still churned, and his heart thumped, but Quill puffed out his chest once more. He sniffled and held a talon upward. The other gripped tight on his pouch strap. He mimicked the high-pitched but cheerful voice of his Mom.
“Quill!”
He then looked down, shuffled his feet, and looked back up. He added the new tall-tall lady’s voice.
“Brave-brave Quill!”
(I'll forgo the Perception check, if that's okay! Since Quill was, y'know, balling his eyes out into Kara's chest at the time.)
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Post by moralhazard on May 17, 2019 13:58:03 GMT
The kenku clinging to her made a cooing sort of noise, and Kara - kept rubbing, slowly stroking her hand down his feathers, once, then again, then again, almost petting him like she would a cat. It was - sort of soothing, actually, for her too, even if the whole situation was incredibly awkward.
Kara looked up to see Orin had followed her outside, and - even more importantly - answered her question. Small. She looked at the kenku clinging to her. Her hand made more stroking motions. Yes; Orin was right. Kara had seen earlier that he was clinging to her like a child, but she hadn’t understood it.
All the same, Kara couldn’t have been said to be enjoying herself. The kenku’s sobs seemed to be stopping, so she kept rubbing, but looked - anywhere else, searching the town for some way to distract herself.
There: in the window of the big nice home, someone moved. They were home. Kara narrowed her eyes, looking at it.
It wasn’t a moment later that the kenku let go of her and stepped back. Orin and Solstice were back now, and Kara wanted nothing so much as to let them deal with this. Orin seemed like she would be good at such things; Kara knew Solstice was. But then - she hadn’t - Kara hadn’t done too badly. Had she? The kenku wasn’t still crying anyway.
This new voice was different - he sounded much like Orin. Kara frowned, not exactly sure what was going on, but more or less happy to let it go. Quill wasn’t crying, he had said he would be brave, and he was - a child.
They had brought a child to a town where children were being kidnapped and vanishing.
Kara looked down at Quill. She crouched a little to put her eyes at Quill’s height, and reached into one pocket, emerging with one of the signal whistles she had bought.
“If you need help,” Kara said, looking at Quill, “you blow this.” Kara hoped Quill could use a whistle; she wanted to see him try. “Like this,” Kara lifted the whistle and blew a sharp blast, then handed it to Quill for him to try.
“Blow it, and I will come,” Kara said, firmly. There was a core of hard steel in her voice; it was a promise she wouldn’t break, whatever it took. However - whyever - Quill was here. Kara would do whatever it took to protect him, at any cost. That vow she swore to Helm himself.
Once the issue of the whistle was settled, Kara would rise back up from her slight crouch. She looked at Orin and Solstice, then to the house. “They’re home,” Kara said.
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Post by Ossular on May 17, 2019 17:24:57 GMT
The eladrin would watch as the kenku nodded, a small curve still across her lips as the three women stood before Quill. That was the kenku's name: Quill. It fit, Orin decided. "Quill," she'd repeat, not expecting to hear her voice mimicked so perfectly and clearly.
Is that what she sounded like in this life? Orin subconsciously decided that she didn't sound Elvish at all. Maybe that's how Amafreya picked her out as "unique" when she first came to Silverymoon? Either way, though, the eladrin's head would tilt to the side, just slightly. Kenku must have had the ability to mimic the voices they heard, phrases they've said. It made sense, really, having heard the more deep voice of what was probably some grown-up human man, then now this other voice when he introduced himself, and then her voice on top of it.
The curve would transform into a full smile at the quick thought of Citrine meeting Quill. The accent. The exchanges that could happen. However, the thought was quickly dashed- Orin would never introduce a child to Citrine! That would be irresponsible, reckless and an all around bad idea. She loved Citrine, but the last thing she needed was Quill running around, yelling something along the lines of "whut dae ye' mean ye've ne'er tried whiskey?! It's nae tha' alcuholic!" or some variant of the sort. So that would have to wait. Besides, there was something a bit more important going on here.
While that thought had happened, a sharp whistle jostled the eladrin back into reality, her ears flattening at the sudden piercing sound next to her. She had stood up at some point of the thought, though she would agree with what he had said. "Brave-brave Quill." She figured it was implied that the three of them would come to the whistle if they heard it, with the eladrin quietly agreeing. She would turn to the house as Kara pointed out that they were home.
"I'd hope so," the eladrin would look at Kara with a nod. "They're about the one lead we have as to what's going on here. Shall we?" she'd ask, then start moving forward with the group. As they moved, though, a question, to Solstice, who was dressed in a similar fashion to herself. Armor. Circular shield with a design of nature.
"If this comes off as-" a quick pause- "awkward, I'm sorry, but I realized we have a similar kind of array, sort to speak," Orin would raise her own circular shield with the elvish branches of inlaid mithril up and down a little bit. "Are you a knight of some kind of order?"
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