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Post by Kai Wren on Jun 20, 2019 7:05:31 GMT
“Well, yes.” Mr. Finch replied, one eyebrow raised archly. “It’s a tragedy, but I’m a merchant, not a vigilante.”
He gave a non-committal grunt to Miri’s more diplomatic explanation, and then sighed as the trio disappeared, leaving him with Crucible and Stanton. “Alright then.” He said, “Let’s get to work.”
And the others did just that, heading off into the village to see what else might be going on.
The decrepit shack they had passed once on the way to the waterwheel, but they’d been quite focused on getting to Mr. Finch’s place of business. On closer inspection, it seemed pretty large for being so ramshackle; irregularly shaped planks and pieces of wood laid and nailed haphazardly together in order to make something approaching a place to lay one’s head.
The appearance of the place wasn’t improved by the winding, creeping plant life which has entwined itself throughout the structure.
(I’ll take quick perception checks from y’all)
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Post by moralhazard on Jun 20, 2019 7:31:09 GMT
Perception for Miri: PjIisSHQ1d20+21d20+2
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Jarovbees
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Playing: Solstice (Paladin 6)/Umbrae (Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4)/Avren Wands (Rogue 2/Sorcerer 1)
Posts: 706
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Post by Jarovbees on Jun 20, 2019 14:39:42 GMT
Perception check: nukPllCs1d20+21d20+2
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Kestrel
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Posts: 319
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Post by Kestrel on Jun 20, 2019 17:05:13 GMT
Perception check!: aap8X_K01d20+4 1d20+4
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Post by Kai Wren on Jun 20, 2019 18:59:09 GMT
(Okay, Warden hears muttering coming from inside the shack; she can't understand the language, but there's someone in there, sounds old and female)
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jun 20, 2019 19:25:03 GMT
Warden had seen similar structures in the Field Ward; to call them buildings was being generous, almost to the point of delusion. She trusted their integrity as much as the current structure, which was to say not at all. Tilting her head, Warden narrowed her eyes as the muttering reached her. The language escaped her, to her frustration, but the fact that someone was there at all was...something of note. She glanced to her companions, lowering her voice.
"Someone's inside...sounds like an old woman, but I can't make out the language. Maybe she'll have something to tell us."
Or maybe she was just a crazy old hermit who would give them nothing to go on, same as before. Either way, the paladin always felt better taking action, so she stepped forward to knock, hoping that alone wouldn't cause the decrepit shack to fall apart around them.
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Post by moralhazard on Jun 20, 2019 20:52:12 GMT
Miri clasped Warden’s shoulder, as best as she could through the paladin’s armor, squeezing in a way that she hoped would be felt. She didn’t say anything, just smiled. She turned back at the sound of footsteps behind them, and grinned at Echo. “Oh, good,” Miri said, cheerfully. “Crucible offered to do all the work, then?” She winked at the tabaxi.
“The shack sounds good,” Miri agreed, wandering close and examining it, her attention wandering a little., What an odd place, Miri thought; Warden was right, it was a bit unusual for a little village like this to have let itself go so badly. Normally, if these people could spare the energy, they were all about prettying up their little houses and their drab little lives.
The shack was surprisingly large, and Warden had evidently heard signs of something inside. Miri let the tiefling approach the front and knock and, characteristically, made her way quietly around the back, checking for other entrances and exits, or any views inside.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on Jun 23, 2019 6:07:47 GMT
“Yeah! He, uh, told me to go with you guys instead.”
Quickly spotting and catching up with the other two caravan guards, Echo, arm still wrapped around one shoulder, returned Miri’s wink with a shrug and fell into stride on the other side of Warden. She sighed as they began to (thank the moon and stars!) move away from the waterwheel. Though…not very far away from the actual river. Unfortunately. The tabaxi, eyes on the ground, flipped her hood back up. Like, super unfortunately. Echo frowned as she listened to their tiefling.
“Right. Because why would any of us, like, want to go to the nice, safe tavern?”
Echo kicked a pebble as she muttered to herself, tail dragging through the grass and dirt behind her. It even had the cool stuffed deer…thing! Awful, deep, and liquidy insecurities aside, it just seemed like a pretty awesome place! As Warden mentioned voices, the treasure hunter looked up, cocked her head, and then squinted. Not, like, that sorry bit of work. The shack they had reached was…still standing? Kinda? Somehow. That was about the best thing Echo could say about it, though. It was made of bits of poorly placed wood, some pieces more stick-like than anything else, and, even if it was pretty big, there were about as many holes in it as a beggar’s sock. Guess it was…not every windy here, then.
Like, at all. Hope no one had to sneeze!
Unfortunately, that also meant that the tabaxi could just catch the glitter and shine of the river on the other side of the shack. She pulled her hood lower. Echo then watched as Miri began to slink around to the other side of the sack, but she shuffled up and stayed next to Warden herself. It was a good idea! The slinking bit. It was just…closer to the river, too. Her ears perked as a fist rapped against wood.
“Should you, uh, be doing that? Knocking, I mean.”
Echo gave Warden a sideways look.
“I feel like if I breathe too hard it’s gonna come down.”
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Post by Kai Wren on Jun 23, 2019 9:46:36 GMT
Inside, the muttering came to a stop as the door was rapped on. For a long moment, nothing happened at all, and then, slowly, the door creaked open. There was a faint glimmering sheen of magic over the doorway, and on the other side there stood a short, squat, round woman. Probably human, but ancient, and dressed in sturdy, hardwearing and very practical clothing. Within, the expansive space gave way to all manner of drying herbs and spices, racks upon racks of poultices and jars. The old woman puffed on a pipe, but the smoke failed to cross the threshold. From the laugh lines etched onto her ancient features, she was a woman who had experienced much mirth in her day. Now, though, her expression was one of pure scepticism. “You’re not another bunch from a church, are you?” She demanded of the three women clustered on her doorstep. “I told the last young man he can bugger off, and I’ll say it to you too. Ain’t got time for Gods. If they wanted us to bother ‘em all the time, they wouldn’t have given us hands to solve our own problems with.”
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jun 23, 2019 14:14:18 GMT
"'Safe'? I'm not sure I'd call a room full of hostile locals that." Warden remembered how some of them glared, and she didn't doubt for a moment that some might want to work off their frustrations by using the newcomers as punching bags. She shrugged at Echo's question, realizing the same a moment too late. "Shit, you've a good point--" And then the door opened.
Skepticism she could work with, it was better than hostility. Warden shook her head at the old squat woman greeting them, not disagreeing and not about to get sidetracked. There were greater issues at stake. She spoke with calm civility, more than capable of managing that despite her display at the waterwheel.
"Nope, we're not with any church. We were hired to guard a caravan, that's all. Though speaking of problems, that's why we stopped by. We've heard about disappearances and odd behavior, and I'm hoping you can give us a better picture of what's going on. Can you spare a bit to fill us in? We'd be grateful, if you could."
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jun 23, 2019 14:15:06 GMT
Persuasion check: QpRd1rr|1d20+31d20+3
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Post by moralhazard on Jun 23, 2019 20:10:56 GMT
The door creaked open before Miri had made it even part of the way around the hut. She paused, and walked back just as casually, as if she’d merely been stretching her legs before the door opened and smiled at the woman in a friendly way as Warden opened the door.
“Stanton at the mill, he says nothing’s wrong, but just from looking around, we weren't so sure,” Miri said. “Maybe there’s something we can do, and maybe not,” Miri shrugged, guessing that the woman was the sort who would appreciate directness. She wasn’t quite so sure their little adventuring party really had what it took to fix… whatever this was, particularly if it was just weird paranoia on the part of the village. “But we’d like to try, if you’re willing to talk with us.” Miri figured that as long as she mentally included being paid as part of what would determine, in fact, whether or not she could, the sentence was – technically – true.
((Miri uses help! Warden gets another roll, I think))
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jun 23, 2019 21:17:27 GMT
F1Gyr2rx1d20+31d20+3
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on Jun 24, 2019 17:08:06 GMT
Wow! The shack was okay! Echo cocked her head, hand on one hip. Nothing, like, even fell off! That was something. Instead, there was some muffled shuffling on the other side of the door. A bit of silence. Then, with a shrill creak, the door swung open, and-
“Ah!”
Echo took a step back, eyes wide, and yelped. By the Cat Lord’s swishing tail, what in the Nine Hell’s was that? Standing in the doorway was a…lady? Maybe? She supposed! The Maybe Lady was short, even shorter than Echo, and so squat, round, and plump that it was hard for the tabaxi to decide: small human, tall and hairless dwarf, or the biggest dang halfling she had ever seen? The lady’s face was also lined with so many deep wrinkles that it seemed more leather-like than actual skin. She eyed the three of them carefully, asking if they were from some kind of church (the road church guy’s church, maybe?) and ranting about the gods. Realizing her, uh, initial reaction, Echo cleared her throat, rubbed the back of her neck, and then gave the Maybe Lady a grin.
“Yeah! What they said! Churches are boring.”
Not that caravan guarding was all that much better, really. Dirtier, too! Still, it seemed like her two companions had the talking bit down, so the treasure hunter just waited at the side, hands fidgeting with her scarf, and looked around. The inside of the shack seemed interesting - pieces of weird dried herbs and jars of colorful liquids. Though…she still found herself peeking back at the lady every few seconds.
Because, like, seriously! What even was she?
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Insight check, I guess? Just if Echo notices anything odd about her!
Insight check: aL253XbR1d20+4 1d20+4
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Post by Kai Wren on Jun 25, 2019 17:35:51 GMT
The old woman looked unsure at first, but as the other two spoke, they seemed to lend credence to Warden’s words… even if she wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, that had the tabaxi so startled and distressed. Her gaze lingered on Echo for a few long moments, the old woman’s eyes sharp and clever, before she grunted and waved her hand. “Stanton’s an idiot. If the boy had any brains in his head he’d be dangerous.”
The barrier glimmering barely perceptibly across the doorway vanished, and she shuffled back inside, finding the one rocking chair in the room and lowering her bulk into it with a groan of protesting wood. She continued to puff on her pipe, and gestured vaguely to the haphazard arrangement of stools and pillows which seemed to pass for furniture in the cluttered shack.
“Can’t rightly say I know what all’s been going on.” She said, “Something changed in town a while back. Something in the air, maybe, or the water. Folks got strange. Possessive. Argumentative. Most of the good ones have left by now. But I brought these people into the world. I’m not going to leave. Too old anyhow.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Can’t imagine what you’re going to do though. Sometimes a place is just cursed. It’ll pass, or it won’t.”
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