Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

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AleBelly
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Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#1 Post by AleBelly »

In group:
Angus
Arnulf
Hyde
Chet
Yenny
Watt
Goranth
Ernest
Dandelion
Galan
Sagthistle


The party, rising at dawn, gets their things in order. Angus has retrieved two message scrolls from the sage in town. His travels through the city were unnerving given the bounty on their heads, but he faces no danger.

Goranth joins the crew to search for the lair, determined to redeem himself. They bid farewell to Tempus, who takes precautions to secure he and Clarence as they brave the cottage alone. Galan seems unsure if he will join or not.

As they begin to leave, two men approach them in the morning light. One is tall, about six and a half feet. Ring mail glints from beneath his cloak. Heavy boots offer protection from the cold.

The other is a few inches taller than Hyde. He is slight of build and sports studded leather armor. A ten foot pole is strapped to his back. He is more pleasant to look at than his taller companion.

They both sport full backpacks, ready for adventure.

Date: 14 Culling, Year 42
Time: 06:00
Conditions: 41°F, NW breeze 8 mph bringing grey clouds
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: Sun
Intended Direction of Travel: 155 degree bearing to the dragon lair
Injuries: None
Last edited by AleBelly on Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#2 Post by Zhym »

Angus bows. "Howdy there, tall stranger and...uh, other feller. Welcome to the Unorthodox Problem Solvers. I'm Angus. Woodsman for hire, though truth to tell I ain't been hired to fell a tree in a fair spell. I'm bossy, so I'm told, and a general pain in the ass. That over there's Hyde. Yeah, he's a half-orc. He frets about whether folks don't like him on account of that, but he's a good egg. Chubby kid's Arnulf. Might look like he'd as soon crap his pants as fight, and, well, that's been known to happen, but the boy's got some serious mystical mojo. Hideous dude in the robe holding a trident is Chet. He like to punch things. The redhead in the designer armor's Dandelion. Got her a knack for killing things without mussing up her hair. The gnome with the fancy clockwork symbol's Yenny. She's a priestess of Veles. Goranth and Sagthistle there are new, so I ain't got much to say about them yet, but they seem like decent enough folk."

He looks at those assembled. Nine adventurers, counting himself (assuming I haven't forgotten anyone), but with some so green they might still be unsure which end of the sword is the pointy one. 'Course, that's true of himself too, he reckons, as far as using a sword goes. Still, he ponders sadly, he'd have put his money on Ilfrien against all four of them combined. Thinking about the elf, he rests a hand on Leddilir. "We done figured out a way yet for more'n one of us to get underwater without drowning?" he asks. "Or for more'n a few minutes?"

The woodsman turns his attention to Targus's letters. "Y'all reckon I should open one of these now? What with two copies, we could send one ahead and take another ourselves, like we did with Jorbin's message. We'll just send the, uh, raven..." Angus's voice drifts off as he realizes they're without a messenger bird or a druid.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#3 Post by enn.in.me »

Yenny looks up as the newcomers arrive-especially up at the tall one. "Looks like your just in time for a refreshing dip. We'll see how that goes. What do you bring to UPS?" She looks over to Angus, "You don't do so badly on introductions yourself, for an axe-for-hire. Nice to see you chatting in full sentences. Does seem like we should know what message we're sending--I'd hate to walk into a trap. Not sure how we can send the message quickly, but I'm sure something will come up. Always does. Kind of like halflings."


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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#5 Post by mjulius »

My name’s Earnest Ernest and I heard you’re huntin’ a lizard..
He grins widely, nods stupidly and perhaps a little too long at Yenny, then looks perplexed.
What’s with the message? You aim to mail it a letter?
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#6 Post by onlyme »

Dandelion curtsies, and smiles as she says,


"Welcome. I believe the message is for good people of the Sambords. And we are the ones who brave hail and sleet to deliver.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#7 Post by ybn1197 »

The shorter man looks from Ernest to the others. He bows from the waist and rights himself back up. "Watt Scars at your service. As my traveling companion has remarked, we have heard of your exploits and have come to offer our services in any future endeavors."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#8 Post by tkrexx »

He's a big'un, hah? Hyde points at Earnest as if no one's noticed, He looks strong, yeahh, real strong. Bet he got some fight in him. His gaze turns to the other. What exactly be your services, Watt Scars, if you pardon my askin'? I just like to know them I run with. I like to look afta 'em. It may be difficult at first glance deciding whether his hideous smile is one of malice or courtesy.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#9 Post by AleBelly »

The group, ten strong, depart Alleborg. They have not reached consensus on whether to open the scrolls given to Angus by the sage. They follow Angus' reckoning of the direction from whence the great dragon came.

As they travel, they realize they pass, to the west, the spot on their map marked "eagle claws," which the party now assumes was the claw of the white dragon.

The wind picks up from the northwest, and rain, unwelcome in this cold, soaks them for several hours. The rain is replaced by grey sky with only brief spells of sunshine.

After 8 or so hours of traveling, the party finds themselves at the west end of a large lake that opens up to the northeast. Angus has noticed the absence of any sign of larger quarry (deer, boar, bear, or moose).
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Date: 14 Culling, Year 42
Time: 14:20
Conditions: 41°F, NW wind 13 mph (additional -1 missile fire penalty), mostly cloudy
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: Sun
Intended Direction of Travel: 155 degree bearing to the dragon lair, 12.3 miles traveled today
Injuries: None

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#10 Post by Zhym »

"Ayup," says Angus, bobbing his head forward. "Here we are. Now all we gotta do is find a dragon lair under the water. I'll ask y'all the same question I done asked before: anyone got a notion how we look for an underwater dragon lair without drowning?"

The woodsman ties his mule Beelzebub to a tree and takes in the lay of the land. He doesn't expect to find any tracks, though he looks for those too, but he does look for signs that the dragon might have hunted more in one area than another. He scans the land around the lake for rocky hills, trying to guess where the lake is deepest and might be likely to hide an underground cavern.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#11 Post by CAI4 »

Chet looks at Angus, and scratches his chin, trying to look intelligent. "Wellllllllll, a magic-user could probably cast a light spell underwater so that it could create light. That way we could see underwater and know if the dragon lair is under there."

Chet seems very pleased with his idea.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#12 Post by Zhym »

"We could do that," says Angus. "But unless the dragon's cave is so close to the surface that we'd see it just by standing near it, we're gonna need some way to breathe underwater."

He rubs the back of his neck and looks to Hyde, Yenny, and Chet. "I got me another in my continuing series of truly awful ideas. If I understand your story-telling, some of them nixies owe y'all a favor, right? If you trust them not to put you all under the mojo—or if you reckon there's a way to keep them from doing it—maybe we could get them to put a spell of water breathing on us for a day. Could we get back here from the nixies and have enough time left to go diving?"

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#13 Post by mjulius »

Ernest stops twirling his scabbard sword on the toe of his boot, points a meathead finger towards the lake and says, You mean we gotta go in there?

Hehe. Well, bring the magicks I suppose. I'll certainly do my part.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#14 Post by Zorroroaster »

"Maybe we ought to try and walk around the whole lake first, before deciding to dive in. There might be an island or something. Yenny, can you help us with water breathing?"

Arnulf will have Sleep, Light, Magic Missile, and Invisibility x2 memorized.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#15 Post by tkrexx »

I don't like this, Hyde grumbles nervously, No, don't like this at all. Could be them Nixies in this lake, too, maybe anotha tribe. I see one, I'm gonna kill it, yeahh.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#16 Post by Keehnelf »

Sagthistle screws up her mouth thoughtfully as she looks out over the lake. "I like the idea of walking all the way around, myself. Even if we don't see the lair out on an island, may be that some other thing will come to light that can help us out."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#17 Post by ybn1197 »

Watts nods his head affirmatively. "I agree with Sagthistle and Arnulf. Without the benefit of magic for all of us, I don't think the underwater method will prosper us."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#18 Post by Zhym »

"I reckon that's as good a plan as any," says Angus. "Y'all let me walk in front so I can watch for tracks, you hear?"

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#19 Post by enn.in.me »

Sorry folks--somehow my subscribe button failed me again. Yenny can help with the cold underwater (or above), not the breathing.

"I think a nice walk is in order. Angus, if you see any sign at all of a small, burrowing creature, let me know. I might be able to get some information from it."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#20 Post by onlyme »

Dandelion, knowing how the water would clear out the hair perm she worked on during training breaks, agrees to walk with the others if possible.
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