I. Riddleport

[GreyWolfVT]

Dagg looses interest in the lecture by the 5th word and rolls his eyes then finds something more interesting he ignores the rest of the ramble and takes out his dagger and begins cleaning under his nails humming a dwarf song to himself. He perks up when Elias addresses him "Eh whats that fight sure you and me Elias sounds like a good plan to me." he ends the sentence with a mischievous smile and a sly wink.

[dmw71]

"Now, I said I ain't know much 'bout what lie outside this city, not that nothin' existed," Hury corrects Dagg. "There's a rough dirt road that leads outta here off to the east, between St. Caspieran's Mission (#14) and Zincher's Tenement (#21)."

He turns to look at Pendleton. "Now, I ain't know half of what ye said, but the economy here is just fine. There are merchants and what have you that enter this way, I just ain't never had a need... or interest."

[dmw71]

Unless there are more questions directed at him, Hury will return to the kitchen. After which, Raleigh requests the groups attention. "It seems like some've ye have been makin' plans. That's great. We have plans of our own." the Captain admits. "We have some cargo to unload, and a few errands to run here in town, but plan to hit the seas again before nightfall."

"Anyone is welcome to join us." he offers.


---

There has been some talk about different characters going different places and doing different things. Feel free to continue to role-play, but I'd like formal in-character posts that indicate what a character is actually going to do before I push the action forward.

[Zhym]

"Please don't misunderstand me," Pendleton tells Hury. "I have no doubt that the economy here is doing quite splendidly. All one need do is look around! I was merely speculating as to the economics behind the nature of that success, given this burg's isolated geographical position. I particularly wonder if, given Riddleport's history as a place with a flexible viewpoint toward the trade restrictions typically imposed by most city-states, whether it might still enjoy a role as a center of 'open trade,' as it were."

Catching a glimpse of Hury's look, Pendleton realizes he needs to simplify a bit. "Sorry," he says, "I do tend to ramble. I'm just interested in how the local economy works, is all."

About what time is it? How long do we have until the ship leaves?

[dmw71]

"Here is how the economy works," Raleigh says, placing a stack of gold coins on the tray Mina carries as she passes. "Ye order something, ye pay fer it." he says with a guffaw, before rising to his feet. "Me 'n the boys have a few errands to run." The rest of his crew rises as well.

"You guys discuss your plans and, if ye want to set sail again, we leave in two hours."

[Zhym]

"Two hours!" exclaims Pendleton after the captain leaves. "Goodness. That's hardly any time at all!"

He glances around the table. "Well, folks, looks like it's decision time: do we want to stay in Riddleport for a while, or shall we set sail again on the Devil's Mistress? For my part, I must admit that while I find certain aspects of this town fascinating, it may be just a bit too rough here for my tastes. I would rejoin the captain and crew; perhaps their next port of call might be more my style. But I will stay with the group whatever we decide."

[Alethan]

Wilby finally speaks up, "I'm not really fond of being in a strange town, knowing nobody but you lot, with no way to leave but by boat. I say we head out with the captain, as well."

[ToniXX]

Morgan nods in the affirmative at Wilby's statement, and adds But, it would be well worth our time to find out what we can of Riddleport in the next two hours. The question is, do we stick together or do we break off in pairs maybe and investigate various parts of the town? She pauses then resumes Either way, captain, I believe we will all be continuing with you, so please wait for us at the docks. At least some of us, it seems, plan on doing a little sightseeing.

She looks around at the group for their feelings on the matter, than says to Pendleton I'll accompany you and Sasha to the mage's guild. We best be off if we plan on finding anything of note.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sasha also agrees to leaving this smelly town with the captain and his crew.

Lets see what we can learn from the mages first then. Morgan should be able to get us through the door with her smile and other ass-sets. She says this only half jokingly.

I've no interest in seeing the rest of this stinkhole anyway.

[Zhym]

Pendleton downs the rest of his wine. "No time to lose, then," he says. "Let's go pay a quick visit to the Cyphermages!"

He leads the way out of the tavern toward the place he was told was the home of the Cyphermages.

[OGRE MAGE]

Excellent, says Sasha, happy to get back into the outdoors.

I believe he said it was southwest of this district. Lets go, it shouldn't be too hard to find.

[dmw71]

The meal paid for by Captain Raleigh leaves all with a full belly, but with their only being a limited amount of time before the Devil's Mistress sets sail again, they're forced to work off the meal perhaps sooner than some would like. Exiting the inn, the group begins to break into their respective groups when they notice another male patron exit the Captain's Chambers just behind them. He grabs a fishing pole which was left propped up just outside the entrance and, after a moment of hesitation, approaches the group. "E-e-e-excuse me," he stutters, still visibly nervous. "I-i-i-i couldn't help overhearin' youse inside."

"If'n youse lookin' fer adventure, I know of a place..." he says, pausing to simultaneously collect himself and gauge the group's interest in what he has to say. "The name's Chumley," he volunteers.

Chumley.png (38.56 KiB) Viewed 1186 times

[Alethan]

Watching the captain walk away, Welby turns to the other man and cautiously asks, "Yeah? What kind of place?"

[LtTibbles]

"Alright guess we'll meet back at the boat before our two hours are up." Elias stands pulling his trousers up by his belt slightly before addressing Dagg. "Well we should hopefully be able to catch a fight or two before the ship departs, it's worth a try I suppose."

Elias prepares to leave until Chumley approaches them and introduces himself. "It's good to meet you Chumley my names Elias, now what place are you talking about, what sort of adventure?"

[Zhym]

Pendleton, unaccustomed to being accosted by random Chumleys in the street, puts one of the burlier members of the party between himself and the man from the pub. "What did you have in mind?" he can't stop himself from asking.

[ToniXX]

Morgan puts her shield on her left hand, but keeps it down, and puts her right hand on the handle of her sword. Tell us more, Chumley. She says his name as if she would add 'if that is your real name'

[OGRE MAGE]

Sasha doesn't like the look of this chum lee.

If the place is a pawnshop, and you want our gold and silver......forget about it!

[GreyWolfVT]

Are we in an episode of pawn stars?

Dagg "Personally all I wanna do here is fight in the arena hopefully two hours is enough time to rake in some coin fighting in the arena. Because I'm more than happy to rejoin the captain and his crew." the dwarf responds to everyone listening.

[dmw71]

Chumley, still visibly nervous around the group, takes a deep breath before continuing. "Me friend, he heard a rumor..." he leans in closer to those standing nearest to him and lowers his voice. "... of great treasure." he continues. "He went lookin' fer it once himself, but couldn't find it... but youse, you look like real adventurers, not like me 'n Eram."

Chumley's suddenly becomes distracted. "Eram!" he calls out, waiving his friend over once he catches his attention.

Eram Ryder.png (42.61 KiB) Viewed 1165 times

Eram, a bearded man in his late twenties, carrying a fishing rod with a nice-sized fish still attached to the hook. "Eh, Chum." he starts. "Lookin' what I caught," he says, showing off his catch proudly... then notices the group of people standing around his friend. "What's goin' on, Chum?" he asks.

"Tell 'em 'bout the thing," Chumley says, encouraging his friend to open up. "Shut up, Chum!" Eram shushes his friend. "Was me pa's, and now is mine!" he protests, and the pair argue briefly.

Eventually, Eram shares that his father recently passed, and while going through some of his possessions, he found a map, which he produces from a pouch attached to his belt.

Tomb of Aethering.png (128.79 KiB) Viewed 1165 times

"Is me pa," he says. "Norval, I mean," indicating the author of the map. Eram and Chumley admit they don't know who or what Aethering is, but that the peaks mentioned on the map are those just outside of town. "There's much magic, and jewels, and arcane tomes," Chumley says, pointing out where those details are indicated on the map. "Eram thinks he found the entrance, but is too 'fraid to go," Chumley says, which draws an elbow to his ribs from his friend. "I ain't 'fraid!" Eram insists. "I just don't wanna go," he claims, but is clearly lying. "Maybe, if'n I give you this map, and you find this treasure, we could get a share?" the pair say, almost in unison, as if they've previously rehearsed this encounter.

"We ain't need much," Chumley says hopefully, holding the map at his side.

[LtTibbles]

Elias takes a gander at the map Chumley's friend produced. "Hmm...it's interesting but a bit bare isn't it? Ah never mind, so in exchange for a finder's fee or whatever this sort of thing is called we get the map and claim to most of the treasure? How far out are these peaks exactly, how much time would it take to reach the tomb? He turn's to his companions "Much magic jewelry and a arcane tome guys, could be worth a look don't you think?"