11. Return to O'Hare

[tooleychris]

He will kick open the door the rest of the way to allow the room to be visible.

If Grim could not hear this for some reason then okay

[dmw71]

A few posts up, I wrote that Ewell would kick the door open the rest of the way. more to leave his hand free rather than a show of force.

While I admit I missed this when I responded earlier, I'm not sure a "kick" such as the one you described would be heard on the opposite side of the building. I'll allow it, though, given how everyone is being very cautious (e.g. quiet) at the time.

What is everyone else doing once the front door is opened and the barbarian is going through a window in the back?

[saalaria]

Kaltar moves back to his friends, ready to enter the inn behind Ewell

[Alethan]

Gwillt waits, more at the three-way crossroad of the path between the inn and the building north of it, with an arrow set to string on his bow.

If one or more of the other party members dash inside, for whatever reason, Gwillt will continue to keep watch outside, constantly scanning all directions for any sign of movement or sound.

[ravenn4544]

O'rek readies his mace - with a smile - and hums a little tune...

[dmw71]

Ewell grips his sword tightly. Positioning his shield to deflect an attack from the inside, he quickly uses his foot to force open the door the rest of the way. The knight feels a thud as the door swings open, followed by a clanging sound and a yelp; the later seemingly coming from a younger sounding voice. Ewell, shield held out in front defensively, quickly wheels around to get a look at what he struck with the door.

Just inside the door are two younger children. A younger boy, you guess to be roughly eight years of age, is sprawled out on the floor; a longsword also lying on the floor a foot or so away from he boys' hand. The other child, you think female based on the long flowing blond hair, appears to be several years younger.

The young boy has the sense to quickly grab the sword which had recently been knocked from his hand, and he moves in front of the younger child. The pair begin to quickly scramble away from the now open front door, towards the far wall.

Until....

A rear window shatters.

Grimnail is seen preparing to gain entrance to the inn via this now broken window forcing the kids to change their course of action, now dashing to southern side of the inn where they duck behind the bar and out of sight.

[onlyme]

Ewell will quickly confirm that no one else is in his line of sight, and will call out once more.

Young man. My name is Ewell. I am here to help you and your sister? friend? Are y'all hungry? We have some food I am sure, somewhere.
Then he yells toward the window. Grim. Don't break it. We are ok here. Come around.

[dmw71]

Then he yells toward the window. Grim. Don't break it. We are ok here. Come around.

It is too late to prevent this from happening as there was no way for the two "groups" to coordinate actions.

---

A quick survey of the inside of the inn confirms that the children are alone in this front room.

Ewell again calls out: "Young man. My name is Ewell. I am here to help you and your sister? friend? Are y'all hungry? We have some food I am sure, somewhere." While the dialogue itself is not heard, it is obvious that the pair are discussing things amongst themselves, and this discussion is quickly turning into a disagreement.

A moment later a youthful voice chimes: "Y-y-y-you didn't know the knock." it finally manages to get out.

[tooleychris]

Hey Look! The ranger found his first followers

Grim sees what's going on through the window and whistles out loud as if impressed.
"Smart lad ta lock yerself up like dis. Very brave ta watch o'er yer lil friend."

[ravenn4544]

"Well done children! Standin' and fightin' like ye did! A bit o' the Dragon Inn in ya eh? Hah!"

[Stonjuz]

Shannigans, still at the road with Gwilt, continues his surveillance and says, "Sounds like they found children. Now how we gonna be responsible for them too? Some, or someone, should stay here with them, and we should move on? And quickly. Good thing I unlocked it before they kicked it all the way in. Think they can still hide here?"

[wolfpack]

Upon hearing it is children Epsilon will move into the inn.

Dear youngsters, pretell are there any adults about and if not when was the last time you spoke with one?

[Alethan]

Shannigans, still at the road with Gwilt, continues his surveillance and says, "Sounds like they found children. Now how we gonna be responsible for them too? Some, or someone, should stay here with them, and we should move on? And quickly. Good thing I unlocked it before they kicked it all the way in. Think they can still hide here?"

Gwillt shakes his head. "I imagine those aren't the only orphans we're going to find today..."

[saalaria]

"Shanny they may have some information that could help - why don't you show them a trick - disappearing coin or something - and we can try to coax it out of them"
Kaltar enters the building to see if he can gently get the kids to speak

[onlyme]

A moment later a youthful voice chimes: "Y-y-y-you didn't know the knock." it finally manages to get out.

Ewell answers,
"Young man. I do apologize. We are here to help, but did not know the secret knock. That is a great idea. I bet you thought of that, huh? Now, can you tell us where the innkeep is? or where any of the adults are?

[tooleychris]

Grim will slowly walk back around toward the others keeping an eye out for anything suspicious

[dmw71]

Hey Look! The ranger found his first followers.

[dmw71]

Outside, Shannigans, still at the road with Gwilt, continues his surveillance. "Sounds like they found children. Now how we gonna be responsible for them too?” he wonders aloud. Gwillt shakes his head. "I imagine those aren't the only orphans we're going to find today..."

---

After the youthful voice finally acknowledges the party from behind the bar, reprimanding them for not knowing the secret knock, Ewell replies to the still unseen youth: "Young man. I do apologize. We are here to help, but did not know the secret knock. That is a great idea. I bet you thought of that, huh? Now, can you tell us where the innkeep is? Or where any of the adults are?” The young pair remain hidden and overheard whispers, occasionally increasing in volume, reveal that the pair are not exactly on the same page as to how to handle the situation they find themselves in.

While the youths continue their debate behind the bar, the rest of the party reaps words of praise and encouragement.

Suddenly, a small pair of hands rises up from behind the bar and grips the edge of the counter. The top of a moppy head can barely be seen over this counter as the small boy pulls himself up to a standing position. The right half of the lads’ body can be seen from behind the bar and he begins to cautiously creep out from his hiding place. Putting on his bravest face, he stares at Ewell. ”You don’t know the knock.” he says. “We ain’t supposed to trust no one that don’t know the knock.”

“Now, don’t come no closer,” he instructs. “You all can talk from where you are.”

“Why should we trust you?”

[onlyme]

Ewell is not the best hostage negotiator, but attempts nonetheless.

I dont know if you want to trust us, lad. I probably wouldnt either, if I were you. But, we aint here to hurt you. And if we wanted to steal from you, we already would have, right? We just want to know who we can talk to around here, to best help the town recover and get rid of them lizard monsters. Can you help us by answering that?

[dmw71]

Ewell continues to engage the child. "I dont know if you want to trust us, lad. I probably wouldn't either, if I were you." he starts. "But, we aint here to hurt you. And if we wanted to steal from you, we already would have, right?" reasons the knight, attempting to be as convincing as possible. "We just want to know who we can talk to around here, to best help the town recover and get rid of them lizard monsters. Can you help us by answering that?

The boy cringes at the mention of the lizard monsters. He quickly looks back to the girl hiding behind the bar, then turns and faces the knight and shrugs his shoulders. "They ain't tell us, but said they'd be back. I'm thinkin' they went to the temple for some food."