IC. Broken Valley Chapter 1: It's all there for the taking

[MonsterMash]

Magrin, Cleric

Magrin is surprised to see the common room full of sleeping people, then looks at Mirwidd entering with recognition. He waits to make sure that the sleepers are left undisturbed by Dying Rabbit or any others.

[sirravd]

Mirwydd conveys this to the bugbear.

[The_Wanderer]

Mirwydd escorts Dying Rabbit quickly through the inn to his sleeping quarters. For its part, the bugbear looks truly disappointed but its faith in the mage is steadfast through all.

Going to move things forward to the next day. Please establish what you want to accomplish in town before heading out. You can assume all your treasure has been turned into something more travel friendly. Also you get your XP reward and some should be leveling up by now. You can roll for HP in the OOC thread. If you are a mage (cough Mirwydd) and need new spells, those must be found or sourced from other mages. I'll give you that there are a few mages that I remember in Bitterpan, 1 of which you've met and 1 you've heard about.

[sirravd]

Mirwydd asks his friends to watch the bugbear and goes to seek out the mages.

[tibbius]

Egbald tries to learn how to speak bugbear.

[The_Wanderer]

Mirwydd asks his friends to watch the bugbear and goes to seek out the mages.

Thinking back to your arrival in Bitterpan, you remember a story that your old companion Marcus told you of a knight living in a tower in town. As you arrive at the tower, you see a fairly young man with well kept clothes and a trim beard climbing down the ladder that leads to the only doorway inside. When he gets to the bottom and sees you he says, "Well you look the adventuring type. Are you one o' those that our Duke sent out to tame the lands? My name's Marwa, in service to the Lord Mats in the tower."

[The_Wanderer]

Egbald tries to learn how to speak bugbear.

[4d6] = 20

It's kind of like trying to learn the language of an angry lion that is smart enough to know you're not smart enough to understand. Egbald spends more time trying to keep Dying Rabbit quiet and calm than he does actually learning. In the end however, he is able to use his past as a former Priest of Chaos to understand a few basic words around religion - the names of gods, signs, etc. Pronunciation is difficult however.

[tibbius]

"I'm not giving up on this," Egbald says solemnly to Dying Rabbit.

[sirravd]

Mirwydd agrees that indeed he is. "Might you be willing to help a fellow mage? I could use some tutoring in new spells..."

[The_Wanderer]

The man looks at Mirwydd and says, "Eh?" He looks him up and down and nods. "Come with me, my name's Marwa." He searches the ground briefly eventually finding a suitable spot and reaches in his pack. He pulls out a magnificently woven carpet and spreads it out on the ground. The patterns are of reds and golds and in the middle show a large green tree. He sits on the carpet near the front and motions again. "Sit."

Mirwydd is barely seated when, with a word from Marwa the carpet lifts from the ground. It lifts into the morning sky and banks out over the tent city near the harbor. "...crazy how things achanging here...Now, you said you were looking for spells. I imagine your previous master taught you what he could of the first level...I will tell you that sometime ago I recovered a portion of a book titled The Book of Odin by Hadrael the Dragon-Slayer. Within it I found amazing details regarding the following spells..."

Lvl 2 Spells known
Detect Evil
Phantasmal Force
Strength
Magic Mouth
Pyrotechnics
ESP

"...For each I could be persuaded to provide you a scroll for the right price. Given current labor situations and the dreary boredom of copying work, I could see a price of 2,000 gp apiece sufficient. It will also take me approximately a day to copy each. Alternatively, I would be interested in sharing them all with you for considerably less if you would be willing to look into a matter for Sir Mats. The halfling raider Parnell continues to be a thorn in our side in the lands to the east. Find a way to stop this, while providing evidence of such and I'm sure we could come to a lucrative agreement for you."

[sirravd]

"I happen to rather dislike halflings; I find them offensively cheery," says Mirwydd. "I would be delighted to 'look into' the case of Parnell."

[thirdkingdom]

"I happen to rather dislike halflings; I find them offensively cheery," says Mirwydd. "I would be delighted to 'look into' the case of Parnell."

Brignum Mai

"I will be glad to do the same," she says.

[The_Wanderer]

Marwa jumps as Brignum Mai speaks up."Wha wha...Where did you come from?" The man shakes his head. "You adventuring types...I thought the carpet was flying slower than usual! I guess I know why now. Anyway Mats believes that you should be able to find signs of Parnell somewhere between here and the Deep Runnel. They say there's a halfling hamlet somewhere in there but we've never found it."

Marwa continues his aerial tour of the city and eventually brings the carpet down for a soft landing. "I guess you'll be on your way now. Is there anything else you'll be needing from me?"

...in case Myrwydd needs to buy a spell now...otherwise you guys have a few leads to follow up on and a bugbear to smuggle out of town.

[sirravd]

Alas, Mirwydd has but 1,992 gp...

[tibbius]

Egbald could lend him some.

[sirravd]

Would be much appreciated. He will repay with 10% interest.

[tibbius]

Done. "Interest is not a problem. I hope we'll be together for a while, and I'll be repaid in kind."

[sirravd]

Mirwydd thanks Egbald and purchases ESP.

[The_Wanderer]

Mirwydd thanks Egbald and purchases ESP.

Marwa stands up and nods his head. "Fine, fine." He reaches in his spellbook and pulls out a loose sheet of paper. "Here - I had this ready. It's almost like I knew you were coming." He smiles as he walks away.

1 scroll of ESP. Please update your wealth. I'll assume you take the downtime in town to try to memorize it. Go ahead and make your roll when you get a chance.

Month 1, Day 24, Night
Leaving Bitterpan

After Mirwydd and Mai's joyride around the town, Mirwydd retreats to his room with Dying Rabbit. By evening, the party is ready to move again. The town is dark and it is a small matter to sneak out of town with the big bugbear.

You guys have at least three open paths you could follow:
1. Finish exploration around Bitterpan. You have just one more hex to uncover - 1317
2. Clear a path to Abbotsby to the southeast. Both the road leading through 1316 and 1317 lead to Abbotsby. One is a north road, the other a south road.
3. Track down Parnell. He is somewhere to the east as well.

[ybn1197]

I suggest #2:

• 2. Clear a path to Abbotsby to the southeast. Both the road leading through 1316 and 1317 lead to Abbotsby. One is a north road, the other a south road.

By doing that, we also take care of #1:

• 1. Finish exploration around Bitterpan. You have just one more hex to uncover - 1317