[Completed] Corvin/Mordred/Kasper Adventure 1: Battleaxe Gang

[archolewa]

Here's where we will pick up the adventure with the Battleaxe Gang, after leaving the Stolid Soldier: viewtopic.php?p=707685#p707685

[shaidar]

Corvin

Corvin smokes at Sabrina "Thank you."

He makes his way to the alley exit and peers around the corner to the left.

[archolewa]

Corvin

Corvin smokes at Sabrina "Thank you."

Smokes? Auto correct I assume?

He makes his way to the alley exit and peers around the corner to the left.

A small side-street cut its way between two buildings, running in the shadow of a hedge. Corvin was in luck, for it seemed that some sort of (royal?) retinue was moving down the main avenue at the far end of the side-street. A crowd had gathered at the end of the side-street to watch the procession. Corvin could see Hrek's tall, blonde figure standing in the back of the crowd, his back to Corvin, arms crossed as he waited for the procession to finish moving past.

[shaidar]

Corvin looks around for somewhere they might have good cover and still be able to see where Hrek is heading once he starts crossing.

(Not sure if there is much cover where they are)

[archolewa]

Corvin looks around for somewhere they might have good cover and still be able to see where Hrek is heading once he starts crossing.

(Not sure if there is much cover where they are)

This being a fortress city, there was in fact, minimal cover on the streets themselves, since such could be used by an enemy. There was a thick wooden gate in the middle of the side street that could be swung closed to form a quick barrier to impede enemy progress, but of course it was wide open. However, a large crowd had gathered to watch the procession, and more folk were joining it every minute. Corvin could probably stroll up and bump Hrek's shoulder, and the guy wouldn't think twice about it.

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

"Thank you Miss" - Mordred offered a polite bow at Sabrine, before heading after Corvin.

"Any reason why we cannot just shadow him openly?" - he inquired as they looked at Hrek from afar - "He does not know us, or of us, so it should be ok?"

[shaidar]

Corvin

"With all these people around we'd probably be fine, there's not really much cover anyway. It might be more difficult when the crowds start to thin out."

[archolewa]

The trio sidle up behind Hrek and his companions. will edit if I misread your intentions] Hrek throws them a dirty look over his shoulder, but when he sees Mordred's starburst, he quickly turns his attention back to the procession.

A dozen or so heavy infantry have just walked past, their shields and mail glistening in the warm May sun. Following a few feet behind them is a square of six knights, lances held at parade position, their massive war horses clomping down the cobblestone throughfare. Three of the knights wore the starburst pattern marking them as Magic-Users. The other three bore the sigil of the Thorny Rose on their shields, an order of Chevaliers dedicated to the protection of Princess Flora and her family.

In the middle of the square ride two children, a girl in her mid to late teens and a boy in his early teens, possibly preteen. Both are armed with short swords and armored with fine steel breastplates. Both are clearly Princess Flora's children. The boy, his head of curls bouncing as he rides, smiles shyly and waves to the folks assembled to watch them pass. The girl, her long straight hair done up in an elaborate braid, looks over the crowd with a softly neutral expression, remaining approachable while revealing nothing. Her dark eyes sweep over the crowd with the same sharp gaze as her mother. They linger for perhaps a moment on Corvin and Mordrid, and both got the sense that the girl sees them in a way she doesn't see the others in the crowd.

The moment passes, as does the procession, the rear brought up by a mix of clerics in mail, their shields emblazoned with the blue eyes of the Seer, and Druids in leather, mistledoe displayed prominently on their shoulders.

Hrek grunts to himself as the road opens back up, and the crowd dispersed. He gestures to his new buddies, and crosses the boulevard to a side-street that leads towards the warehouse district on the west side of town, just south of the Docks.

Hope you don't mind me sneaking in a bit of world building/foundation laying. Actions please

[shaidar]

Corvin

Corvin whispers once Hrek has moved off:

"We might want to hide your starburst, it'll get us noticed."

Do we know of a street which runs parallel to one one Hrek and his men have taken, or are we pretty much stuck just following?

[archolewa]

Corvin

Corvin whispers once Hrek has moved off:

"We might want to hide your starburst, it'll get us noticed."

Do we know of a street which runs parallel to one one Hrek and his men have taken, or are we pretty much stuck just following?

Thorncity is (by design) a bit of a twisting maze. There are many different streets that lead to the same destinations as the street Hrek is taking, problem is, Corvin doesn't know which one of those destinations Hrek is headed for.

Though, he does remember Sabrina mentioning something about an "old wizard's tower." Save vs Spells for Corvin: 1d20+4 = 12 < 20, Mordred: 1d20+5 = 16 < 20 Corvin and Mordred take a moment to compare notes on the city and remember anything about any "wizard's towers" on the west side of town, but something weird is going on with their memories. They get brief flashes of memory of a tower as they ran through the streets with their unit, but no matter how hard they try, they just can't remember where in the city they saw it.

On the other hand, the buildings are about five feet taller than the Thornwall hedges, and the roofs have small walls that allow people on them to have clear sight lines down onto the streets, but make it harder for folks on the streets to see them. There aren't any ladders to the roof especially close to here, but between the hedges, windowsills, and gaps in the wooden walls, an enterprising climber should have a good chance of climbing them. Corvin could climb the walls with 100% success since he has climb sheer surfaces, while Mordred and Sebastian would need to do a Strength check, though Sebastian would get a +4 bonus since he could rely on the nearby hedge to help him.

[shaidar]

Corvin

"Let me see if I can spot the tower"

He starts climbing the nearest building.

[archolewa]

Between bits of the hedge, a couple of barrels, and imperfections in the wood, Corvin has no trouble reaching the roof. He looks out westward across the city, sun bleached wooden buildings intermingled with thorny hedges extending out before him. He can see the watch towers along the edges of the wall of course, but those are the only things extending above the uniformly 15 foot tall roofline southwest of the docks.

Except for one, which he almost missed. His eyes slid across it, like water across marble. He had to look three times, before he was confident that he did indeed, see an old stone tower on the western side of the city. Another save vs magic: 1d20+4 = 12 < 20. He turns to tell the others of what he saw, only to realize that he couldn't remember where the tower was. He turned and again forced his eyes to focus on the tower, murmuring to himself as he tries to fix the location in his mind. But as soon as his eyes leave the stone, he forgets where he saw the tower, only that he did see one, and that it was in the western half of the city somewhere.

[shaidar]

Corvin

The lupine shakes his head, before once again trying to focus on where the tower is. Once he locates it again (assuming he does), he points and tries to call it's location down to his friends without looking away.

[archolewa]

Corvin

The lupine shakes his head, before once again trying to focus on where the tower is. Once he locates it again (assuming he does), he points and tries to call it's location down to his friends without looking away.

Hmm. So, here's how I'm going to handle this. I'm going to assume that Corvin and Mordred know each other well enough, that with enough back and forth, Corvin can communicate to Mordred where this tower is. However, I'm going to silently roll a Charisma check for Corvin with a +2 bonus (due to his military training with Mordred, I'm assuming they're good at communicating location to each other quickly and clearly). If the check fails, your back and forth takes long enough to draw unwanted attention that may nor may not become immediately known.

Corvin and Mordred have a brief, clipped back and forth as Corvin describes the location of the tower, and Mordred asks a few follow up questions. When Mordred is satisfied, Corvin pulls his eyes away, and Mordred gives him a quick update on the location of the tower. The knowledge sticks.

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

"Seems my mind is as fuzzy as my sense of direction today" - Mordred grunted - "I feel like we should know exactly how to find this tower Corvin, yet it has taken us the good part of an hour to do so. We must be losing our touch" - he chuckled as the three moved tentatively along toward where he and Corvin think this tower might be.

[archolewa]

Mordred

"Seems my mind is as fuzzy as my sense of direction today" - Mordred grunted - "I feel like we should know exactly how to find this tower Corvin, yet it has taken us the good part of an hour to do so. We must be losing our touch" - he chuckled as the three moved tentatively along toward where he and Corvin think this tower might be.

Sebastian shook his head. "I know you're simply making light of the situation, but you know as well as I that there is some magic of misdirection involved here. Sabrina said it was an old wizard's tower. Some lingering defense of his? Or did this street gang somehow get their hands on some sort of magic? Surely a Magic-User wouldn't throw in his lot with such a gang, would he?"

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

(Honest question - would the characters actually be aware there might be misdirection magic involved?)

"I am not sure which one of those options I like the less Sebastian" - Mordred replied with a chuckle - "But I guess we will eventually find out the correct one"

(Would Mordred, as a Magic User, have some insight or idea what wizard tower might Sabrina be referring to?)

[archolewa]

Mordred

(Honest question - would the characters actually be aware there might be misdirection magic involved?)

While your characters don't have any sort of magic "spider sense," people don't usually just suddenly forget where a tower is whenever they look away. I'm also going to work under the assumption that as part of your training, your characters were taught what it "feels like" to have misdirection magic working on you. Likely had similar spells or rituals invoked on you, so that you had some chance of knowing if an enemy was messing with your head. Effectively, if I'm rolling a saving throw in the open, magic or otherwise, you can assume that your characters are aware, or very soon will be, that something is happening to them. If I want your characters to be completely oblivious, I'll roll the saving throw in secret.

"I am not sure which one of those options I like the less Sebastian" - Mordred replied with a chuckle - "But I guess we will eventually find out the correct one"

(Would Mordred, as a Magic User, have some insight or idea what wizard tower might Sabrina be referring to?)

As Modred makes his comment, something occurs to him. Whether there's a magic-user in there now, there very well may have been in the past, and the Refuge has been *very* meticulous about keeping track of all magic-users. Princess Flora's family especially has a reputation for rigorous record keeping. If the tower was occupied at any point during Thorncity's existence (so in the past twenty-five to thirty years), then the Magic-User Academy on the Northeastern side of the city, south of the Citadel and north of the Barracks, would have records on it.

[shaidar]

Corvin

Corvin climbs back down as soon as he's happy Mordred hasn't forgotten.

Well, that was interesting. I wonder if that's part of the reason the gang seems to be good at not getting caught."

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

"It just occurred to me that if we want to have more information on this wizard tower, the Magic-User Academy might have records about it" - he commented to Corvin - "We can try to find it for now, maybe stake it out to understand if they are indeed holing up in there, or something along those lines" - Mordred added - "But if we decide to confront, or infiltrate them, it might be a good idea to take a look at the Academy's records first. Intel is always a good thing"

(So that is clear, my suggestion would be to go to the spot where we believe the tower is, confirm if it is perhaps being used for nefarious intents, then decide what to do)