Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Ryssa Blackblood]

The fox was a little surprised by the cold metal, but left the area around the tin can man without needing to be prodded. She poofed back to her human form once she was about an arm's length away from him, having only been making a point with her fox form and not intending to continue into the village in it...this time. "Revenge is a silly name," she said, "It makes it sound like you tried to kill your mom for pushing you out." Hakka giggled at the thought of a baby trying to murder their parent and then continued, "And it's no different than you using Ying and her sister as guides. Everyone uses people for their own advantage. All that matters is that I was there when it was important."  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would look straight ahead now, all sign of expression gone from his face.

"Many Tieflings these days take up a name different than their given name, generally during adolescence. A name that's symbolic, especially to them. Something meaningful, something defining." He would pause. "I'm somewhat of a late bloomer, is all. I thought myself above this 'hype', but fate is a funny thing, sometimes."

Revenge would say nothing else until they cleared their way out of the woods.

"Thank you, Gloom," he would say, peering up at the setting sun, now finally visible. "If it's all right, I'll take my leave at this point, and finally get to my room at the inn. I doubt you need me when you have all the proof you need right there."

If no one stopped him or fought to convince him otherwise, he would give a polite wave of his left hand, before making his way towards the inn.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Gloom would shrug and say, "Suit yourself," then start plotting on telling the mayor that the paladin was killed by a shapeshifting ooze.  

[PupSage]

Kuori would wave Revenge off and say, "Watch out for strangle vines ... and check your bath for mimics." She would make her way immediately for Redford, ignoring the strange glances that she received on the way.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka, of course, would tag along with the big lady that carried the monster's head. She was here to get paid, after all.  

[Kowsauni]

Emberlyn Rowntree

Revenge makes it back to the Inn without incident, though the atmosphere inside is just as tense as the one on the streets. The Inn is much busier then it was earlier in the day. People sit around the tables in groups talking in hushed voices to each other. They look at the paladin as he enters but then quickly ignore him. Apparently their conversations were of more interest to them.

However, there was one person who seemed happy to see him. From behind the bar the young orange haired Halfling from before waived her hands vigorously to get the Paladin's attention. "Welcome Back! I have your room all ready Mr. Revenge. Shall I have a bath drawn for you as well? You look like you might need it, hehe!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the rest of the party approaches the town hall it looks closed up for the evening. Out in front of the large main doors there stands a single guard. Kuroi would recognize him as the one they had seen earlier in the day at the Inn. He notices the party approach and looks quite surprised when he sees the monstrous head of Razorclaw being held in Kuori's hands. The guard would point to it and exclaim. "What in the nine hells is that!"  

[Rain Yupa]

He would nod solemnly. "Yes, please, if you could." He would pause briefly.

"We slayed the beast that was plaguing the town. I may take a second night here, depending on how I feel in the morning, but I should be out of your hair fairly soon." He would then add, "If my traveling companions don't get us all run out of town first with their antics."

He was trying to be informative towards Emberlyn, but he was making a point to not take pride in the accomplishment. He really just wanted to get cleaned up and lay down for a spell.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Gloom looked at the guard for a moment before moving on to chastising him. "Well lets see, your town hired a bunch of adventurers to kill an unknown beast that you so eloquently call the beast of 1000 knives. Said adventurers return with the head of an unknown beast, therefor ..." Gloom stared at the guard for a moment before adding, "This is the part where you go get the mayor." He stabbed forth with the beast's leg.  

[PupSage]

Kuori sat the head down. "Yeah, I want to unload this thing as soon as possible." She hate to sound prissy, but it had oozed on her during the trip and she felt gross  

[Kowsauni]

Emberlyn Rowntree

The comely halfling would laugh at Revenge's comment. "Haha yeah, they don't seem like the most sociable lot, but that IS good news about the whole Beast of a Thousand Knives thing. Once the ordeal at the front gate is taken care of, this town might finally be able to relax. I'll get your bath drawn right away!"

Emberlyn would summon over one of her assistants and tell him to fix a bath for Revenge's room. The halfling would then grab a few other halfling employees and head upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guard would look annoyed at Gloom for a moment before speaking. "What time in the day do you think this is? The mayor has gone home to be with his family. He doesn't work though the night, waiting for any fool's beck and call. If you want to see Mr. Redford, you'll have to wait until morning when he returns to his office--though he might be at the front gate right now if you want to check there."

The guard would then look at Kuori and the monstrous head she holds. "If what you say is true though, it will be great news for this town. The damn thing sure looks ugly enough to be the Beast of Thousand Knives. It looks like asking for outside help might have done the trick for once. You might want to cover that up with something, though. You'll scare the children."  

[PupSage]

Kuori shrugged and said, "I didn't see him on the way in." Then she added somewhat absent mindedly, "Kids need to see things like this. It reminds them why you don't run off into the forrest. I would rather keep them scared and alive than stupid and dead." Her eyes were distant, and she shook her head. "If he isn't at the gate, where might I find his home? This is sort of an urgent matter."  

[Rain Yupa]

Ignore it.

Ignore it!

Ignore it...

Ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it!!!!!!!!

...

Damnit.

"Wait, what ordeal?" Revenge would inquire, after a momentary pause, hoping to catch Emberlyn before she got too far.  

[Kowsauni]

Emberlyn Rowntree

Emberlyn looks a little surprised to find the paladin was out of the loop, but she explains nonetheless. "There's a bunch of soldiers from the kingdom of Aria at the front gate. They've been there for about an hour or so, arguing with the captain of the town guard. Apparently they want to do some sort of investigation in town, but Poa won't let them. Aria and Lupa don't have the best relations, so that's why everyone's on edge. Their kingdom claims sovereignty over these lands, but uh, try telling that to the dryad who formed this place from their war refugees."

((Revenge may make a history check to see what he knows about the Kingdom of Aria))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guard shakes his head. "Frankly, if the monster is dead, I don't see what the rush is. If Mr. Redford isn't at the front gate, then he will be more than happy to pay the reward for the creature's demise when he returns to work in the morning."

((Just to make sure its clear: you guys didn't pass through the front gate on your way back to town. The front gate is where you guys met Poa on your way into Lupa. It lies on the the south edge of town. You guys came back to town from the forest to the east.))  

[Rain Yupa]

Quote:

History result of 17

To be fair, the paladin was tromping around in the woods.

Revenge would frown at the news. "I think... it would be best if you put a hiatus on that bath." His tail would flick out of annoyance. "It would be irresponsible of me to ignore this, on the off-chance that my presence might help promote some modicum of peace."

He wouldn't wait for any sort of response from Emberlyn, having made up his mind, and make his way out the door.

It should hopefully still be light enough for him to navigate with his low-light vision, especially since the front gate is bound to be lit up like a festival. He would make his way towards the gate without a light source of his own, hopefully in such a way that he will slip in to the rear ranks of anyone gathered there as if he had been there the whole time.

Quote:

Stealth of 19

 

[PupSage]

[Intimidate 17]

Kuori stared the man down, "I have had a rough night here buddy, and all I want to do is curl up and go to sleep as much as the next guy, but unfortunately the inn doesn't have rooms to accommodate somebody of my stature. So I know that when I turn in for the night I am either looking at sleeping in a hammock and screwing up my back or sleeping in some good , old fashioned soil. So yeah I am a bit anxious to get my money and get the hell out of here." She picked up the head and started marching towards the front gate.