Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Kowsauni]

Nathaniel

Nathaniel would look up at Kuori and smile wryly. "So you are interested. If it makes a difference to you, they're convicted felons who escaped from an asylum in our kingdom. Though I cannot discuss every nature of their crimes, they alone killed several guards in this most recent escape. They wield tremendous power that is beyond their ability to control. They are a threat to themselves and everyone else around them. We need to bring them back home before they have a chance to hurt anyone and cause a major headache for our kingdom."

As Revenge comes down the stairs he would see Emberlyn counting some coins from behind the bar. As the paladin got her attention she would chirp at him, "G'morning, Revenge! You're up early. What can I do for you?"  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Morning came, and with even the first hint of dawn breaking, Hakka was up and stretching her little fox body to shake off the grogginess. It really didn't take her very long to get intot hat fully awake state where she could remember what all had happened the previous day and why she was hiding out in a bush here. Right, Corsica and Ying she thought. I have to warn them... As soon as the forest was no longer too dark to see through, which would hopefully be now, she ran off into it, heading for the cave where they had last seen the girls.  

[Rain Yupa]

"Good morning," he would address Emberlyn. "Believe it or not, I wanted to sleep longer. I-

!!

The Tiefling would turn his head, seeing the severed Razorclaw head by the cot in the corner. He would sigh, and turn back to Emberlyn.

"... sorry about that," is all he would say. He would fish into his coin purse, and then pull out two gold coins. "Could I break one for ten silver? Keep one for the cleaning bill for... that."

After that was resolved, one way or another, he would continue. "I'm not sure yet if I'll be staying another night. I'd like to reserve the room just in case, but if I end up not staying, I'll let you know before I depart," giving her the second coin.

((Character sheet marked down from 13 to 12 gp))

"I mainly need to see if Mr. Redford wants us to stick around to see if he feels this matter is resolved or not. I'd hate to leave if he feels he still has a problem with monsters."

Quote:

23 Bluff to insinuate to Emberlyn who the 'monsters' he is referring to are, but make it so the soldiers don't realize! Fufufufufu!

 

[PupSage]

12, 18 Perception: 23, Nature 31
5, 16 P16, N 29
20, 5 P Nat, N 18

"Lets make this perfectly clear. I don't want to fight your battles for you. I take you to the den where we killed the beast and no further."
She would begin to scrall out a crude map on her personal map, showing where the den would be. She wrote landmarks in the corner and said,"Truthfully if you could make due with a map I would rather not go at all."  

[Kowsauni]

Nathaniel

Nathaniel would accept the map from Kuori. "A map is nice, but it is no replacement for a guide. I would much prefer if you led us there. There will definitely be more money in it for you if do. We will not ask you to fight for us. In fact, if it looks like combat will take place, we would actually prefer if you left. So what do you say?

The other soldiers would notice Gloom sleeping in the corner. One of them from the night before would walk over and shake him awake. "Hey, we are about to leave for the forest. Are you coming along with us or what? "

Emberlyn would laugh at Revenge's reaction to the head. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to seeing stuff like that... well, not in my Inn but back in the old days before I bought this place. I'm sure Mr. Redford will want to mount it up somewhere for the entire town to see." As for the rest of Revenge's comment the petite halfling would cast him a sly look. "I'll continue to reserve your room, but I would not further worry about the monsters coming into our town. That problem will resolve itself. I don't have a good reason why, but I fear more for the creatures they hunt in the forest."

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Tapana Woods

image made by: Wildweasel339
original image {x}

As Hakka runs into the forest she easily finds her way back to the bull corpse and then to the pond, but the trail gets a little trickier after that. Though the fox has a pretty good idea how to get back to the mound she still would have to be careful not get lost in the menacing woods. ((Roll me either a Nature or Perception Check. I will also accept a different check if you can justify it to me fulling the same role))  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Gloom looks up at the soldiers, then over to Kuori. "If she is going, then you don't need me."  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka was glad that she was making such good time so far, as speed was most certainly a factor here. However, things quickly got tougher and she was not really much of a tracker. However, she did have a decent memory of her new friend's scent, so she used her little foxy sniffer to try and find the girl's trail from when they headed to the cave the previous day (Nature 13).  

[Rain Yupa]

"I'm not used to such... debased displays, but I think that's a matter of upbringing, even though they utilized my sword to do the deed. Killing it was enough, but I have to respect a majority vote."

Revenge would then nod to Emberlyn. "Understood. There was this Druid girl I met yesterday, I think I would like to consult with her. I'm going to go try and find her now." He would gesture over his shoulder towards the door with his thumb.

He would then depart and proceed to try and find Hakka! BEST PLAN EVER, M I RITE? Hahahahaha... haha... haaaa...... sweatdrop

Quote:

Perception result of oh wait she's not in Lupa anymore stare

 

[PupSage]

"I'll go." She said with some obvios distaste. "But I dont leave until I take that beast's head to the Mayor."  

[Kowsauni]

Nathaniel

Nathaniel would smile at Kuori. "I understand. You want to get paid for your previous job. That's fine. We'll wait at the edge of the forest for you, but we won't be able to wait long. We have an exact location for them now. We don't want to lose this advantage and give them a chance to escape further into the forest."

The soldier that addressed Gloom would smirk at his response. "Getting cold feet, huh? We figured as much. Thanks for the information you did provide."

The soldiers would quickly finish their breakfast and begin to depart from the inn. As they leave, a pair of Lupa guards try to stop them and tell them they do not have permission to go but the soldiers would simply push them aside and ignore them. They then make east for the forest.

As Revenge begins his search for the druid girl, he would recall from the previous night that she'd become quite distraught when Poa mentioned the girls in the forest matched the description of who the soldiers were looking for. Considering how she disappeared shortly after that, it seems likely she might have run off to warn them.

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Tapana Woods

image made by: Wildweasel339
original image {x}

It takes a few hours, but Hakka is able to successfully follow the windy multi-part trail back to Razorclaw's den. Once she arrives she finds Ying sitting in front of the fire pit they had made at the mound's entrance. She is quietly singing to herself in Giant while cooking a piece of Razorclaw's flesh over the fire. She seems quite cheerful and has not noticed the small fox's presence.  

[Rain Yupa]

Well, the facts:

Druid fox girl seemed keenly interested in those blonde girls. Could she already be on the way? Without any sign of her here, it was entirely likely. Since the only other motivation for her to be here was to be paid for doing a job, and obviously the head had not been delivered to Redford yet, she probably wasn't paid. So, yes, probably looking for the girls.

It's... something he wished he could have helped on, but frankly, he would have slowed her down. It probably worked out best that way.

Any hope that this was an unrelated matter was gone with the soldiers seemingly marching towards the forest's edge, at at this point, Revenge kind of had to bite the bolt and do something about it.

Seeing the path they marched, Revenge would wait, in a somewhat defiant manner that a paladin is apt to do, wait for them to reach his position, clearly armed and armored. He'd buy Hakka as much time as he could, and pray that he hadn't overestimated her character.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

As Hakka makes it through the brush and into the clearing, she immediately poofs back into her fully human form. The girl looks very distraught, and she is breathing hard as she had been in such a hurry to get here. "Ying, it's bad," she gasped, "You have to take your sister and go. A bunch of soldiers showed up in town looking for you guys....They're from some big kingdom nearby, and they looked really mad."  

[PupSage]

Kuori grabbed Razorclaws head and headed towards Redfords. She wasn't taking no for an answer this time.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Gloom will turn invisible and head out the door. Taking a full run to get ahead of the soldiers. He keeps the pace for as long as he can, he will stop whenever he either gets to the woods or sees Revenge. Which puts him at about 90 ft per round.

If/when he catches up to Revenge and is reasonably far away from the soldiers he will speak quietly without turning his head. "If this goes south thats 5 soldiers a piece, 7 if the Foxy chick doesn't show. Think you can handle that? Bunch of evil guys hunting down two seemingly nice girls and heavily laden with coin. I know that I am good for it."  

[Rain Yupa]

The tiefling would snort once, not even bothering to look for the invisible Gloom. "I think your math is bad. It should be ten apiece. Though frankly..." He kept his gaze forward as he walked with a hurried step towards the woodline. "... I was planning on hogging all twenty to myself. I'm a selfish b*****d like that."

A pause.

"You are free to do as you will. I think that druid girl has a head start on us, I'm just buying her every second I can while I still stand. Though I'm going to do everything to turn them away peacefully. If possible..." He would continue looking forward, but he would grin. "... I'd rather not die needlessly if I don't have to."