Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Kowsauni]

Poa the Dryad

Poa would wait for Gloom and Revenge to finish wandering away before speaking again. "If you want, I can identity the items you took from the soldiers--otherwise, Emberlyn is quite proficient with the arcane, though she will probably charge you for her services."

Poa would pause for a moment to look back at Gloom and Revenge who are now out of earshot. She would let out a sigh and shake her head before continuing. "Anyways, I was going to say thank you for helping solve this incident. I knew it was the right choice to have the mayor hire outside help. If the town had gotten involved in this, it could have created a national scene or put us back at odds with the forest. I felt one of my sisters had to have some hand in this, but who could have known we were dealing with escaped experiments from some sort of secret Arian project. Nonetheless, the mystery has been solved. Here, I want you to have this."

Poa pulls from a pocket on her dress four small bags of coins. She tosses one each to Kuori and Hakka, then pockets the other two. Each bag contains 200 gold. "I know this might pale in comparison to what the soldiers had on them, but here is the reward for solving the mystery of the Beast of Thousand Knives. I am also a woman of my word. I told you I would improve the enchantments on your weapons if you found there was more going on here than meets the eye. If you don't mind entrusting them to me for a little while, I will have them back to you by this evening in a much improved state."

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As Gloom and Revenge move closer to town, they notice the fields and orchards seem quite empty. There seems to be an enormous crowd of people up ahead in the town square, however the two adventurers are still too far away to really tell what's going on.  

[Rain Yupa]

Truthfully, it's been a long day. Revenge disregards - or rather, doesn't seem fazed by - the crowd, and instead heads towards The Fat Fox.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka seemed a little bit leery about the offer as it was the first she'd heard of it...however, the pouch of gold in her hand for her to pass on to her clan leader made her feel as though the offer might be legitimate. She approached the dryad girl and placed a palm-sized green tablet in her hand, triangular in shape and covered in foreign writing. "Damage this, and we're going to have a serious problem," she said, quietly so only Poa would hear.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Insight check. She will be untrusting either way since she dislikes Poa.

Kuori smiled a bit nervously and said, "I don't quite want to part with my bow until I know that this has completely blown over. They are still in the woods, your sister is still pissed off, and if you couldn't tell by those two walking off, we are tired as all hell. Can we raincheck for tomorrow on the enchanting?" Kuori would rather work with the innkeeper on this anyways, she was still not trusting of Poa based on their first encounter  

[Kowsauni]

Poa the Dryad

Poa seems completely genuine with her offer. You also get the sense she has picked up on your distrust, but whether she cares or not is hard to tell.

As Hakka hands over her ki focus, Poa would smile. The fox girl would hear a voice echo in her head: "I can tell this must have great value to you. Don't worry, I will take good care of it. Don't let your companions give you the wrong impression. Those who have proven themselves to be no threat to my town have nothing to fear from me."

Poa turns to Kuori and laughs. "Hah, Salixa is bound by the same rules as me. There is a reason why she had outsiders attack the town, just like we hired you guys to investigate. I don't expect any trouble from her for a while and it will be some time before Aria gets news of their soldiers' disappearance. Oh and enchanting weapons is no small feat--I have to set everything up and it takes several hours to complete the ritual. I have already told the guard captain that I will stand watch at the gate tomorrow and it is the day my book merchant comes into town. However, when I have this ki focus delivered back to the inn this evening, I can have your bow picked up and I will have it waiting for you in the morning."

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As Revenge moves past the crowd, he can sense they contain a certain level of excitement and the name "Beast of a Thousand Knives" can be heard being mentioned a few times. Otherwise, he has no idea what it is about. As he makes it to the Fat Fox, the place is empty except for the workers. Emberlyn cheerily greets him and tells him that is room is ready.  

[Rain Yupa]

"Emberlyn..." Revenge would greet solemnly as he approached the innkeeper.

"I'd like to make a couple requests. Could you fetch me two bottles of drink, preferably something strong? Also, the Arians... won't be returning for their rooms," he would say flatly. It sounded factual, and not even the slightest bit happy or proud. "I'd like to keep their rooms empty this evening. Finally, if possible, I'd like not to be disturbed, under any circumstances."

He would produce the platinum coin he secured earlier. "Hopefully this will be payment enough for all that. As well as any damages tonight."  

[PupSage]

Posting from my account this time! Sorry about the confusion.

Kuori would nod at Poa and say, "That may work better. I just need to know that we are out of the fire before I hand over my best friend." Kuori would begin to head up towards town and say, "No offense Poa, but I will be so happy to leave this place and find a bed that fits me. I may sleep for a week!" She headed up towards the inn. She would be paying to get a bed that was her size tonight.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka nodded, deciding to trust that the dryad girl would take good care of her treasure. She followed Kuori back to the inn and asked the short lady running the place for a meal. She had no interest in renting a room...sleeping inside always made her feel...itchy  

[Kowsauni]

Poa the Dryad

Poa waves goodbye to Kuori and Hakka and leaves them with these parting words: "Remember, what happened in the forest needs to remain a secret, for the safety of everyone. Please make sure your companions remember that." Then, with a gust of wind, Poa vanishes from sight.

As Hakka and Kuori approach the cluster of buildings marking the center of town, they see the villagers all crowded in the town square. The villagers seem to be excitedly discussing something. Kuori, with her superior height and perception, can see in the center of the crowd, mounted on a large pike, the fanged head of Razorclaw, with a large note posted underneath it. From the edge of the crowd she can't make out what it says. However, both Hakka and Kuori can tell the townsfolk are clearly talking about the Beast of a Thousand Knives.

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Emberlyn Rowntree

Emberlyn would cheerily agree to all of Revenge's requests and comment. "Oh, I already know about the soldiers. They went into Tapana Woods bearing arms without first getting permission from the guardians of the forest. No one ever comes out after doing such a thing. Everyone here knows that--but they didn't bother to ask. In fact, I'm surprised to see you guys again too. Though you will be quite the heroes around here now for slaying the Beast of a Thousand Knives."

Upon the mention of her inn possibly getting damaged again, the cute expression would drop off Emberlyn's face. She would give the paladin a deadly serious look and her voice would go from bubbly to flat. "Look, this is the second time one of your group has done this. If something is gonna happen, tell me about it. If you're going to be the source of it then do it somewhere else or don't stay here at all. I don't like people giving me vague threats that my place is gonna get smashed up. You know we have to import our lumber. We can't just get it from the forest, y'know. Repairs wouldn't be easy for us, even with the money to do it."  

[PupSage]

Kuori shoved past the crowd to see the note.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka, on the other hand, was not interested in the monster head in the middle of the crowd. People could just be soooo weird sometimes. Besides, she was hungry, so Hakka pushed past the crowd and into the inn.  

[Rain Yupa]

"....."

Revenge would sigh. "Today I have learned that my wife, whom I love more than life itself but I had thought dead, had in fact been taken prisoner and subject to inhumane torture all this time, to the point where it broke her mind. Worse yet, I had unknowingly tried to aid those directly responsible for this."

He would place a gauntleted finger on the platinum coin and slid it closer to her. "If money can't give what I need to cope with my heart, which is about to break from rage and sorrow, then money is useless to me. Here, keep this. It's bound to serve you better than I."

Turning from the counter, he would not pay heed to any responses Emberlyn might give, and head for the door.

Stopping as Hakka had just entered, he would address her. "Fox-girl..." he would say, with sadness both in eye and voice. "I am to try my luck on the road, if I aim to be alone right now. You have a kind spirit, and you're a good friend to Ying. Corsica, too. They both need you right now. But when they find peace, I hope I can be fortunate enough to meet you again one day." And he would make his way out.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

The fox girl stopped just inside the doorway when she saw Revenge, and she would glare a bit at how she was addressed by him. It was enough of an issue that she revealed her nature to the others over the course of the task, she didn't want to make it worse by having it known by everyone in town. His words were friendly enough, however, so she simply nodded and said to him, "Maybe you will...You're not the only one to have someone important taken by those bastards..."  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Diplomacy 20

Gloom would slip his hand into Revenge's armor at the neck and tug, "Hey there buddy. You'receive not about to abandon us now. Go get some sleep, the road will be there in the morning, and you won't be half useless." He would let go and shift to the front of the Tiefling. "You're covered in blood man, and I think only half of its yours. Not a good site to greet your wife with, Aria sure, but ... look, the forest is dangerous enough in broad daylight, don't be a fool and go in there at night. Besides, I think you might break Kuori's heart all over again of you ditch her now. Wait out the dawn and march on the road with your friends. I want Aria taken down, Kuori wants to help you save your wife and Hakka is missing somebody too." He looked at the guy, knowing that it may not work.  

[Kowsauni]

The townsfolk make way for the towering goliath. They seem to almost hold her in a bit of awe. The note is written in common and reads as such. "Citizens rejoice, for here lies the head of the Beast of Thousand Knives, heroically slain by a group of stalwart adventuress for the continued safety of our town."

As Kuori reads the note, one of the townsfolk, a young man with sandy blond hair, timidly asks her, "You're one of the adventurers who did this, aren't you?"

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In the Fat Fox, the place is empty expect for Emberlyn and a few of the staff. After stating her concerns with Revenge smashing up the room, Emberlyn goes back to her usual bubbly state and greets Hakka as she comes in. She has not taken the platinum Revenge leaves on the counter. Hakka also doesn't feel anyone paid attention to Revenge's fox girl comment.