Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Rain Yupa]

A little known fact: Since tieflings' eyes are solid-colored orbs, a gesture that is fairly uncommon amongst them is rolling their eyes, because it doesn't look like anything, aside from an add facial contortion.

However, Revenge had spent a large chunk of his previous life around non-Tieflings, often in more casual environments, so it was a habit he ended up picking up.

Rolling his eyes, he would would not address Adrik, or Kuori, but instead to Thava. "You once more speak wisdom, and I'm grateful for that. I've known many a commoner who would become uneasy in the presence of a half dozen heavily armed, heavily armored strangers, and this situation is more delicate than usual. But, as you say, what's done is done."

He would respond to Gloom, however. "I understand. Your reason for remaining armored is similar to my reason to remove mine, so I hope you know where I was coming from."

He would say nothing else, because apparently everyone else seemed ready to engage any possible threat as soon as possible, and it would be irresponsible for him to be ill prepared for such an encounter. He would simply follow.  

[Kowsauni]

Under Adrik's guidance, the adventurers travel down the southeastern road out of the main hub of the town. Buildings give way to fruit orchards that eventually give way to fenced grassland. Small clusters of cows can be seen grazing alongside the road, paying the group little attention. Before long the roughly cobbled path turns into dirt leading on until its sudden end at the edge of Tapana Woods. However, as the road terminates into forest, a large, two-story wooden house can be seen to the left with an even larger red barn behind it. A fence running the length of the road springs up into a large arch as it nears the house. Written in bold writing on the top of the archway inside the picture of a decorative cow are the words "HOPKINS RANCH."  

[Alzzak]

Stopping just outside the gate, Adrik turned to face the group. "With eleven members, the Hopkins are a big lot. They tend to stick to themselves, though they are friendly enough." Grabbing his beard, the dwarf looked momentarily at the dirt as if to think for a second. "The Old man came here about 40 years, if my memory of the town history is correct. And, Might have a bit of elvish blood in them, too."

"The animal that went missing might be their prized, and Ol'Hopkins favorite, breeding bull named Duke. "  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would blink a few times at Adrik's short anecdote, unsure what to make of it. "That's... nice," was the best he could manage.

He would look up at the cow sign, and ask aloud, "Should we just let ourselves in? Or..."  

[PupSage]

Kuori walked past Revenge and said, "Worst he can do is shoot at us, and I guarentee that I can shoot the weapon from his hands before he manages to hit one of us. Beyond that I say we head towards the house and make our presence known. I am eager to see these 'knife' marks." She started towards the house.  

[Onlin3 Gam3r]

Thava flew up 60ft to get a better view. She looked for the family, signs of the beast, and anything odd as she hovered a moment before decending back to the ground.  

[Kowsauni]

As Kuori keenly surveys the land around her, she notices nothing out of the ordinary. In the distance she can see a large herd of cattle being tended to by some ranchers, but more importantly she hears sounds coming from the large house, letting her know there are indeed people inside. There is a small path leading from the front of the house, traveling the hundred feet or so to the archway. The gate to the archway stands open as well.

As Thava flies up into the air, she notices everything Kuori does, with the exception of the noises coming from the house. Rolling grass fields stretch out before her, dotted with clumps of brown cows. She can see there are some ranchers out working with the cows, but they away in the distance.

((Just a quick side note: Thava has an altitude limit of one, so if she took a double move action to get 60 feet straight up in the air, she would not have enough actions left to get back to the ground before her turn was out and would then fall to the ground and take damage. However, you could safely fly up 30 feet and then convert a standard to a move action to fly back safely to the ground. I know we are not in combat, but as far as Thava's flying abilities goes, they will be treated as if in combat. I'm not worrying about it for this post, but in the future it will need to be adhered to.))  

[Rain Yupa]

"I suppose there's something to be said for the direct approach." Revenge would follow after Kuori.  

[Kowsauni]

Revenge and Kuori walk to the house without incident. The front door is large and made out of finely stained oak . It has a brass knocker on it made to look like the face of a bull with the knocker being the bull's nose ring.  

[Rain Yupa]

"... quaint." Revenge would say, just kind of staring at the knocker for a good thirty seconds. Finally, he would sigh, and obliged the homeowner by rapping the knocker on the door three times.  

[Kowsauni]

Girl at the Door

At first Revenge's knocks on the door were met with silence . However, after a little bit of time, footsteps could be heard running to the door from the inside. The door then flew open to reveal a young woman in a plain country dress. The girl looked to be in her late teens to early twenties. Her cheeks were lightly freckled and she had long red hair in a ponytail tied to hang down her front. Her ears were strangely pointed despite her having an otherwise human appearance. She bore a pleasant smile and greeted Revenge and Kuori enthusiastically. “Well, howdy! Welcome to the Hopkins Ranch . We don’t often get visitors all the way out here. What brings y’all out to our neck of the woods?"  

[PupSage]

Kuori looked down at the girl and paused, her words came out with all the grace of a creaky door hinge. "Uh, howdy. We were hoping you could show us where the uh ... attack happened last night."  

[Rain Yupa]

The tiefling paladin would look at his halberd.

The tiefling paladin would look down at his full plate armor.

The tiefling paladin would look back at the girl.

"..."

After a short pause, he would add, "We... brought a dwarf?"  

[Kowsauni]

Girl at the Door

The girl listens to Kuori and Revenge talk and seems to get a bit confused, especially by the paladin's comment. She casually glances behind them to see the rest of the party. She seems a bit surprised by Thana and Gloom's appearance but her expression relaxes when she see's the dwarf. "Oh, its Adrik...ah, I get it now. Y'all 'r here about o'l Duke disappearin from his pen last night. That would explain y'all's weapons. Most folks don't walk around here with things like that."The girl motions to their armaments. "We figured th' town would send someone, but we weren't expectin no adventurers. Pa will be one to talk to about all that. He's probably back workin' in the barn with my brothers. I can take you to him if y'all like."  

[Rain Yupa]

"Yes, if you would be so kind," Revenge would respond. He looked over his shoulder at Adrik, nodding, though more to himself than anything, before turning to face the girl once more.