[D&D 3.5] Dark Storms Gather

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:13 pm

Privately vowing to himself that the Paladin was no longer allowed to talk to any officials, ever again, Volans stepped forward.

"I at least am happy to begin good faith negotiations " he said as a slight barb to the Paladin who he was shocked managed to function in polite society

"Least of all because I do not want me or my descendants to be disemboweled by garden implements should we return."

Thanks to the paladin their ability to get what they might typically be able to get from this steward were probably crushed.

"So, provided the group accepts the terms, I am willing to accept your original price."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:15 pm

"The dwarf speaks for himself, especially when the words that come out of his mouth might lead to an impaling," said Saiden. "I for one am interested in your offer." And that would be his policy until safely away from the palace.

Jason_Firewalker · Post by **Jason_Firewalker** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 12:59 pm

"Albeit I see wisdom in the way of flight, I am in need of something and that is gold. I am in for this, despite what the dwarf says" Sylvandor smirked.

Haizu · Post by **Haizu** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:22 pm

"Hey, if theirs money and adventure in it, I'm in." Eddie said.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:31 pm

After hearing from each of the six, a very faint smile appeared on the steward's face for a moment, as he seemed to relax. "Very well then. Two thousand for each of you, and two hundred for each goblin, orc, or undead you slay while there. Your task is to retrieve the eight golden chalices used long ago by the official Knights of Impetrus. Upon return, you will be granted the sums of money as mentioned, and you will be considered for further freelance work for the Kingdom of Impetrus. I have ordered two drafts of this contract to be written; here is mine," he said, pointing to the left of the two identical pieces of parchment on the desk, "and this one is yours, for your records and proof of employment," he said, handing the other one to whichever of the six was closest.

"Now," he said, standing to his feet, "the king has requested to meet the six of you over lunch before you embark. After this, you're free to go. Please follow me," he said, walking out of the meeting room, the guards opening the doors without being prompted.

As they walked into the throne room, the six saw two immense tables almost filled to overflowing with delicious-smelling dishes of all kinds and types, and enough servants to dish it all efficiently. Eighteen kinds of rare wines, two kinds of Dwarven brandy, two kinds of halfling sweetmead, four different vintages of Elven berry wines, and an uncountable number of food dishes.

As for the king himself, he was using both hands to eat over an equally immense plate sitting in his lap, belching as the six saw the food. Observant members saw a subtle sigh and shake of the head by the steward right before he led the six up to the table. "My King Tanusid, here are the six holders of the World Spheres, who are about to embark on a mission for this Kingdom's wellbeing. They are here as you requested."

Fixing his pig-like eyes on each of the six, he began looking left to right. "This is as random a group as I've ever set eyes on. I don't know how you all get along, I'd be afraid of germs. Is that there," he said, pointing with a food-laden hand at Volans, "one o' your pets or something? Must be handy when you can't find where you left your lunch. Huh."

He turned to the next in line, who happened to be Gror Hammerbammer. "Ah, a dwarf. I'm glad one of your kind is here, I need to have some masonry repaired. Steward, make that one of their tasks, will you? I can't be seen living in a hovel. It's unbecoming of one of my lofty station. Well, when you get drunk and pass out, just make sure that bat-thing of yours can carry you home," he said, pointing to Volans.

Turning to the next figure in line, Saidin, he smiled. "Ah, here's a good, clean-cut proper human. I bet you're the moral compass of this bunch of wayward malcontents. Keep up the good work, and remember to keep the less deserving in line."

Moving with a smile to the next, Doran, he actually recoiled, sending his plate and all its contents to the floor. "What in the hells is that? It'll dirty up the whole palace. Steward! Get this filthy bunch out of there, and make sure they wash their hands or whatever before they touch those chalices. They might get infected!"

Wordlessly, the steward led the six out of the throne room, and into a small room near the entrance to the castle. In it were six baskets, which he motioned to them to take. "Here's the leftovers, and here's a good map of this continent. I had them prepared for you since our meeting. Good journeys to you."

With that, the six were escorted out of the castle, and shown the footpath leading out of the Kingdom proper, and north.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:34 pm

Volans endured being called a pet, potential food, and bat-thing, with a stoicism that would surprise the most aesthetic of monks. The moment he was out of earshot he let out an angry hiss, more of a deep-throated growl.

"I dont know how that Steward has managed to put up that psychotic low-life lording it over him for so long. And did else anyone notice that he doubled our fee, and had contracts written in advance with that amount?" he said as he filed away the contract in his scroll case.

"And there was something else... he seemed... Off somehow. He seemed to be physically containing himself, as if he were magically transmuted. But that does not make any sense, those effects are almost always used to subvert unless..." he thought to himself. He remembered reading about the history of the first Steward and kept talking.

"The first Steward of this kingdom was a brave and honorable Paladin-Pugalist who provided counsel and advice to the first king. When the king died the Steward made a sacred oath to uphold his station for future generations, and disappeared into retirement when he picked his successor. The successor followed the same noble ideals, down to the letter, and so did his successor, and his after that. Not one corrupt or incompetent in the lot. They were drawn from all manner of backgrounds, but were completely unremarkable to the point that no one knew they existed prior to their choosing. It has been centuries. That nobility in a single office is unheard of"

A light spell physically went off in his head

"He could be the same person as the first Steward! It makes sense. Lack of variability in performance or loyalty even with no real training period or grooming. Old Steward and New never crossing paths. And what I detected in his affect. There are any number of ways this could work. He could be a powerful wizard who can stop his own aging and keep Polymorph spells up continually. It is unlikely but there are also a number of non-human shapeshifters that are long enough lived. Dragons have been known to do similar things for example. So long as no one thinks to cast a true seeing spell, no one finds out. I dont know about the rest of you, but I want to find out if I am right and what the answer is almost as much as I want two thousand gold pieces plus bounties."

The lizard was excited. His eyes were bright, and the red coloration of his wings seemed brighter.

Haizu · Post by **Haizu** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:47 pm

Not understanding a word that Volans said, Eddie decided to have a look around. At first glance, everything looked pretty normal. The countryside, the city, the ocean.....and an ominous black....wall....thingy on the horizon. "Hey guys? What's that?" Eddie said as he pointed towards the black mass.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:46 pm

Volans squinted in the direction the halfling pointed. And could just make out a black line of something on the horizon.

"I have no idea..." he said and pondered for a moment. "None at all. It could be anything from a distant storm to a procession of dragon-turtles. I suggest that those who wish to accompany me to the ruins so we can all make this trip worth our time and intense irritation through monetary compensation, and stay away from the ocean just in case it is a procession of dragon turtles"

With that, the mage made the Executive Decision to walk down the road toward the ruins.

Haizu · Post by **Haizu** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 12:58 am

Shrugging, the halfling said "Works for me. Lead the way oh fearless leader." Taking one last look at the black mass on the horizon, Eddie put the sight to the back of his mind. Who knows, it could save his life....

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:47 am

"So you're saying a paladin swears a really bad oath and so he's stuck keeping propping up a bad system with a violently insane man at the top?" said Saiden. "The stupid sword swingers really need to get fucking educations, starting with logic and reasoning."

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:02 am

"It'd be an odd paladin tha' would nae reconsider 'is oath when th' king turned out bein' a madman," Gror said as he walked along. "Part o' good law is knowin' when t' change th' law."

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:50 am

"Well the system didnt used to be bad. The current king is a recent problem. I would imagine that if I am right, the oath was to uphold the office of Steward, and if he is as long lived as I think he is, is just banking on waiting out the short life span of the king and raising his Heir. You will notice that the king is largely kept distracted. Probably why the kingdom has not been run into the ground, he doesnt touch the day to day running of things. Now, the Steward may not have royal authority for foreign policy. Which could be a problem..."

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 12:38 pm

Having quietly picked at the leftovers, Doran blinked a few times before he managed to say, "Ah... what if these Chalice things are tied to your alternate form theory? Wouldn't it be... uh... pretty easy for the steward to convince the King that he needs the chalices personally? The steward might not be able to issue the royal decree necessary to summon so many of us from so far away, but if he convinced the king..."

Doran let it hang at that. He didn't have the arcane studies to follow his trail of thought through to completion, but it sounded reasonable to him.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:13 pm

"They probably are not. They were ceremonial wine-chalices, used by the Knights of Impetrus back from the time of the first king. They are not magical and valuable for historical purposes...Either that or the King just wants some chalices...The Steward did know the proper names of the spheres we carry however"

Haizu · Post by **Haizu** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:18 pm

Ok, what does this mean to those of us who are not magically inclined?" Eddie inquired, thouroughly confused by all the magical mumbo jumbo being discussed.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:39 am

"Nothing really, save that the Chalices are economically and culturally valuable. There are probably a rather large number of other valuable things in those ruins. Both magical and not. As for knowing the proper names of the spheres... it means he is damn old, and just gave me a boost in figuring out what they all do, above and beyond what they do now. As a general rule artifacts do not only grant one or two small magical effects..."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:40 am

"Any system which puts the insane in power and keeps them there is by definition, broken," replied Saiden. "This particular flaw just hadn't showed up until now, although a retarded kobold could have figured out this was going to happen sooner or later. And the Steward is holding out on us."

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:00 pm

"Oh I certainly agree on both points. While I do believe people need to be governed and controlled, some ways of doing it are more effective and descend into madness with more difficulty than others. And he is certainly holding out on us. But that is part of the fun" the wizard said grinning. Then he lowered his voice so that the paladin couldnt hear

"And between you and me Saiden, Gror never gets to talk of any officials, ever again, unless they are as tactless as he is. Agreed?"

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:42 pm

As the six walked down the path, it quickly led into the beginnings of a forest, with the youngest trees along the periphery. It almost seemed as if the forest were expanding relentlessly, despite the cutting of the woodsmen and carpenters of Impetrus.

Despite this, this part of the forest wasn't forbidding in any way - sunlight still streamed through the trees in parts, giving this part of the forest an almost holy feeling. Deer were visible in the distance, as were rabbits. Though none of the forest animals came close to the path, that they were still visible was somewhat strange.

Despite all this, the path was easy on the traveler's feet, and the going easy. After approximately fifteen minutes of walking, this part of the forest seemed to slowly give way to the forest proper, which wasn't quite as calm and comfortable-looking as the younger part.

(OOC: Make a Spot check on the forest floor, DC 15/20/25)

Haizu · Post by **Haizu** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:54 pm

Glancing around, Eddie noticed something strange on the ground just ahead of them. Taking a closer look, he realized that they were footprints, lots of them. "Hey, come check this out." Eddie said to the group, motioning them over.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:59 pm

"The footprints?" The wizard replied.. "Well they certainly are not mine" he said looking down at his own un-shoed, four toed clawed and scaly feet

"They look roughly humanoid though. Doran, do you by chance know how to track...things?"

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:21 pm

"I dinnae, I'd call killin' men fer nothin' pretty gods damned tactless meself t' say th' least," Gror said sourly in a loud voice. "A thane behavin' like tha' would find hisself out o' a throne real quick."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:48 pm

"He isn't a dwarven thane," said Saiden. "You might have noticed the surplus height and the lack of a high quality beard. When we're in a dwarven hall, act like we're in a dwarven hall. And when we ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN INSANE MONARCH ACT LIKE WE ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN INSANE MONARCH!"

Jason_Firewalker · Post by **Jason_Firewalker** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:34 pm

Still ajar mentally from dealing with the worthless human monarch Sylvandor had kept quiet. No amount of prodding would get him out of his thoughts till Saiden said

And when we ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN INSANE MONARCH ACT LIKE WE ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN INSANE MONARCH!"

"That man may not be insane, just extremely self centered. There was an account amoungst my people of such a monarch once amoungst the humans. He grew to power out of his greed not lacking in sanity. If things are to be expected, he will be replaced by a coup or by natural selection due to his corpulent nature." Sylvandor stated bluntly whilest examining what the halfling had found.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:41 pm

"It is more than likely insanity. Royal lines tend to be highly inbred, which leads to weak minds"

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[D&D 3.5] Dark Storms Gather

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