Ruess

Crescenda | WizardConjuror Variant of Wizard 2 | Spells used - L0: 1/5; L1: 3/4 | AC: 12/16Dexterity +2 Touch 12 Flat-Footed 10 If Mage Armor is cast and active, Hagen's Armor becomes: AC16, T12, FF 14 | HP: 11/11 | Fort +2 | Ref +2 | Will +4 | Spot/Listen +1/+1 Crescenda hasn't noticed her fatigue until now. It's almost like an old friend coming to pester you for a fistful of silvers... Almost, but not quite. The idea of pressing forth fills her with a foreboding that simmer under a dark cloud. "I am on the verge of exhaustion. And I would much rather collapse somewhere defensible, such as the library we ventured into. I leave the experts of combat to consider if they wish to press onwards while I see to the curtains and their addition to our soon-to-be-campsite. " Crescenda turns her attention to the curtains, the large tempters of cloth in the room with the boneheaded remains and their master. By her calculus, she should be ablle to cleran the curtains and a very large campsite withing the library. Conditions, Actions And Things Of Interest Darkvision 60 ft Darkness 1/Day; as per spell, as a spell-like ability; Resist 5 Cold Resist 5 Fire Resist 5 Electricity

Under The Sun AdrielFifth weekday, 32th49 days to a month, except Mesha is a day short of MeshaFirst month of the year, out of eight in total. Late Morning Saai Vees Atat rubs his hands with delight and gathers his payment. "Beautiful Mistress Saai is as beautiful as she is wise. Atat will now rush off and gather ten Crocodiles. Atat will see you tomorrow, with Crocodiles and Veteran. Atat has everything covered. And Atat will have contracts made so that Beautiful Mistress Saai need not bother, yes?" Unless you have further business with Atat, he takes his leave from the tavern and head off with his two associates to gather up your mercenaries. Ruven And Kaldakazil Her frill, a large thing at that shifts as she takes in your details, speaking and hesturing as she does, indicating at the one large table in the room that is mostly unoccupied. "Jennu Ir? Henpiswo? Alnaetir." Sunrise takes a moment to consider the two of you: a dragon of gold and a man of air. She doesn't take long to come to a decision after ascertaining that you are as you look, and hops down from her perch so as to come about for a better look at the two of you. Her nostrils flare as she takes a long inhale of your scents while observing the two of you with large, staring eyes - and then she gives a deep bow to Kaldakazil, followed by gesturing at the one table in the kitchen that does not have something on it. "Bekiwilti fekiikiri kagh tekilekic, Aurix Ternock. Kaoj dout jaxiron, kagh drex svabol wux kartaha. Tenpiswo. Petranas. Vsist, sjaadur petranas, rauhissi rigluin vin selair." A halfing arrives, and Sunrise raises a claw to indicate wanting a moment. The lizardfolk and the halfling have a rushed discussion, mostly consisting of the halfling seeming confused, maybe a little unhappy, and Sunrise telling said halfilng in Common that Important Business is happening. Sunrise returns to you, and observes the plants upon the table. "Wux tepoha toladaf edrok unef usv jennu ulwim, Aurix Ternock. usv nomagqe wux tepoha trian? nomeno ui ti vin eschoup finrai batobot wux tepoha persvek dout ocretic." Do you speak Draconic? If yes, have a look. Translation: "Great One? Here? Intriguing. Deepest greetings and respects, Gold Scale. Share your tale , and show what you discovered. Here. Please. Also, excuse please, halflings need an alerting." "You have either good fortune or great ability, Gold Scale. Or maybe you have both? This is not an easy harvest that you have in your claws. Grammar Notice: Sunrise has switched to a more respectful form of addressing. And she is calling Kaldakazil a title that is ummistakably respectful. Mahdi Zaid grabs some dates and crunches them between his teeth. For a moment, if someone looks, Zaid loses his unhappy look. Then it returns and the elf turns to address the two humans in the room. "Let's say that previous consultants and experts were more keen on delivering knives in each other's necks than believing in the profit margins. Which incidentally meant that no one got paid. Zaid enjoys a few further dates as he continues: "The first task should prove easy enough. Mahdi's team has run across something profitable and will be seeing to the sales. If it were to happen that they found something exotic, or interesting that the City Watch would take a keen eye on, we want to be sure the Watch doesn't see it. Art would be a good example, especially if it were made of exotic materials. With a flick of his sharp fingers, Zaid produces a small piece of something translucent that bends the light around it. He sets it on the table as she speaks, and flicks it in your way if you want to have a look at it. So what is it? It's a see-through kind of crystal. It has been filed into a thin coin shape. It has an off-tone ring if you give it a spin against "Istarya here will be joining you, Mahdi, both to make sure you don't run into troubles that you can't leave bleeding on the ground, and to make sure any future interesting goods find the right buyers. Especially if it is crystal. It might ring and it might look nice but apparently it has a secret to it that a noble house I have an understanding with would want. That meanss profits and danger."

In The Shade Skold's choice to return a military salute is taken as cue to fall off from the rigid stance of her salute by the Captain herself, as well as a cue by the two servants holding her up to move the near-collapsing woman's bulk onto the indicated chair. Once there, the unnamed servants excuse themselves outside the room - which is the cue Elektra needs to come about with her wand. The offer is received with a small nod of affirmation. The wand's shimmering energy seeps into the battered woman's injuries. Faintly, slowly - you think you see a few of them begin to knit themselves. It does not escape your notice that the reaction from Captain Anika herself is a small sigh of relief. "Aye," comes the Captain's quiet response to Skold. "I..... The mage?...His kin?... The... The quakes.... Yes, the quakes.....Since them. ...Since then. My Lord.... Vultures. " Her breath hitches up, and the woman's eyes narrow. Through visible exertion, she forces a nugget of strength into her voice, forcing that whisper into something almost like normal speech. "Vultures, Lord Skold. Surrounding the mistress. Braying, baying - Master would send them running were he alive." RielatThird weekday, 30th49 days to a month, except Mesha is a day short of MeshaFirst month of the year, out of eight in total. 8:46 A.M

Huzzah! Victory!

In The Shade Varon turns his eyes to Skold at an opportune time in the conversation. "Correct. Once the matter of art sales is concluded, it is likely the matter of this visitation is considered concluded unless we are involved in another relevant matter as well - such as the social matter of a widow's grieving period." From somewhere, through the now open door, you hear heavy footsteps as Varon speaks. In response, he turns his voice to a more quiet tone so that his voice does not conflict with the heavy sound of metal greaves upon floor tiles. "That is likely the Captain." It is not a long wait. It is enough to arrange oneself into a suitable and comfortable posture so as to not look like one has been kept waiting. The woman who arrives does not arrive with a military posture. Nor does she come in alone. Instead, a battered figure of woman arrives at he door, held up by two men in servants' garbs - one is young and spry, the other aged and harrowed by age. Both are men and yet they are fighting to keep themselves upright with the armored woman in their middle, even though more plates and scale reinforcements are missing or shattered than there are left. She is large in physique but bent low by the harm visibly lingering on her. Blood and ichors cover her from the top of her head to the greaves, which are fully coated in rust-red stains. Before she is even at the door, you can see this woman fighting to come to a salute at a full attention with quivering limbs. She looks "Captain...Anika...Stormborn...Third...Of...Name... Present... As...Requested...My,...Lord...Skold." Her voice is a whisper, a ghost that lingers in shadows. RielatThird weekday, 30th49 days to a month, except Mesha is a day short of MeshaFirst month of the year, out of eight in total. 8:46 A.M

Crescenda | WizardConjuror Variant of Wizard 2 | Spells used - L0: 1/5; L1: 3/4 | AC: 12/16Dexterity +2 Touch 12 Flat-Footed 10 If Mage Armor is cast and active, Hagen's Armor becomes: AC16, T12, FF 14 | HP: 11/11 | Fort +2 | Ref +2 | Will +4 | Spot/Listen +1/+1 Crescenda waits. And observes. "Yes. What His Holiness said." Conditions, Actions And Things Of Interest Crescenda rakes her mind for magics but has nothing workable. so Crescenda waits some more. Darkvision 60 ft Darkness 1/Day; as per spell, as a spell-like ability; Resist 5 Cold Resist 5 Fire Resist 5 Electricity

For the mercenaries, each. Standard daily rate plus Extra Danger Healthcare, to the fullest extent. If injured, they geat healed to full, by you or on your coin. Goes for any health affliction. Equipment maintenance and restoration Say they use up arrows. Or javelins. You pay for the replacement or fixing. Quartermaster Function If they need gear to get the job done, such as by getting a new cart or by getting toxin masks, that comes out of your money. Additionally, for each Named NPC [Veteran NPC] +5% off you cut of the total sales of the goods/spoils you found. Atat will take a separate fee of 36gp to make it all happen, but he will get it done rapidly.

You saw her flinch from something and try to fight it off. (She failed.) You saw her cling to a chair and scramble away from it in panic. And then you saw her clutch Doallyn in a substantial terror of losing him.

Under The Sun AdrielFifth weekday, 32th49 days to a month, except Mesha is a day short of MeshaFirst month of the year, out of eight in total. Late Morning Saai Vees "Lovely mistress Saai has graced Atat's table and she brings both fortune and profit with her, so Atat will happily share." A gloved hand beckons for Saai to lean in closer. "The Crocodiles are young, so you can easily lure them with small pay. But beware. Young and unblooded will run away unless you hire a veteran to, heh, whip them in shape. Veterans will demand more. Always more. There is a thousand tricks. But one is this: hire like the priests do with Ushabtis: one and ten. You want ten young bloods, and a veteran. Pay the veteran well, and give them the power to whip the youngs into form. Atat recommends this if you do not want your mercenaries to be monster feed, or like the ones you brought up here." Atat nods his head in the direction of the pile of dead bodies your group brought up from the lift to indicate at his point, and then continues. "If you pay Atat like a veteran, Atat will happily show you where Crocodiles have their camp, and will introduce you to their leader - who is also young blood, Atat must warn. Then Atat will introduce you to a flind who will make the crocodiles too afraid to run." Mercenary Pricing There are two categories you would need to consider when hiring mercenaries: their level of experience, and their type. The pay that a mercenary expects under normal circumstances is two silver [2sp] per level, per day. That is the standard they demand. If you want them to come in with equipment of particular level, you are required to provide either the gold or the gear. Be aware that you are asking them to go into a deep, dark and unknown territory and to maintain a chain of logistics for you. That may be a difficult angle to sell... As for mercenary types, you have the choice between Melee and Skirmishers, both of which can be either mounted or on foot. Alternatively, you can pay Atat to arrange you the same exact deal as what Doallyn made happen. Ruven And Kaldakazil You leave Saai and Atat to their disscussion of mercenaries and turn your attention to the kitchen area. It is slightly tricky to navigate your path to the back rooms since people are coming and going, and at least two halflings keeps coming and going through the door leading to the back, which creates something of a naturally occurring hindrance for you. At the same time, you are not challenged on your way. Thus, you manage to slip in, past the swinging doors, into the simmering heat of a kitchen that has room for both of you to stand in and to have a good look at the chef standing on a wooden box so as to reach the heated plates upon which some new meat slices are sizzling. The air in here is tantalizing to smell, rich in spice and heavy in greasy fumes. Sunny - Sunrise, as you recall is her actual name unless you are her friends - is a lizardfolk of small stature and small size but all of that is covered in a striking, potent hue of jade colored scales. You see neither armor nor clothes on her, not so much as a single strand of it or a band of gems: they are all piled on a table not far from a window, piled up like a treasure hoard on top of which sits a rather large spider that is as blue as Sunshine is green. The spider clicks its mandibles in your direction, which prompts the rather small humanoid by the stovetop to crane her neck so as to quip something sibilant at the sight of you, albeit with a pause. "Ava'yornssvabol?" Do you speak Draconic? If yes, have a look. Translation: "Hello. What?" Grammar Notice: Sunshine is using an altered grammar to poise two un-joined words to create an inquiry that is both a greeting and an inquiry. She wants to know what you what, and is using a short sentence to do so. Accurate grammar would take much longer to express into the same question, and sound far more polite. Mahdi Mahdi finds himself with a curious twist of luck. A message is waiting for him by the door, where a young runner is holding a small scroll of parchment. The wax seal is a rather familiar one, and fully intact as well. The contents of the scroll are interesting. Apparently Mahdi is wanted for a little sit-down, urgently enough that Zaid has rented a little room at an out-of-the-way tavern that Mahdi has been to once or twice. The place is called Silver Line, as Mahdi recalls, and it caters to private meetings. In less polite words it is one of many businesses that serve as neutral areas where people can sit down without being eavesdropped on by people who would see their arrested, dead, or even both, and not necessarily in that order either. "Mahdi. Good. Come in. Sit down." The interior of Silver Line looks almost like that of a tavern, down to a bard with more self-confidence than skill or talent. The meeting Mahdi is wanted in is at third floor, in a room that has a number. The letter even told Mahdi how to knock. "You brought something? Dates? Good man." The inside of the meeting room has just enough furnishing that one can pretend to be civilized and comfortable while discussing businesss. Here, in thiss room, there are a few chairs arranged around a modest table, all of them wooden and of unremarkable quality. The windows are shut, covered and shuttered but daylight still muscles in, perfectly casting the happy tint of daylight on an elven figure who looks rather unhappy about it. "Meet your newest associate. Fresh from Sutyu's care. The winds tell me that your paths should meet." Here sits Zaid Al-Massrani. Zaid has the looks an elven skeleton with a pallid stretch of skin on top, and a face that would rather bite a dragon than not look distinctly unhappy for a minute. Zaid sits with his back to one window, and looks particularly unhappy about how the light highlights the sheer darkness of his garb, which is black with more black except for some foreboding dark purples as well as choice chitings in the silken designs. Zaid's extensive hair looks like it was just swept back from whatever ordeal is suffered, again leaving Zaid ready to demand an explanation or a discount from the universe. "Given just how deep the city is in chaos, and in my- our pockets through that, I'm inclined to listen to every wind that comes my way. I don't expect either of you to be friends, but I do need you to pretend to be professional. You can do that, won't you. The song of coin is certain on this."

Since no one has reacted to Racanna's flashback and the cue it represents, we will move on to the meeting with the Captain Of The House Guard. If someone wants to try to have a go, you have until tomorrow to draw up a post. (I am excluding Skold from this since Skold is outside the room.) Terran. if your post is intended to represent Elektra's actual reaction, please do indicate as much. This OOC thrads is expressly Out Of Character.

Could be worse. Imagine if they started rolling criticals. Wouldn't that be a pain?

Under The Sun AdrielFifth weekday, 32th49 days to a month, except Mesha is a day short of MeshaFirst month of the year, out of eight in total. Late Morning 10:2 Saai Vees At first look this gnome Atat is certainly aging - or then the sun is draining his beard swiftly. He iss quite well dressed and his top hat has a collection of tools about him as though the ones on his vest and inside his ample greatcoat were not enough. He looks almost ridiculous in this heat, and would doubtlessly be dead from heat stroke if not for the strange air of winter surrounding him. He has a steady smile about him, one that grows at the sight of Saai. "Eh-heh-heh-helloo~" he greets Saai with a warm smile "Do have a seat, Miss Vees. How can Atat help a lovely lady like yourself?" When Saai speaks of Roy and the matter of mercenaries, Atat nods. And rubs his hands together. "You speak of Crocodiles, mercenaries, yes? Atat has met them. Young mercenaries, very hopeful. Not blooded yet. Atat can show you where, for some coin. Atat can even make introductions. Atat might even know a few veterans if lovely Miss Vees needs more than youth and muscles." Mahdi Mahdi finds himself with a curious twist of luck. A message is waiting for him by the door, where a young runner is holding a small scroll of parchment. The wax seal is a rather familiar one, and fully intact as well. The contents of the scroll are interesting. Apparently Mahdi is wanted for a little sit-down, urgently enough that Zaid has rented a little room at an out-of-the-way tavern that Mahdi has been to once or twice. The place is called Silver Line, as Mahdi recalls, and it caters to private meetings.

Crescenda | WizardConjuror Variant of Wizard 2 | Spells used - L0: 1/5; L1: 3/4 | AC: 12/16Dexterity +2 Touch 12 Flat-Footed 10 If Mage Armor is cast and active, Hagen's Armor becomes: AC16, T12, FF 14 | HP: 11/11 | Fort +2 | Ref +2 | Will +4 | Spot/Listen +1/+1 Crescenda considers her options. She is willing to dig up her notebook and open it right where her shorthand spell notes reside. Running through her latest theory on cleansing effect yields as little result as ever. None of it is of use here. Her allies cannot see in the darkness she might bring about, her aim is poor enough under best of times and her arms are unsteady with a blade... An aggrieved sigh escapes the tiefling. Conditions, Actions And Things Of Interest Crescenda rakes her mind for magics but has nothing workable. so Crescenda waits some more. Darkvision 60 ft Darkness 1/Day; as per spell, as a spell-like ability; Resist 5 Cold Resist 5 Fire Resist 5 Electricity

How in the world did you manage a Nat 20 right here?!

Lights In The Dark AdrielFifth weekday, 32th49 days to a month, except Mesha is a day short of MeshaFirst month of the year, out of eight in total. Late Morning 10:26 Roy considers Saai's question before indicating at a particular gnome standing on top of a large box while arguing with two other gnomes. The one that Roy indicates at is wearing a very fetching hat as the only indicator you can find to tell the three gnomes apart by, at least on a quick look. "Atat there mentioned he is a... connector? People person? He makes it his business to know people, apparently. Ask him about Crocodiles. They are supposed to be a newly formed company."