The Hunt

[Morph3us]

"Indeed." Ruven promises Black as the conversation winds down. "If there is nothing before then, we will still point you to those who would be most in danger. For their protection and your inquiries."

Abrecan, unfortunately, does not find anything of new interest to him. With agreements made, night falling, and stomachs rumbling, it seems time to depart.

The last light has faded when the party exits the temple. They have had a full and productive day. All that's left now is to trudge back to the Safe Harbor under a dark sky smothered in clouds.

Safe Harbor Inn

Quote

The Safe Harbor is as advertised. This huge inn is built almost like a pier jutting out from Grand Bank's inner docks. The decor is predictably nautical. Netting droops from the ceiling while ship's wheels and similar decorations hang on the walls.

About a third of the spacious common room has water instead of floor. The air above is warm and humid but not oppressively so. Nasri recognizes Control Temperature and similar quality-of-life spells working in the background to keep it that way.

They also keep the water clearer than the harbor outside; one can see down to the bottom where a handful of merfolk adventurers are cavorting among themselves. Despite a surface clientele dominated by human sailors, the ambiance is light-hearted and peaceful. Then again, the night is young.

Seafood dominates the menu including squid, winter flounder, and mussels. Pitchers and mugs of ale cycle to and from patrons. Tending bar is an aquatic elf named Ripple. Her odd combination of black hair and light blue skin frames striking, mother-of-pearl eyes.

With 5 gold due for another night in their suite, they can feast on seafood before retiring together. Hopefully Abrecan's hunger is sated!

The patrons have high turnover because of this inn serving the docks; the party only recognizes some people from last night. A small fight breaks out between drunken sailors over cards at one point. The group doesn't have to get involved unless they care to help break it up.

A restful night passes...

Early Spring (T+39 days)

The common room of the Safe Harbor is more subdued in the morning. Outside, the gloomy blanket of clouds from yesterday has frayed. The sun peeks through as often as not. Two ships are seen departing for other ports.

Though their quarry remains elusive, the party has made progress in several ways:

• They just secured invitation to the elven Springrites festivities which Hargreave's mysterious contact Vestrenna ("Selissa") will attend. Ynessa and Varrik were the most directly invited but the whole party benefits. They have other leads on how to draw Vestrenna's notice but this is the most straightforward option.
• They have a plan for a sting operation involving the bag of onyx recovered from Hargreave's supplies. Scanning the city for signs of it after will take a significant fraction of Nasri's magic for the day.
• They know the elves are aware of the Sidewinders who have been stalking and slaying mages. Hopefully the party will be forewarned if the pair are spotted in the area.
• Hargreave's occasional supplier Davnan is in contact with one of the thieves' guilds. This could be a red herring; selling the components for invisibility to the Sea Dogs might be entirely unrelated business. Or, it could be an excuse to talk to them if they are a back channel from Davnan to Hargreave.
• They are quite a bit wealthier, having arranged buyers for their accumulated loot at the teleport circle terminus building.

 

[Morph3us]

Spring Equinox (T+44 days)

The party elects to focus on the Springrites. The city of Grand Bank is increasingly abuzz during the intervening several days. The group secured an invitation to the innermost circles of the celebration where the most influential elves (and their hangers-on) will be in attendance. But the festival as a whole is far from exclusive. Everyone has plans of some sort. That's even true of the two street kids the party encountered on their way in to the city. The pair come wandering by the Safe Harbor one day and, among other errands, check in to see if their old tour group needs any more guidance. It seems the adventurers' largesse made an impression on them.

Some might fill their time with work to help pay for the group's accommodations. Their options are far less lucrative than adventuring. However, they are safe and reliable. They also give the party a chance to take a break from risking their lives.

---

Spring, true spring, finally arrives. The festival begins on a bright, gorgeous morning. Puffs of clouds drift lazily across a brilliant blue sky. The wind stirs but no longer chills. The off-and-on rain stopped two days ago. Trees are starting to bud. The flowers in elven gardens are already blooming. The dreary winter is now fully vanquished.

The party finds themselves once again on the grounds of Corellon's temple. This time they are full of elves, scholars, musicians, artists, merchants, and other influential figures.

Ethereal music drifts through the gardens. Varrik (perhaps adopting a new face) has some duty to contribute to it. However, he has enough freedom to take breaks as needed and so can help with the party's real reason for being here. The harpist Meridia spends most of her time inside the temple itself, but seems friendly enough to a fellow musician if he needs to ask an insider about anything.

Nasri (wisely appearing as a halfling) has a chance to mingle with arcane casters. The gnomish shopkeep Davnan is here and trying to do the same to make new customers. The pair of potential assassins are not a major focus of conversation but there are occasional whispers of concern.

Abrecan is probably pleased to find the grounds now well-appointed with festival delicacies. There are expensive wines, wild berries, cheese to die for, and other simple pleasures. Hopefully more substantial meals are coming but things are off to a good, if light, start. He is given a wide berth by most attendees. Perhaps, as far as he is concerned, that just grants him first pick of anything he comes across.

Black gets a moderately warmer reception. Humans are not disliked by the kind of elves who live in a human-dominated city. But he still looks a lot more rough-and-tumble than the crowd they usually associate with. At least he can be confident his presence helps dissuade most kinds of trouble. As for the kind it might invite, well, the party probably wants to find it anyway.

Ynessa might not be used to being the party member paid the most attention. But so she is. The shadowdancer is a new face in the elven community here. So, she is regularly subject to polite but probably oft-deflected questions about her background and journey here.

---

OOC:

One post of scene-setting to let you all establish how you approach the festival in character. Hence Vestrenna has not made an appearance right away but it's early yet. 🙂

Although it continues to cost 5 GP/night to rent their suite, I assume the party finds ways to cover it and doesn't have to keep drawing down their own funds.

Abrecan and Black are both far hardier than your average day laborer, even before getting into other options they have.

Nasri isn't a professional scribe or translator but has utilities like Comprehend Languages and the ability to Identify things.

Varrik could, on average, earn several gold per day performing.

Ynessa has perform also as well as other options to make money.

[Lazeram]

The posh elves will likely not appreciate it, but Abrecan has actually made an effort and attends the festivities with a set of clean clothes. He has visited a bath house and used soap, as well as throughly grooming his hair and beard. Despite initial loud protests, he did finally let the helpful staff cut his nails. As a result, Abrecan now looks less of a wildling from the woods. At first, he regretted washing, as the unfamiliar body odor hindered his heightened sense of smell, but now that his nose has adapted to it, he is prepared to smell the guests. So to speak.
Actually, he feels rather confident and charming as he enters the grounds, and interprets the looks he gets from the elves as them being rather impressed.
As he starts walking around, he takes care to follow whatever ettiquete this celebration demands. After all, he is but a guest.
 

[RedRajah]

Not only had Black also partaken of a trip to the bathhouse, but he also deigned to get a fresh tunic and trousers while getting his older togs properly laundered. And his armor and weapons were polished too. He was less adverse to soap than his dwarven colleague (most of the time), but his stubbornness drew the line about getting his hands worked on. Gonna get 'em bloody again soon enough...

The Bastard did, however, take a perverse glee in having the poor (attractive) bathhouse attendant tend to his gnarled and callused feet. Gods knew he had trodden on them long enough and the mixture of oatmeal and almonds that was used to scour and clean them wasn't that offensive to his tastes. And there was something about a long, hot soak that was just invigorating to the sellsword.

The smirk was already plastered on his face when he arrived at the gala. Etiquette was far from his thoughts as he made a beeline for the food. Let the ponces think he was just dumb, clueless muscle. If it helped flush out their quarry in Hargreave's gilly girl for their more subtle party members, he'd endure it...

 

...for now.

[evedgebah]

Varrik seems to be enjoying himself playing music for fun as opposed to for combat. He also gets to demonstrate his finesse over his sheer force and volume, which is a pleasant change. It's a different look at the man, far form his war-weary and scarred visage the group are more accustomed to. He is in his full courtier's attire, rather than the more generic explorer's attire of his normal shiftweave selection. He applied himself to cover up his war scar and look more presentable, perhaps even unrecognizable to those unaccustomed to his face. Before the party leaves for the event in the morning, he offers his assistance to any interested.

 

OOC

Varrik has a Take 10 of 17 for Disguise. I presume we don't want to spend the time to Take 20 for everyone.

 

[Stengleronymous]

 

Nasri, Goblin Wizard

Nasri vigorously and pointedly refuses to take a "bath" and resists any attempts to make him do so. These other humanoids can do what they want, but the goblin knows the truth: the concept of "bath" is just a ploy by water elementals to get foolish humanoids to let them into their houses so they can drown them more easily, in cahoots with soap merchants who are trying to make the case that rubbing cakes of rendered animal fat all over your body will make you cleaner or improve your odor. No sane goblin, desert-dweller, or desert-dwelling goblin would subject himself to (at best) a massive waste of water and (at worst) an ignoble smothering by a rogue elemental. Instead, he cleans his body the civilized way - by covering himself with olive oil and using a shaped bronze scraper to remove it along with any accumulated unpleasantness. As a result, he actually smells faintly pleasant (if olive-y) for the party. He doesn't buy any new clothes, instead just hanging around the magic item shop until he sees a halfling who is dressed "fancy," memorizing that outfit, and conjuring it with the illusion from his hat of disguise. He looks like a rotund, long-haired halfling calling himself "Milo Goodbarrel" (the most stereotypical halfling name he could come up with in two seconds when another party guest first asked his name) with a horrible orange-and-yellow outfit that just screams "more money than taste" but apparently appeals to whatever twisted sense of fashion Nasri has.

He happily hobnobs with the Elven arcanists once they appear to accept that "Milo Goodbarrel" is a halfling and not a goblin. He affects a ridiculous "upper-class" accent and probably comes across like an abrasive gate-crashing buffoon not worth talking to except for the fact that he is actually incredibly knowledgeable about arcane matters and can discuss them intelligently and at great length.

 

Edited March 17 by Stengleronymous (see edit history)

[Morph3us]

The sun soars into the sky as mid-morning gives way to mid-day. Scattered clouds occasionally roam across and obscure it. Down below, and in much the same way, attendees drift in and out. The temple grounds aren't huge but the gardens flanking its paths sometimes prevent everyone in the party from being in sight of each other.

A new course is served, including blackbark soup (it's heartier and tastier than it sounds) and delicious elven seedcakes. Abrecan and Black presumably hone in on them.

Ynessa, meanwhile, is waylaid by a half-elf named Galen who asks her for a dance to Varrik's music. He has inherited the piercing green eyes and dark hair of his elven heritage but dances with the energy of one raised by humans.

Nasri--er, "Milo"--comes across Vestrenna first. "Selissa" is drawn in by the spectacle of a brash halfling commanding grudging intellectual respect from the surrounding elves. She wears a dusty blue dress that matches the airy, gently festive mood of the temple grounds. The grim stare she had when scrying is replaced by refined, placid grace.

Some of Nasri's points spin off side conversations; he overhears her participating in one about the different alloys of tuning forks needed for a plane shift to reach specific regions of the Inner Planes. For example, copper (Elemental Plane of Fire) alloyed with zinc (Elemental Plane of Earth) makes brass. A properly tuned fork of it brings one to the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma at the intersection of the aforementioned planes. Alloying with tin (Air) makes bronze suitable for reaching the Para-Elemental Plane of Ash, and so on.

[Steel Warrior]

Ynessa Nightswallow

Ynessa Nightswallow HP: 36/56 Saves: Fort 4, Ref 9, Will 5  AC: 21, 12(touch), 19(flat-footed)
Initiative: 2, Speed: 30, DD: 22, Search: +24, Spot: +17, Listen: +17, Hide: +20, MS: +20, OL: 20

---

Ynessa is a little shy at first, but casually accepts Galen's request to dance, "I learned as a child to dance, but it's been many years since." she says, "I am a bit rusty."

She smiles gently as he accepts his hand and they move to dance, trying to remember customs and follow along his lead. As they are dancing, she asks about the current events in the area, "Mind telling me any gossip from around here?"

[Lazeram]

Abrecan makes an effort to sample the various foods the feast has to offer, though as graciously as a dwarf raised in the wild can manage.
His keen nose stops him from eating what probably requires an aquired taste built up through an elf's entire lifespan. And most of the wine, which he finds rather bland, with too subtle character.
He has all but forgotten why they are there as he lays his eyes on a jar of honey mead.
Surely, this necromancer won't be here already.

 

[Stengleronymous]

 

Nasri, Goblin Wizard

"Oh, mmmmmyes?" Nasri says in his ridiculous and obviously-faked accent, appearing interested in what "Selissa" is saying about the material foci necessary for successful plane shifting. "Have you done much planar exploration, then, fair madam?" he inquires, "I've always wanted to spend more time on the Elemental Plane of Earth, myself, but I worry after seeing so many rocks and stones I would just start to take them for granite!"

He then dissolves in a fit of braying laughter at his own pun, or perhaps suffers as asthma attack. It's hard to be sure which, really. After five to ten uncomfortable seconds of people staring at him, he regains his composure and says, "But in all seriousness, I'm sure there are just oodles of interesting things to learn out in the elemental planes! Are you a researcher too?" he asks the gray elf, hoping to learn something the group might be able to use or connect to Hargreave.

 

[Morph3us]

The gray elf is just as put off by Nasri's unpredictable outbursts as the others in this circle of mingling scholars. At least his question about her travels finds some purchase. That's a good sign she probably hasn't made him for who he actually is yet.

"Not very much," she replies with carefully practiced modesty. "Of the non-transitive planes, Arborea, the Outlands, and Air. I may return to each someday; for example, to see Arvandor again or finally visit the Citadel of Ice and Steel."

As far as planar excursions go, those are among the safer options. Arborea, of course, holds the realms of elven deities in the Seldarine, such as Corellon Larethian and Sehanine Moonbow. And the Elemental Plane of Air is one of the more benign places in existence.

"Non-transitive" may be doing some interesting work here. There is much to see in the Ethereal, Astral, and even Shadow if one is a dedicated planar traveler. And she was noticeably less specific about them.

Nasri's magical scholarship serves him well in the ensuing conversation. There are even more specific trivia he could mention, some riskier than others. For example, the party did have contact with the noble Abdule, the lord of a freehold in the Elemental Plane of Air. Unfortunately, that involved fighting with him against Hargreave.

Selissa is roped into discussing Arvandor a great deal by the other elves in attendance. To have visited the realms of the Elven pantheon wearing a false faith--this woman is capable! The party finds themselves moving in high social circles these days.

That topic exhausted, her attention returns to Nasri as a few others drift off.

"Your knowledge must be broad if you can sustain discussion of planar travel with little personal experience. What are your other specialties?" She asks.

---

OOC:

Ran out of time tonight to write up Ynessa's part but I will come back for that soon. As posted in the OOC thread my years-long gaming schedule problems are nearing their end. MW will have my undivided D&D attention sometime this year. 🙂

[Morph3us]

"Nonsense." Galen dismisses Ynessa's demonstrably false modesty. She more than keeps pace with him; their refined performance draws attention from many, some of them stopping to admire the sight.

The shadowdancer prods him for local information as they step and spin. Galen begins with shallow gossip but is more blunt about sharing that than a full elf in this community might be.

He opens up more over time, eager to impress and impressed himself by Ynessa's vibrant dance. His stories progress from humdrum to scandalous and then to clandestine.

"The Sea Dogs are beginning to outmaneuver the Alley Rats." he explains after confirming she knows of the existence of both thieving operations. "I think magic is involved. But all the upstanding mages here would never..."

Something crosses his mind and he starts thinking out loud.

"Could it be the halfling I saw?" Referring, no doubt, to Nasri/Milo. "He seems new as well, and brash enough to take risks. Oh, no, but you mustn't tell anyone! It would be wrong to imply such without any real reason."

[Steel Warrior]

Ynessa Nightswallow

Ynessa Nightswallow HP: 36/56 Saves: Fort 4, Ref 9, Will 5  AC: 21, 12(touch), 19(flat-footed)
Initiative: 2, Speed: 30, DD: 22, Search: +24, Spot: +17, Listen: +17, Hide: +20, MS: +20, OL: 20

---

As the two continued to dance, she tries to continue to move as gracefully as she can. As they take a turn, close enough for them to be cheek to cheek, she whispers, "Oh my.. How you have piqued my interest.. As a matter of fact, I myself even noticed the local magic shop send a secret message to the local thieves guild.. but you never heard that from me."

She then allows Galen to continue to take the lead and hopes she can continue to perform with grace as they seem to glide around the dance floor. She actually smiles, she's having fun. Something that hasn't happened in a long time. She missed her home, the eyes are moist, but she seems happy.

And then she stomps his foot accidentally. "oops..." and quickly tries to recover.

Edited April 21 by Steel Warrior (see edit history)

[RedRajah]

For the Bastard's part, he hovered by the canapes and booze, fully indulging in the cuisine of elves. Black might not understand the subtle intricacies of terroir and tannins, but he knew what he liked.

Plus, it allowed him to listen in on the potential gossip buzzing around him.

Action

Taking 20 on Gather Info