Tales of Faerun

[AurianaValoria1]

Argyros and Zorica took their positions on either side of the inn door, the former with his bow in hand and an arrow ready to knock, the latter with her twin longswords poised. Both silver and amber eyes scanned the crowd for any possible threats whilst the others helped Conall and Xallistine inside. Dagny aided Weyland in carrying the werewolf, her anger evident on her countenance; the little dwarf woman was spoiling for a fight now that one of her friends had been hurt.

 

Rhaine helped in keeping the delirious Conall's head from lolling in all directions, all the while speaking with Daud and Nawen, "We've been attacked by an assassin. Nawen, I need you to call the guards to take care of the body and see who this man was. Daud, I need you to retrieve his knife for examination. Quickly now!"

 

Unbeknownst to them, the gnomish merchant had watched them all for a few moments before making her way back to her stall with a determined stride...

[Brutii]

Daud nodded and listened intently as Rhaine spoke "Consider it yours" He said, before quickly darting outside and through the panicked crowds towards the fallen assassin, shoving anyone in his path to the side as he dashed towards the blade. In the scuffle of the crowd's quick dispersal, the blade was kicked to the side and Daud chased after it, shoving aside a man, who collapsed against a market stall. and grabbing it from the floor. He rose quickly from the floor and turned dashing backwards... As he passed the body he quickly acknowledged the blow. Straight through the heart. A nasty way to go.

He bolted back through the door, the blade clutched tightly in his hand "I've retrieved his blade" He held it up and ran his eyes over it quickly before raising it to his nose and smelling it, inhaling the putrid mix of blood and... Something else. He frowned and glanced down to Conall, before looking back to Rhaine "Someone's got coin. The blade is coated in Black Lotus Extract, it costs at least four and a half thousand. And with good reason too, it's extremely effective." He bit his bottom lip as he finished speaking, and lowered his arm to the side again

Edited June 11, 2014 by Brutii

[Deleted6317247User]

"Very well," Nawen said as headed towards the door, "but if I won't come back it means I've been kicked out of town." The drow added as she left the inn.

As she reached the place where the attack took place she was relieved to see that the guards were already at the scene, but she still needed to find out who this man was, so she mingled in the crowd of curious spectators.

"I can't believe this!" She heard one woman shouting. "He didn't deserve this!"

"He didn't deserve this? He hurt two of my friends!" Nawen thought but instead she said: "I've heard he attacked a couple of adventurers. Stabbed them with a poisoned dagger no less."

The woman turned to her, clearly shocked to hear that. "But he was a merchant, not an assassin," she said, "we worked in the same market for almost five years," the woman continued, "yes, he wasn't a saint but he wasn't a killer either." When it seemed that the woman had nothing to say she spoke again. "Maybe those adventurers meant to steal his supplies. I saw him leaving his stall minutes before the attack."

 

"Did you see where he went?" Nawen asked. The woman nodded and pointed to the eastern side of the town. The drow nodded in thanks and went back to the inn.

"The guards took care of the body," she said as she closed the door behind her, "and I learned a few things about the attacker. Apparently he was a merchant here, and according to the woman I spoke to, not the stabbing people with poisoned weapons, type." She said as she took off her hood. "The same woman also mentioned that minutes before the attack, he left his stall and headed to the eastern part of the town. There are a lot of buildings there, might take a while to find where exactly did he go."

 

"And this whole attack just seems very strange," Nawen said after a short pause, "attacking people who are obviously capable fighters in the middle of the day where everyone can see you."

 

"It's not a terrible plan, actually," Shalena said as she approached the group, already with a tankard of ale in her hand, "you see, the attack causes panic and people start running away. He can easily use all that chaos to his advantage and flee unnoticed."

 

"Yeah, and look how well that worked for him." Nawen replied, "the man was clearly out of shape. We would have caught him easily. He was either very stupid or overconfident."

Edited June 11, 2014 by Guest

[josh900]

In the chaos left after the attack, Tannin stood in the crowd, looking at the body of the assassin and listened to the people around him. They knew this man, a merchant. For him to do something like this was unthinkable apparently. The poison and blade he had were obviously rather powerful to drop Xallstine and Conall like they did. The supplies it seemed were top notch, but the execution was amateur at best. Something smelled wrong here.

He approached the body and cast a spell, Detect Magic. As often as he used charming spells he figured it couldn't hurt to check. And after a few minutes he was glad he checked, what he found was very interesting.

 

He walked back to the inn where the other had taken refuge. "Bad news." He said when he entered.

"That man back there was not under his own control. We've got ourselves something nasty after us. Magically forced an innocent man into a suicide mission. Raatheeer clever. Good way to beef up the paranoia and keep himself safe. Whoever we're facing, is preeetty good at the job." He said in an impressed tone.

"So what'd he hit them with?"

 

"Black Lotus." Answered Azuris.

 

Tannin let out a whistle. "Well we certainly aren't cheap. I'm guessing we've angered someone with a lot of coin that they can just throw it away on suicide charges like that."

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine took a few moments to digest the information she'd been given, all the while casting Greater Restoration spells on Conall and Xallistine in hopes of reversing any damage the poison had done to them. The former had passed out from exhaustion already, totally limp on the floor of the tavern. The Doomguide knelt over the two injured party members and set her jaw; so she had executed an innocent man? It wouldn't be the first time her enemies had used puppets to get to her and her companions. This one was, perhaps, one of the most deceptive attempts, and it had almost succeeded. She prayed for the merchant's soul and thought about their next move; they could make things right by finding the man's manipulator and exacting justice, though something told her that doing so would not be easy...

 

"Thank you, Daud, Nawen, and Tannin," she finally spoke, nodding to each of them, "You have helped immensely. I-" she paused as she glimpsed the patrons of the tavern staring at the injured companions, and her eyes narrowed, "Weyland? Arland? Get these gawkers out of here, at least until we can move Conall and Xallistine upstairs."

 

At that moment, the gnomish merchant re-entered the inn, a large mechanical rolling cart behind her. She bore a wide grin as she looked up at them all, pushing back the brim of her hat, "Hi! I decided it would be in my best interest to join on with you all. I certainly think I can make more money that way; the business in this hole is abysmal. I'm sure you need someone to help take care of buying and selling in the cities...save you time and all that. Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Heidi Heartgear," she curtsied, "wizard specialist in Lantanese-style inventions and enchantments...aaaaand I dabble in a bit of alchemy on the side. But don't ask me if you can buy any potions - not good enough for sale, yet." Her freckled cheeks blushed a bright pink.

 

Rhaine thought a moment and then smiled, "We'll gladly let you on if you can do one thing for us: this was to be our final supply stop before we embarked on a journey across the Shaar. Naturally, we need plenty of food rations and water for ourselves and our horses. However, I don't think this recent...incident...will do much to help us in the way of bartering with the locals. If you can handle these essential supplies for us, we would be grateful, I'm sure."

 

Heidi's grin widened, "Sure! Just give me some gold and I'll see what I can do. I know the local merchants well enough, and could net you some discounts. May add in some stuff of my own."

 

The Doomguide rummaged around in her pack and found a purse of gold from Ivanthyriatrix's lair, then tossed it to the gnome, who began scurrying out of the inn. Before she made it all the way out, however, she abruptly turned around, "Oh! Sparky? Guard my stuff!"

 

The mechanical buzzing dragonfly that hovered near the gnome's head flew over to the cart she had left on the floor, perched atop it, and suddenly shook its body. Its delicate wings quickly transformed into a whirlwind of tiny knives, and Heidi smiled in satisfaction, "Just a precaution. Toodles!" With that, the wizardess exited the inn with a slight slam of the door.

Edited June 13, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[tokyobiohazard]

Arva and Ianthe had both gotten stuck in the crowd that had formed around the market as the incident occurred, and no matter how they shoved and pushed, they could not make it through until the scene died down and members of the party came back into the market to question people. The two spotted Tannin walking away from the scene, and Arva grabbed Ianthe's wrist, leading her through the thinning sea of people and followed him to the inn.

Aera, however, was able to bully her way through the crowd in a completely panicked state, pushing and shoving and growling at people as she watched the limp werewolf being carried down the street. She found herself sniffling and eventually crying as she wondered the fate of her friend, causing people to stop and stare and the sobbing seven and a half foot tall woman covered in fur with a tail trailing behind her. She burst into the inn after becoming a bit lost on the streets due to her panic and rushed to Conall's side, "What happened? I was bartering with a merchant, and the next thing I knew, Conall was on the ground and everyone was screaming and running away."

Ianthe and Arva walked in a few minutes later, a bit panicked themselves, just as Rhaine threw the pouch of gold at Heidi. Arva didn't catch any of the conversation, and gawked at Rhaine, "Can she even be trusted? What if she just leaves with our money?"

Ianthe thought that Arva had a good point, but she trusted the gnome. "She seems too nice to do something like that."

"She could be taking advantage of the chaos. We could never see her again!"

Aera glowered at Arva, her hand on Conall's shoulder as she snapped, "Now's not the time to worry whether the woman is trustworthy! If you're so worried, go with the woman and watch her, make yourself useful for a change!" She winced at the words she'd said and added, "I'm sorry..."

Arva clenched his jaw and said, "No, you're right. I'll go with the merchant." He ran outside, catching up with Heidi, taking in her appearance and feeling stupid for being so concerned over someone he towered over and could possibly easily overpower in a fight. "I'm going with you, if that's alright."

Ianthe walked to Xallistine's side, then took one of his tentacles and held it as she would his hand, "Aera, Conall isn't the only one who's hurt..."

Aera just shrugged and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

Ianthe sighed, then blurted out, "Why would someone do this? I don't understand why they didn't send more after us..." She gulped, then added, "Maybe they have, and we just don't know it yet..."

[Flipout6]

Weyland and Arland quickly got to work ushering and pushing and (if they attacked first) beating gawkers away from the door, and when Sybille joined in they were quick to clear out the crowd and then close the door.

 

"Let's just hope we don't have an entire legion of suicidal stab-happy maniacs in here." Arland sighed, thankful for some breathing room at last.

 

"Don't jinx it." Weyland lectured.

 

"Maybe we ought to do a sweep of the inn, make sure that we don't have a back-up plan working against us from within." Marie suggested, primarily to Rhaine and Sybille.

 

"Good idea. Arland, Dagny, you two are probably our best choices right now. Go look around, check for anything suspicious. But stay together, can't risk separating right now." For once, neither Grey nor Ordain complained about being stuck together. As a matter of fact, they nodded tersely at one-another before running off, Marie positioning herself behind Arland and Dagny to provide ranged cover from the rear if it came to a fight.

 

Annette, meanwhile, looked at the unconscious forms of Connall and Xallistine with a furrowed brow. "Black Lotus extract makes a deadly poison. We're lucky you two were on hand-" she pointed to Amendale and Rhaine. "-or they'd probably be dead already. I'll be sure to keep as many antidotes with us as I can, and we need to make sure that all of us have several doses on us at any given time." Something suddenly occurred to her. "Make sure you check any surfaces you touch- especially bedsheets, blankets and pillows - before you touch them, all it takes is for it to touch your skin."

 

"Wouldn't that be rich, laying down in bed, pull the covers up, touch it and start convulsing...." Weyland muttered angrily to himself.

"Amendale, can you send a message to that merchant via your owl?" Annette asked.

"Yes." He confirmed, looking at her. "What did you have in mind?"

 

"I don't have enough ingredients on hand to make enough antivenom for everyone and I'm going to need a lot of it. While she's out in the market with Arva, that merchant can get some so I can help prevent any further incidents like this." Amendale spoke a few words to his owl, cast a spell, and then had Annette give a quick summary of what she needed and why she needed it, before Amendale opened a window and sent the owl soaring into the sky. It followed Heidi and Arva through the markets and then landed on her shoulder, conveying the message, before taking off again.

 

Soon another bird joined it in the sky, a crow, and it soared through the window right behind the familiar. Quickly, it righted itself and then transformed mid-flight into an elf in bark armor, painted with various symbols of Talos and bolts of lightning. Slowly and without making any sudden moves, Elaril stood up straight, being sure not to reach for any of her spears or her staff, and looked around until she found Rhaine. She didn't hesitate before she began to speak.

 

"You're Rhaine, the leader?" She asked, and a suspicious nod from Sybille confirmed it before Rhaine said anything. "I am Elaril Del'Ferrill, Druid and follower of Talos. I'm here because you and I share a common enemy and I wish to aid you in seeing him destroyed. I've spoken with Theia already, she's given me some basic information about your goals, all I need to know. I know that you seek the destruction of this "Valthanarax" and his followers and I would have it happen if I can help it. And I fully intend to do just so."

 

"We just had an assassin stage a suicide attack against us in the streets. How can we be sure you're not here to bring us harm?" Sybille asked.

 

"She's being honest." Amendale told her. "She didn't seem to care when I determined her intentions through magical means."

[AurianaValoria1]

"It won't do to think like that," Rhaine said firmly to Ianthe, "Fear gives them an edge. Now that we have been attacked once, we must remain calm and alert. Those charms that Xallistine gave you all? As long as you wear them, you will be safe from any invasion of the mind that the merchant suffered."

 

At that moment, a crow flew into the inn following Amendale's owl, transforming into an elven druidess with a wild appearance about her. Rhaine listened to her introduction and to Amendale's commentary, then rose from her kneeling position, looking Elaril in the eye, "If you truly wish to aid us in our quest, you will be welcome among us. We have been weakened in a recent attack, and any strength you can lend to our cause will be appreciated. In fact, if you have anything that might help Annette here with brewing some poison antidotes, we would be grateful."

 

Elaril's sudden appearance was indeed a bit suspicious, but the elven druidess had little chance to do them ill with all of the companions nearby and on alert. The only reason the assassin had almost succeeded was because the party had been split up.

 

Meanwhile, Dagny aided Arland and Marie in a sweep of the inn, her axe at the ready. Her face was unreadable, but her mind was active with musings about the current situation. It had given much for the dwarf to think about, and she considered speaking with Rhaine later about a few things that were bothering her...

 

Outside, Heidi received Annette's shopping list by owl as soon as the tall albino elf caught up to her. She pushed back the brim of her hat again and grinned up at him, "Why sure, handsome!" The gnome then winked and kept on walking.

 

============================================

 

Theia watched from the treeline as the crow that was Elaril flew away. Not all of her suspicions had been banished, and she was lost in thought as she stared off in the direction of the city of Innarlith. So absorbed was the centauress that she didn't recognize the weak warning squeak from Kyli until it was too late...

 

...a sharp pain exploded in her shoulder and a hand clamped over her mouth, before the world went black.

Edited June 13, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[Deleted6317247User]

After Arva and the gnome merchant left the inn, Shalena sent a few of her men with them to help with the supplies. To the others she ordered to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. The last thing she wanted was some crazy, mind controlling assassin forcing random people to attack them with poisoned blades. Since she had nothing that could help Conall and Xallistine, the piratess continued drinking her ale.

 

Nawen glanced outside to see if anyone suspicious was around, but knowing that the one who forced the merchant to attack them was somewhere out there and that he could control pretty much anyone, everyone outside looked suspicious. She looked away from the window and back at her companions.

 

"Is there anything the rest of us can do?" She asked. Nawen knew that healing Conall and Xallistine was the priority but she hated sitting around in one place and doing nothing just as much as she hated the feeling that their enemy might strike again any minute and they had no idea who he or she is.

[mythicdawnmaster]

Xallistine ebbed in and out of conciousness as events spiralled around him, and he was unable to respond to Amendale as he cured him of his poison, nor could he protest as his form was carried within the Inn by his dutiful companions. He was vaguely aware of his new surroundings and twitched spasmodically as Rhaine administered a final healing upon he and Conall, before passing out entirely next to his afflicted-companion upon the hard tavern floor; he could not react as Ianthe grasped his tentacle for comfort, but would have greatly appreciated the sentiment had he have been fully concious. At least he could assist indirectly with his charms...

 

Aurora was in a state of paranoia as she walked into the tavern, her rapier drawn and poised for combat as she looked left and right, travelling backwards before she was sure the coast was- for the moment at least- clear. "This is terrible... I pray they will be alright, please tell me they will be alright?" She asked of her companions as she gazed forlornly down as the unconscious forms of both the Werewolf and the Ulitharid; she knew neither in any great capacity, but they were her companions, and cared for them greatly.

 

The Bard echoed Nawen's sentiment "Yes, surely we cannot sit awaiting another attack?"