Playing in the Sandbox

Ramsus wrote:The man replies, "Banditry is a major problem along every route kid. Message sending and probably not eating a lot are nice perks but, can you guys do anything else? Any traveling experience or survival skills? Stuff like that. I'm sure the kid there can't fight but, how about the rest of you? We're a little short staffed in the guards department so far and I need to hire on a few for this trip anyway."

"I'm a dwarf," said Tordek, hopping out of the caravan, now clad in plate armor. "Fighting is in my nature!"

Ramsus wrote:The man replies, "Banditry is a major problem along every route kid. Message sending and probably not eating a lot are nice perks but, can you guys do anything else? Any traveling experience or survival skills? Stuff like that. I'm sure the kid there can't fight but, how about the rest of you? We're a little short staffed in the guards department so far and I need to hire on a few for this trip anyway."

"I have been trained in the psionic arts, and am capable of using them against my opponents either through direct force..." Skaimos used Far Hand to toss his staff away, have it spin a few times in midair, then come back to his hand. He then used send thoughts on the caravaneer. "Or by affecting their minds directly."

Alma snaps out of her daze momentarily, enough to answer. "I know how to survive in the desert. I'm certain I can be of assistance... I'd prefer not to fight anything, but I can if you wish." She decides not spend the energy going into any greater detail, but adds, "I can also carry extra supplies...water....". She does not break eye contact with the ground while she's speaking.

"Yes yes, I know what a blasted psion is. Why are you psychic types always so damned impressed with yourselves?" the man says, rolling his eyes at Skaimos. "Ok so, that's three guards and an extra pair of eyes scouting ahead for danger. I suppose that'll do for the fees for the four of you, and lets say a hundred gold for the little girl's fare?"

About this time the others have finished checking the supplies and each has given the man you're speaking to a thumbs up.

Skaimos shrugged. "I apologize for the grandstanding. I suppose our teachers' constant affirmation our supposed "mental mastery" tends to...go to our heads." Skaimos smirked. "Anyway, those terms are quite acceptable." He reached into his coin purse in order to pay the man Mykaila's fare.

"I am extremely thankful for your fair price, sir." The Fey said with a smile.

"Ay, truly you're honorable men," added Tordek.

Skaimos finds that 100 gold is roughly half of what he has left. The man gladly takes it and says, "Great. So now that our business is done, I suppose we should know each other's names. I'm John Smithe, that's Mike, Steve, Tim, Randy, and Earl Haberton. They're all brothers or cousins or something like that, I can't really keep track of which is which." He points out each of them in turn and when he spots them about to explain, he cuts them off, "No no, I don't really care and I doubt neither do these folks.

Once John said the words, "I suppose we should know each other's names," Skaimos' mind raced. His name, as well as Mykaila's, might be problematic if the city guards were asking questions (not to mention if the caravaneer was more knowledgeable about the royal families of the different cities he visited). He decided to give a statement that was mostly true...exactly 3/5 true.

"Well, pleasure to meet you all. I'm Elkas Morden, the pixie here is Cyrta, short for...something or other, the dwarf is called Tordek, our young charge here is Sonala Revas, and this is the lovely Alma Lex-Iya, who recommended this fine establishment."

---

Roll for Bluff...Nat 20 (1d20) + 5 (Trained) +3 (Chr) = 28....Great, the online roller is giving us 20's now so we'll roll Nat 1's when we REALLY need good rolls later.

Well on the plus side at least you don't have to worry AT ALL about him or any of the others not believing you.

---

"Ah well then, I have her to thank for coming in to work in the morning to find not-thieves had broken into the place. I'll remember that." John says with a chuckle. "Well, you're all welcome to stay here while and help out the boys, I'm sure they wouldn't mind that at all," he barks a laugh, "or you can do whatever. We won't be leaving until tomorrow as I need to get some more hires and I'm waiting on the last of the goods to be delivered. They should have shown up two days ago but, here we are, still waiting on em. Please find somewhere else to stay the night though." He chuckles again and walks off and Mike and Earl follow along, leaving you all in the company of Steve, Tim, and Randy who is was one of the two with a sword.

Skaimos was glad that they now had at least A plan of escape, although there still had to wait until tomorrow. While his first concern was to find out if his family was alright, something about what John had said stuck with him.

"Well, it seems we're in good hands," he said. "Although if the caravan is being held up by missing supplies, that might delay us further. My friends and I were planning on doing a few things in town today, but is there anyplace we could go on the way to see if the supplies had arrived? A depot, perhaps, or if the supplier is in town?"

"My full name is Cyrtanthus, I've been told it means fire lily..." The Pixie comments with a chuckle. "Quite fitting with my fire skills."

Tordek does whatever is needed to help get the caravans ready for tomorrow. If that's nothing at the moment, he instead looks incredibly ready to do so.

Alma catches that last part, about going into town. She didn't want to go anywhere, but she would rather stick with Skaimos for now. She gets up and walks up next to him, but doesn't say anything.

Steve points Tordek over to a pile of crates and barrels in the now opened shelves and begins himself to start loading them onto the wagons.

Randy nods to Skaimos and replies, "Well we were supposed to be getting some artifice parts for stuff that always needs replacing up by those coastal cities, our supplier is a Kalashtar woman named Sanae Erklos who has a workshop over in the Bowl. You could go check in with her if you wanted, it'd sure help. We've been too busy and understaffed here to have time to send anyone. Up to you of course, you're not really officially on the job till we set out and in your shoes I'd probably spend the day getting smashed and paying a lady or two a visit." He gives a grin at the last bit.

---

The Bowl is the part of the city that's south of the Hill and is basically the center point of the city. Also the land there is...well, kinda bowl shaped. Though not really as much as the name would imply being neither especially deep or circular.

Skaimos smirked at Randy and said "Tempting, but my father always said "Business before pleasure," and making sure this caravan gets going on time is now at least partially my business. We'll try to check up on Erklos-san sometime today." Skaimos turned to his friends. "I've got a bit of Sending to do, so we've got a few minutes before we leave. Tordek-san, feel free to move some boxes for these fine gentlemen. Lex-Iya-san, have a seat and see if you and Sonala-chan can piece together any of that letter we found yesterday. Cyrta-san, take a look outside and see how busy the streets are today." He then used Send Thoughts on Cyrta, saying, "Keep your eyes open if there are many guards patrolling outside." He then used Send Thoughts on all of them, saying, "And for the record, I am Elkas Morden and Mykaila is Sonala Revas until we get to Hanko."

Skaimos then sat down in a corner of the shop and started to meditate. He focused on the familiar face and voice of his father, Kairos Terai. Father-san, I'm afraid that my actions may have put you and Mother-san in danger. To make a long story short, I tried to help a helpless man, but he was a trickster in disguise. I now have done actions that go against the Daimyo's interest, and my name may have been made part of it. I am alive and safe, but I'm leaving town as soon as possible. Are you safe? Have you been questioned? Are they watching our house? Please answer me."

His greatest fear was that he would get no response, either because he had fully shamed his father,...or because dead men cannot reply.

---

Rolling for Arcana...14 +5 (Trained) + 4 (Int) = 23.

Tordek nods and goes to moving boxes around for these fine gentlemen.

"I am known for mixing up or forgetting new names sometimes... We'll just play it off like such if I misspeak." The Pixie replied as she heads outside to hopefully not see anyone looking for the party. "Regardless I'll do what I can to both keep an eye out and keep the false names right."

---

(fingers crossed) Perception roll to see if there are any guards outside looking for the party.

13(roll) + 5(trained) = 18

I'm not going to do the actual "voice" of Skaimos' father as that's best left up to Lynt, I'll just present the information he responds with.

---

First off, he phrases his entire response in a way that seems incredibly unusual. Either he's very formal where to two are usually not, the other way around, or something like that.

Kairos replies that Skaimos and his companions have a bounty on them but, that they're wanted alive, not dead and it includes Skaimos by name, a dwarf, and a young thri-kreen girl. Next he tells him that the entire Terai family (though the entire Terai family isn't a particularly large one really) is going to be lowered in caste and the lesser race members of low enough caste may even become slaves if Skaimos does not turn himself in. He then says that he and Skaimos' mother would appreciate it if he came by to explain to them in person and that there are no guards there, having been convinced Skaimos did not live with them.

Alma goes back to her seat and pulls out the letter fragments. She sets to work trying to piece them together, allowing her focus to shift away from current events for the time being.

Do I roll for this?... 7 on whatever check that should be.

I'll just assume you sat down to do it for a few minutes. Which was enough time to find out that you just had a couple formally written letters and mostly blank scraps of paper. Also a single piece with some of the red wax on it.

"My son, I fear that you have made a grave error in judgement. You and your companions have a bounty on them but you are all wanted alive, not dead. The bounty includes you by name, a dwarf, and a young thri-kreen girl. Also, I have been informed that if you do not turn yourself in, the entire Terai family shall be lowered in caste, with our relatives of the lesser races possibly lowered to the station of slaves. Your mother and I urge you to come to the estate to explain this matter face to face. There are no guards there, as we have convinced them that you are not living with us. You know how much I have impressed the value of our family honor upon you, Skaimos-san. I know you will do what is necessary to uphold it."

Skaimos opened his eyes. Something was wrong. His father was much more formal in his message than he had ever really heard from him before. Skaimos knew that he would always crack a joke or two, even in the roughest times. For example, the "relatives of the lesser races" would often be referred to as "our most-unfortunate cousins". Also, his statement at the end about the "value of family honor" stuck with him. Kairos had often impressed upon Skaimos the importance of integrity over upholding reputation. "The Terai name was dust before and it may very well be dust again. What matters most is that your character be true, even in the dark places where no-one will see or care."

It was a trap. The guards knew that he was a psion, and they were most likely using psions of their own to carefully monitor Kairos' message as he sent it. The estate would not be a safe place to spend the night, let alone get near.

Skaimos stood up and looked over where Alma and Mykaila were sitting. Among the fragments of paper was one that still had some red wax on it. Skaimos went over and tried to examine the wax, in case it had part of some official seal that he recognized.

---

Roll for Perception...15+1(Wis) = 16. By the way, did Cyrta see any guards patrolling outside (the perception roll a few posts back)?

There is a bit of an indentation on it but, it's far too little to make out anything recognizable, not that Skaimos would recognize more than a few houses' seals.

Cryta does in fact spot a trio of guards heading in this direction, though they're still a quit a bit away.

Skaimos sat down and used Send Thoughts on all his comrades. "We need to check on Erklos-san at the Bouwl in order to keep the caravan from being delayed further. Besides, we can't spend all day sitting in here. As of right now, the guards are looking for a tiefling, a dwarf, and a thri-kreen girl, so traveling "together" would be unwise."

"So the plan is that we stagger ourselves. Cyrta-san will lead, then me, then Lex-Iya-san and Sonala-chan (we need to get used to calling her that for now) together, and Tordek-san will take the rear. We need to keep about 8 feet or more away from each other as we walk. Don't follow directly behind the person in front of you; meander a bit, look at some stalls, whatever. To the guards or any onlookers, we will be simply a bunch of strangers in a crowd who happen to be moving in the same direction. I'll use telepathy to make sure that none of us loses the others as we move. Sound good?"

"Aye. I'd like to get out of this place as soon as possible."