We see a medium shot of the interior of a tavern - heavy and dark wooden beams, fire in the corner fireplace, long bar, twelve or so tables with, perhaps, ten patrons. A woman wearing a shirt of chainmail over simple but clean clothes sits nursing a mug of ale. She's got short brown hair, and stares intently into her beer, her thoughts deep and intense; she is 25 years old, and we will refer to her as Josie because that's her name. We see a man dressed similarly enter and approach - very short black hair, starting to go bald in the front; he enters and heads directly for the table where she sits. He's 35 years old, and though his name is not Frank, we'll refer to him as that because that's what everyone else calls him, so he might as well start to feel that his name is Frank.
F: Hey Josie - copper for your thoughts.
J (looking up): Oh - hey Frank. Thanks for stopping by. (She motions to the bartender, pointing to Frank).
F (sitting): You been distracted all day. Thinking about the boss?
J: Yeah. Well, sort of. Thinking about those guys, really.
F: I want to know what they asked him to do, you know? Should we worry? We gonna start being smugglers now?
J (shrugging, sipping her beer): Do you... Frank, do you have a... a plan?
(The bartender comes over and hands Frank a mug of what's probably beer. Frank takes a sip and smiles): Ah, that's a good pour, Tonio. Thanks. (The bartender grins and tilts his head, then retreats back to the bar)
F (looking puzzled at Josie): A plan? You mean... for the boss and what happened?
J (shaking her head): Naw, for - for life, I guess.
F: I dunno - keep my kids fed, I guess - buy the wife a new kitchen? I don't know what you mean.
J: Yeah, I guess I don't either. How long you been working for Abe now, you figure?
F (looking puzzled in a different way): almost 20 years - right after school. Same as you - you know that. What's going on, Josie?
J (sighing and looking back into her beer): Those guys - they didn't have a plan. You know? That was obvious - they barged in, Abe starts shouting, we call for the guards, he gets dragged off. Didn't seem like the most thought-out of kidnappings, or robberies, or whatever it was, you know? But then he comes back the next day with that shiner, won't talk about it, tells us that Nothing Happened in that way - business as usual.
F (nodding): Yeah, okay - it was fucked up, but not, like, dragons setting you on fire fucked up, right?
J: That's the thing - they just DID stuff. They didn't have a plan - they bust in and make things happen. What have you made happen, Frank? You know?
F: Well, I guess now that I own the house from the bank I'm looking pretty set up there, and most of the kids are mostly pretty good...
J (laughing): all right, fair enough. Raising kids - yeah, that's making stuff happen, sure. What have I made happen? I have a job, and I own part of this bar, and I'm saving up to buy my partners out - but, working in a warehouse? Owning a bar? Ffffuuuuuuucck.
(Josie slumps in her chair and sighs again, then sits up, resolved, and gulps half her mug in one quaff)
J: So I'm gonna go. I'm gonna tell Abe I quit and I'm gonna go - somewhere. I heard a guy in here the other day talking about how they found pyramids in the deep desert. Pyramids! You know what a pyramid is, Frank?
F (frowning and shaking his head)
J: Well neither do I - some kind of big building? But - fuck it. I took my money out of the bank and I'm gonna go on adventures. I'm gonna see the fucking world, you know? I wanna be like THOSE guys. No plan other than see what kind of cool shit there is.
F: So - you gonna be a burglar, beat people up for money?
J (laughing): no no - nothing like that - I'm gonna go to Joven, and I'm gonna talk to my uncle, and then I'm gonna go to the frontier. I wanna see some pyramids, you know?
F (nodding slowly): yeah, okay - I get it. I'm gonna miss working with you, Jo, but I get it.
J (finishing the rest of her beer and calling to the bartender with two raised fingers): finish your drink, Frank. I'm giving you my share in this bar. Buy Sandra that kitchen.
F (blinking and looking wide-eyed at Josie): what?
J (laughing): finish your drink so you can toast me and my adventures, guy. Now, when I come back to town, you gotta put me up on your couch - but yeah, I already got the papers written up. We'll have a drink and you'll get the bar and then in the morning - FFFFFT! - I'm outta here. (Gesturing and making a half-whistle sound for emphasis)
F (finishing his beer in three gulps, smiling after the last one): well, okay, Josie. Thanks - you didn't have to do that, you know. I appreciate it.
J (laughing and nodding): Joven's dreams, but now that I'm saying it - it feels good, you know? Like I want to go RIGHT NOW instead of waiting until tomorrow morning. This feels right. Hey - you wanna pay me back - you have another kid, you name her Josie, hey?
(The bartender comes over with two mugs, setting one down in front of each of them. Frank and Josie tap mugs)
F: Well, to adventure, then!
J: To adventure!
We pan back from the friends, sharing a beer, thinking about adventures.
Friday, March 28, 2014
((OOC Background info about the world))
((See the comments for the world's background info, so as not to interrupt the narrative flow))
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Our tale of adventure begins in Spring, when tales of adventure are best hatched. Our band is summoned to the offices of Tomas Iglesias Del Sul Montoyan, the High Priest of York and Penumbria, and made an offer. "Go investigate a stream in Applo", Tomas tells them, "That recently began running dark and sulfurous." If the investigations go well, the party will be entered into the Militia, with all rights and privileges of citizenship which come with successful service; Tomas wants people to act as investigators and spies.
The party is also asked to gather dirt on Salamancar, a local shady businessman with whom the party is each in debt to, in their own particular ways. This makes the four quite nervous.
Salamancar also gains an audience with the party, and expressed glee at the thought of being able to have a business relationship with members of the Militia. He tells them to investigate the warehouse of an Abe Govainna; he mentions in passing that if Abe were to be scared or intimidated into business with Salamancar, or if the contents of Abe's warehouse were to meet some unfortunate end, then Salamancar would see to getting the persons responsible a reward.
After fretful discussions the party tells Tomas of their meeting, but not the details, and expresses concern at their role, caught in the middle. Tomas encourages them to work as his investigators anyway; there is much anxiety but they leave with full coin purses to the town of Applo.
In Applo they meet with mayor Tiff Udelbroht, who tells them the details of the stream; it used to be pure and good water from a spring, but a month ago started running brown, with a stench of sulfur. The cave where the stream originates lies 4 hours outside of town, so in the morning our intrepid band heads out For Adventure!
They find the cave source of the stream has been caved in, and the water now emerges from a long-hidden corridor, carved into the rock. Heading down a hallway they find several collapsed side passages, and two rooms, filled with coffins, sarcophagi, and mummified corpses to be the source of the pollution. Heading further into the complex they are confronted with strange aberrant monsters; a suffocating sheet, four aggressive beetles, and a small howling creature whose howl sang a song of deep sorrow, and which exploded into rubble when struck by the ranger's arrow.
The room with these creatures had two frescoes on opposite walls - each, on walls 200 feet long, showing a scene with a castle on a hill, flowing down into fields and farmlands, and finally forested area, filled with people at work. The people seemed, on further investigations, to have three basic body shapes: short and squat, tall and skinny, or in the middle. The scene on one wall was of the day; on the other, a night time scene, where the people all seemed monstrous and bestial.
Four caryatid columns held up the ceiling, and four statues laid in alcoves in the walls; the columns carved from white marble with pink veins were of women, struggling under the weight of the roof; the statues were of a faceless man holding short swords, a woman in armor with a spear, a wizened old man in a fur cloak, and a short naked goblin-like creature, with non-human musculature.
One more room existed in the complex; mostly caved in, the room still contained a side table with an expensive tea service, and a fancy leather-bound book, containing an illegible cipher. Mysteries abound!
The party reported their findings to the Mayor, and then to Reverend Mariah Joneston, who were both as puzzled as our group at what was discovered. The Reverend promised to investigate further, and the party took their leave....
.... Only to return and inquire about Abe's warehouse. They entered and went in to his office, where GoodTimes started going through a stack of invoiced, angering Abe. Tempers flared, weapons were drawn, and our band of heroes were able to knock Abe unconscious and escape the town, carrying the Warehouse owner's body with them.
Upon awakening, and after further discussion, Abe decided to work more closely with Salamancar, in an attempt to gather information on Sal's shady dealings, and perhaps build a legal case against Salamancar.
Stay tuned for more adventures!
The party is also asked to gather dirt on Salamancar, a local shady businessman with whom the party is each in debt to, in their own particular ways. This makes the four quite nervous.
Salamancar also gains an audience with the party, and expressed glee at the thought of being able to have a business relationship with members of the Militia. He tells them to investigate the warehouse of an Abe Govainna; he mentions in passing that if Abe were to be scared or intimidated into business with Salamancar, or if the contents of Abe's warehouse were to meet some unfortunate end, then Salamancar would see to getting the persons responsible a reward.
After fretful discussions the party tells Tomas of their meeting, but not the details, and expresses concern at their role, caught in the middle. Tomas encourages them to work as his investigators anyway; there is much anxiety but they leave with full coin purses to the town of Applo.
In Applo they meet with mayor Tiff Udelbroht, who tells them the details of the stream; it used to be pure and good water from a spring, but a month ago started running brown, with a stench of sulfur. The cave where the stream originates lies 4 hours outside of town, so in the morning our intrepid band heads out For Adventure!
They find the cave source of the stream has been caved in, and the water now emerges from a long-hidden corridor, carved into the rock. Heading down a hallway they find several collapsed side passages, and two rooms, filled with coffins, sarcophagi, and mummified corpses to be the source of the pollution. Heading further into the complex they are confronted with strange aberrant monsters; a suffocating sheet, four aggressive beetles, and a small howling creature whose howl sang a song of deep sorrow, and which exploded into rubble when struck by the ranger's arrow.
The room with these creatures had two frescoes on opposite walls - each, on walls 200 feet long, showing a scene with a castle on a hill, flowing down into fields and farmlands, and finally forested area, filled with people at work. The people seemed, on further investigations, to have three basic body shapes: short and squat, tall and skinny, or in the middle. The scene on one wall was of the day; on the other, a night time scene, where the people all seemed monstrous and bestial.
Four caryatid columns held up the ceiling, and four statues laid in alcoves in the walls; the columns carved from white marble with pink veins were of women, struggling under the weight of the roof; the statues were of a faceless man holding short swords, a woman in armor with a spear, a wizened old man in a fur cloak, and a short naked goblin-like creature, with non-human musculature.
One more room existed in the complex; mostly caved in, the room still contained a side table with an expensive tea service, and a fancy leather-bound book, containing an illegible cipher. Mysteries abound!
The party reported their findings to the Mayor, and then to Reverend Mariah Joneston, who were both as puzzled as our group at what was discovered. The Reverend promised to investigate further, and the party took their leave....
.... Only to return and inquire about Abe's warehouse. They entered and went in to his office, where GoodTimes started going through a stack of invoiced, angering Abe. Tempers flared, weapons were drawn, and our band of heroes were able to knock Abe unconscious and escape the town, carrying the Warehouse owner's body with them.
Upon awakening, and after further discussion, Abe decided to work more closely with Salamancar, in an attempt to gather information on Sal's shady dealings, and perhaps build a legal case against Salamancar.
Stay tuned for more adventures!
Ah - welcome! Set yourselves down and hear a tale of adventure. Let's meet our dramatis personae first:
AofEk started his education in the Monastery, learning to be a priest in the church, but became disillusioned and left, to enter the Academy and learn magery. Moving rapidly through the levels at the Academy, he graduated at the tender age of 19, an iconoclast, angry with the world, and deep in debt to various unsavory underworld characters, as well as drinking buddies with
Horace (or Good Times to his 'friends') is maybe around 30, but years of drinking and other questionably legal substance have left him a bit addled. He's a quick hand in your purse or wallet, prefers the knife-in-the-back style of combat to a more dangerous style, and is also in debt to various unsavory underworld characters. One of his suppliers of hallucinogenic plants is
Cimbri, who is a 6-and-a-half-foot-tall bronzed Adonis of a man. Tanned, chiseled, and wild, this former tribesman now wanders Penumbria, living wild and hunting pelts and rare herbs to sell in the city to York. Occasionally he finds work as a merchant's guard, along with
Durim, a Scout and tracker. Discharged from the Militia, Durim finds work as a guide, guard or escort around the province of Penumbria. A marksman of the finest caliber, he is, like the rest of our party, in trouble with a certain businessman in the city of York, Penumbria's capital.
AofEk started his education in the Monastery, learning to be a priest in the church, but became disillusioned and left, to enter the Academy and learn magery. Moving rapidly through the levels at the Academy, he graduated at the tender age of 19, an iconoclast, angry with the world, and deep in debt to various unsavory underworld characters, as well as drinking buddies with
Horace (or Good Times to his 'friends') is maybe around 30, but years of drinking and other questionably legal substance have left him a bit addled. He's a quick hand in your purse or wallet, prefers the knife-in-the-back style of combat to a more dangerous style, and is also in debt to various unsavory underworld characters. One of his suppliers of hallucinogenic plants is
Cimbri, who is a 6-and-a-half-foot-tall bronzed Adonis of a man. Tanned, chiseled, and wild, this former tribesman now wanders Penumbria, living wild and hunting pelts and rare herbs to sell in the city to York. Occasionally he finds work as a merchant's guard, along with
Durim, a Scout and tracker. Discharged from the Militia, Durim finds work as a guide, guard or escort around the province of Penumbria. A marksman of the finest caliber, he is, like the rest of our party, in trouble with a certain businessman in the city of York, Penumbria's capital.
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