Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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ewancummins
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Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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FALCON'S ROOST
SAFANA

The pale servant bids her wait.

Safana has time to look about the cramped parlor. Books line the antique hardwood shelves, statuettes stand atop the low tables, and dim lamps shine from alcoves set about the masonry walls. The sorceress counts six chairs, all unoccupied and arranged in no particular order.
She spies two doors within the room, besides the one leading outside. There may be other, secret ways in and out. The two doors, one at the back and one to the left, both stand shut.
The air smells of old leather, dust, and tallow.

The servant touches one of the statutettes on the table nearest him, a bird figure of silver.
He then takes up a silent watch at the rear door of the room.

The guard and the page do not take seats.

The party waits for several minutes. During this time the waxy-faced servant remains wholly uncommunicative and stiff, standing in his corner near the far door (almost as if dead, although his eyes do track Safana's movements).

Then the door near the servant opens and a tall, lean man in dark robes and an ivory-hued ruff appears. He wears his hair long and his beard trimmed short. The shadows partly obscure his features , but cannot hide his bright green eyes. If he carries a weapon, it cannot be seen. The man gestures towards SAFANA.
"Welcome. You may come with me. The others remain here."

The guard from Caer HAES shifts his right hand a smidgen closer to his sword's hilt and glances at SAFANA, eyebrows lifted.

The page backs toward the front door.



THE USURER'S HOUSE
FILBERT AND TERMELAN

Having obtained what they believe to be a fair description of the interior from an informant, and made other preparations, the pair come to the moneylender's house at midnight.
Cold night winds whip across the squares and howl down the streets of Endier, drowning out their footfalls on the cobbles. They should be glad of their cloaks tonight. No falls, but thin pools ice water gleam in the streets where the cobbles have been torn up or have sunken low.
Few clouds hang overhead tonight and the fat moon obviates the need for a lantern.

TERMELAN throws the weighted end of the rope over the high fence around the house. He works his each entry upon Filbert. The Halfman vanishes from sight. A few seconds later, the rope shakes and pulls away from the wall. If TERMELAN looks very closely, he spots the faint impressi of footprints in the frost of the wall side, moving up...


LAIR OF THE MARQUIS OF KAL ANTHERAK
THE SEARCHERS

The party moves deeper into the lair of their slain enemy.
They encounter no guards.
The whole place seems inhabited only by shifting shadows, a great, grim tomb of black walled galleries and high vaults.

The girl, Anna, leads them as best she can. Several times she becomes lost, but each time she finds her way back into familiar areas.

At length, she points down a corridor at a huge double door of brass and petrified wood.
"I came out of that. But now it is closed and I do not know how to open it."


THE PIT
FOERDE


Foerde discovers a large pit, the near approach to which is partly hidden by dead brush.
Elfin markings on trees nearby suggest danger. But he cannot quite grasp the full meaning of these glyphs.
The pit itself spans fully twelve feet across and runs down out of sight, the hole narrowing as it drops into darkness.
He hears a faint rushing sound below.
The sides show patches of mud, frost, and dead vegetation.
Last edited by ewancummins on Mon Feb 22, 2016 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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Filbert inside the moneylender's house

Once inside Filbert takes a moment to adjust his sight at the dark. He doesn't want to get a light so he just uses his enhanced vision to go where he has spotted the golden falcon. Getting a piece of wire and a spy glass out of his pocket he studies carefully the lock.
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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DOMENICA AND THE TRACKERS

Leaving the SIGN OF THE HANGED MAN, the party follows behind the hired tracker, moving slowly down the road west...

Hours later, the city falls away from sight in the east. The level plain rises into low, rolling hills.
Stone fences and hedgerows suggest cultivation, but little grows in winter besides brown grass, black leafless trees, and a scattering of evergreen shrubs.

The tracker reports finding wagon ruts and hoof prints in the mud on the southern edge of the road, not far ahead.
" Looks as if the driver took it off road."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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VAN wrote:Filbert inside the moneylender's house

Once inside Filbert takes a moment to adjust his sight at the dark. He doesn't want to get a light so he just uses his enhanced vision to go where he has spotted the golden falcon. Getting a piece of wire and a spy glass out of his pocket he studies carefully the lock.

His heat vision is barely adequate for this kind of fine work, as most objects in the room are about the same temperature and the air hangs stagnant and cold.
Finding the lock takes twice as long as it ought to, and his glass hardly helps him see it.
He may need to do this job more by feel, unless he risks making a light...
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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Taking a big breath and not wanting to light a candle Filbert keeps trying without any other source of light. He is confident of his abilities and deep down hopes there will be no traps...
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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VAN wrote:Taking a big breath and not wanting to light a candle Filbert keeps trying without any other source of light. He is confident of his abilities and deep down hopes there will be no traps...
The trap makes a telltale clicking sound a split second before it whistles through the keyhole. Like an alarm, perhaps, but not very loud.
In that sliver of time, Filbert rolls to the right, under a table.

He hears a faint, brief sighing noise from the general direction of the locked cabinet (where the falcon ought to be, if his intelligence is reliable).

Then silence.

His nostrils burn, but oddly enough-- he smells nothing out of the ordinary.
He does tastes just a hint of spices, a subtle flavor he cannot identify.

His heat vision reveals nothing more than a slight eddy in the air currents in front of the tall, heavy built cabinet.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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GUNNAR...
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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Knowing that he has triggered a trap and possibly an alarm Filbert lights a candle, goes for the falcon and for any other easily accessible jewerly nearby.
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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CRANSTEL


The apothecary has delivered doses of antitoxin to the Watch.

Wither goest he?
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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His back to the wall, Termelan looks around straining his ears to listen to anything out of the ordinary. He has bought a dark cloak just for the occasion and he wasn't above rubbing dark mud on his face. The hood he had taken from the hoodies, thoroughly washed and painted covers his face under the less conspicuous hood of his cloak. He has cut out the part around his ears.
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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SAFANA

Safana makes a calming gesture to her two companions,then bows sinuously to the be-ruffed man. She is not sure whether this is the archmage or not, but he is at least a senior aide, and it is always better to be too polite than not polite enough.

"Of course, my Lord. I am at your service."

She moves towards the indicated door. Any nervousness about what lies beyond in the wizard's tower is more than counterbalanced by her desire to be out of the company of that dead-eyed servant!
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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kintire wrote:SAFANA

Safana makes a calming gesture to her two companions,then bows sinuously to the be-ruffed man. She is not sure whether this is the archmage or not, but he is at least a senior aide, and it is always better to be too polite than not polite enough.

"Of course, my Lord. I am at your service."

She moves towards the indicated door. Any nervousness about what lies beyond in the wizard's tower is more than counterbalanced by her desire to be out of the company of that dead-eyed servant!
The man leads her into a stairwell and thence up into what looks like a study or office: small, comfy, warm and well lit, with tasteful furniture and a cabinet full of wines and liqueurs on display behind glass.
He motions to a vacant chair.
"Please, be seated."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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SAFANA

She sits smoothly down, erect in the chair, no slouching! Her eyes flick briefly to the rest of the room, but return to the man and rest on him. She tries to put across a feeling that she is not obsequious or servile, but courteously aware of her inferior status.

She most certainly waits to be spoken to before speaking
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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kintire wrote:SAFANA

She sits smoothly down, erect in the chair, no slouching! Her eyes flick briefly to the rest of the room, but return to the man and rest on him. She tries to put across a feeling that she is not obsequious or servile, but courteously aware of her inferior status.

She most certainly waits to be spoken to before speaking

The man unrolls the message scroll (oddly enough, Safana cannot recall seeing the dead-eyed servant actually give it to him).
He runs his gaze over it, pauses in silence a long moment, and the says,

''I think you and I can begin the matter, Mistress Safana. The half-man is by all accounts a most amusing fellow, but there are things a fellow student of the magical arts may understand better. Let me be frank. I have learned of the troubles in Haes and something of the supernatural element in that business. This--",
he indicates the scroll,
"Comes as no great surprise. Your lord wishes to call upon my aid, yes?"
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5

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alhoon wrote:His back to the wall, Termelan looks around straining his ears to listen to anything out of the ordinary. He has bought a dark cloak just for the occasion and he wasn't above rubbing dark mud on his face. The hood he had taken from the hoodies, thoroughly washed and painted covers his face under the less conspicuous hood of his cloak. He has cut out the part around his ears.

TERMELAN
hears boots scuffing and thudding on the street. It sounds like a group of men, at least two or three, maybe more.
Looking in the direction of the noise, he spots the glare of a lantern. A moment later, a patrol of five men in cloaks rounds the corner of the block and heads straight for his position.
The one in the lead carries a lantern on a pole. They all wear swords hanging from baldrics. More than that he cannot see until they get closer.

Is he sticking around until they get here?

(The rope still hangs from the high wall around the usurer's house. )
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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