Prologue: Crowd Control

[Vaerdis]

Alain reported in to the rally point dead-eyed due to his perceived failure to provide any quick resolution on his own and how he managed to incite further rage from the test rioters. As soon as they were dismissed from the days classes, he retreats to his room and takes a long rest before starting weeks of solitary training outside of group training.

After a few weeks had passed, Alain was up and ready for the call as he was for their test assignment. He tightened the straps on his leather gear and made way to the departure point, determined to be of more use this time. "Cadet Alain reporting for duty!" he says with a false enthusiasm as he poses in the stiff military fashion.

[Adamah]

The group set off with Captain Brannen in the lead. As they rode, he answered some of their questions.

"Don't worry about the rough manner in which you handled some of your exercises, a strong hand can be necessary when dealing with the rabble. At any rate, we will need you for your investigation and apprehension skills more than your crowd control abilities. Let me fill you in on what's been going on."

"As you have already heard, the Wordwound has become more active in the past several months and the call has gone out for another crusade, which will tax Andoran both Economically and Militarily. Understandably, there have been some demonstrations and unrest as a result of this. Nobody likes higher taxes, and many poor fools think the Worldwound is so far away that it couldn't possibly affect us."

He looked around at all of them, "I don't think anyone here is that stupid, but understand that the consequences for not beating the demons back will be dire. Despite this, it's still the citizen's right to peacefully protest, however misguided, and we're not riding north to stop that."

"Some of the villages have risen up in open rebellion, overthrowing their local officials loyal to Andoran and establishing their own systems of government. This we cannot allow, but the government doesn't want to send the whole army into these towns and quash the uprising with mass violence. It would only cause bigger problems."

"This is where you three come in."

"We'll ride north and meet up with elements of the territorial army. They will be stationed in the surrounding area, keeping the peace in the towns that have not yet rebelled. While that's going on, your group will infiltrate the towns and discover who is inciting this rebellion. Then report back to me and we'll launch a surgical strike to remove whoever is responsible."

"You have complete discretion on how to complete this task. What other questions do you have for me?"

[kaylara]

Umm, what happened to the fourth? Ok, I'll change into my casual clothing then. Incognito here we come!
Iyani paused a moment as her excitement of being out of uniform got the best of her.

Where is the recon point once we obtain the intel?

Iyani sits back and enjoys the beautiful scenery as they travel. Peridocially she will point out a beautiful tree, flower or cute animal.

[Adamah]

"Er, four, yes. You know, for someone to wake you up at an ungodly hour, it requires that person to be up before you are." He gave them a grin.

"As for your other question, take a look at this." He threw a map toward Iyani.

"As you can see I've marked four towns on it."

"1. Watershead, this is where we will establish our base of operations. Though there has been some unrest, it depends on the river trade to survive, so most of the populace has no interest in rebellion."

"2. Cranston, one of the rebelling towns. It is in the foothills of the five kings mountains, it's surrounded by farmland and has quite a large population, so you shouldn't have any trouble blending in with the locals."

"3. Worret, located on the edge of the Verduran Forest, which is half in Taldor, and half Andoran. They are rebelling as well, though they depend on the logging trade with the rest of Andoran. For this reason it may be the easiest town to return to the fold."

"4. Godshome, which is located deep in the Five Kings Mountains, just below Emperor Peak. I fear that this town may turn out to be the ultimate source of the unrest. It will be very hard to get troops up into the town, for the mountain passes are treacherous and long. Worse, the town is fairly small, so blending in with the populace will be extremely difficult."

"I'm going to be straight with you cadets, you have quite a job to undertake. We'd normally assign a duty such as this to veteran Eagle Knights, but between the Worldwound and... other matters... we have none to spare. What I've seen over the past few weeks has lead me to believe that you have what it takes to get the job done. Now I know you have some planning to do, so you might as well start on the ride. It would be best to not let the soldiers overhear your plans once we reach the main force. We wouldn't want your cover blown, now would we? Feel free to ask me any more questions you may have."

[kaylara]

Iyani giggled at the early morning comment as she knows all to well how it feels. Pardon me sir, that bump hit a tickle spot. she giggled again as she picked up the map and unrolled it.

Listening to the Captains information, Iyani looked over at her fellow cadets. Right now, they don't know we are coming. I'm thinking we go right to Godshome. If we were to slowly turn the other towns, that will alert Godshome, making it even harder to quell. However, if we cut the head off the snake, the body dies.

Iyani then looks over at the Captain. Sir, Do you know if Godshome trades or has allied with the others? Have you been to these towns before? Which town is the prettiest? Perhaps we go there first, join the locals, do a little work, then migrate our way to Godshome.

Iyani shrugs as she turns to look at the other cadets, Anyone have ideas? Oh, and since were undercover, no rank!! she does a little dance. We will be friends who enjoy bringing happiness to one another.

Sometime later, when the caravan stops to take a rest, Iyani runs off into the bushes and changes into her regular clothing and packs up her blunderbus and uniform to leave it with the Captain.

[Vaerdis]

"If we are going undercover it is not uncommon for minstrels to travel the land for lodging and some coin going from town to town...that could be our cover." Alain adds as an idea, "Not having rank for awhile will be a nice change." He smiles as Iyani seemed giddy and full of energy.

Once on the caravan trip Alain would be singing to himself while polishing his rapier, paying little heed to the sights as they traveled.

[ManicMonky]

"I believe Cranston would be the better starting location. It is a large population to blend into, full of farmers and the like. It is also at the base of the Five Kings Mountains," Tayrron stated. "I would believe this farming town would supply Godshead with goods on a regular basis. We should have little difficulty infiltrating one of their carivans which will help us make o7t way into Godshead with relative stealth."

The mention of no rank left Tayrron a bit uneasy, but he would have to make due. It was not in his nature to disrespect his commanding officers and not addressing them properly felt disrespectful to him. At the excitement Iyani and Alian expressed, all he could do was frown and sigh heavily.

At the first rest stop, Tayrren double checked his gear to ensure he was ready for whatever might come. With Iyani running off to the bushes, he walked over to the Captain. "Sir, I am afraid I do not have clothing suitable for being undercover at this point. Will there be a chance to find some before we reach out destination?"

[Adamah]

Brannon looked at Tayrron and shook his head, smile still on his face, "there's always one. Don't worry cadet, we'll stop and get you fixed up along the way." He looked at Iyani, "Godshome makes a good bit of money from servicing trading caravans from Druma, though most of those Caravans only pass through northern Andoran on their way to Taldor. I've been to all of the towns, I don't think any of them are particularly 'pretty' but perhaps I'm not the best judge of this."

"Cadet Craven's got the right idea about rank, probably the quickest way for you four to get killed would be to act too 'military'. That being said, I'm still going to put Cadet Cantell in command of the mission, because it will still be necessary for someone to be the final decision maker."

"I've been very impressed with all of you over the last few weeks. I think of the four of you, only Cadet Moongazer has the martial discipline that I want in an officer in one of my own units. In this operation, however, martial discipline is not what's needed, and may get you killed. I believe that I'm paying you the highest compliment possible in saying that you rabble may very well save a significant portion of Andoran in the coming days."

"So continue to work out your plan, you don't have to finalize details in front of me if you don't want to. In fact, it may be for the best that I don't know exactly what you're doing. I'm still here to answer questions until you finally set off by yourself."

 

I see that Zero hasn't been on for a few days, don't know if he's disappeared or not. So I wouldn't wait for him to make plans. If he decides to rejoin us than he can jump back in no worries.

As of right now, the path your characters will take over the next few days will be to take a boat at the fork in the river up to Watershead (Benedict academy is near the fork of the river), where you will meet up with the rest of the troops. You will be passing a few small villages along the way. You guys can feel free to advance the timeline as much as you want up until you set off from Watershead. I'll continue to play the part of Captain Brannen and answer any questions. Besides that the story is pretty much in your hands until you set off on your own. Feel free to shoot me any OOC questions on the OOC thread or by PM.

[kaylara]

Iyani smiled, So shall we disguise ourselves as traveling performers and our bodyguards? she shrugged.

After we settle, we could begin to make way to Cranston, like Tayrron suggested. then she turned back to the Captain again.

Sir, are there any other agents or allies we should be aware of in any of the four towns?

-- Later once they reach water --
Well, since were out here, we might as well get cleaned up. You never know what lies on the the bottom of the riverbed. You would be amazed at some of the things I have seen. I wonder if there's anything around here. I'll go check. as Iyani strips down to very little clothing and lowers a rope ladder to the water before she jumps into the river and disappeared under the water. Iyani felt at home under the water as she swam.

Keeping pace with the boat she swims down near the bottom to get a good

Dice Perception:

d20+4

(19)+4

Total = 23

look around. After about 10 min (or sooner depending on if she spots something interesting) of underwater exploration, Iyani makes her way back to the surface. While performing a backstroke, keeping pace with the boat, Iyani informs the others of her findings.
Looking up at the sky, Iyani wonders how the

Dice Knowledge Nature:

d20+2

(9)+2

Total = 11

weather will be.

 

 

Name with Sheet In URL: Iyani Craven, Level: 1, Class: Cleric, Race: Undine
HP: 8/8, Initiative: +2 Speed: 30/Swim 30 Senses: Perception +4 , Darkvision (60 ft)
AC: 14 Touch: 12 Flat: 12 CMD: 12 Fort: +3 Refl: +3 Will: +7
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 14 Con 10 Int 10 Wis 18 Cha 14
Resistances: Cold resistance 5
Condition: Normal
Left Hand: Glaive (2h)
Right Hand: Glaive (2h)
Magic Items: Scroll: Divine Favor (x1), Magic Weapon (x1)
Spells: Per day = Level-1: 3, (1+d+bonus)
0 lv: Detect Magic, Create Water, Stabilize
1 lv: Bless, Divine Favor, Obscuring Mist (d)
Channel Energy 5/day
Lightning Arc 7/day

Active Spells/Effects:
+1 resistance bonus on saving throws (protection domain power)

[Vaerdis]

Alain doesn't know how to feel about being offered command at this time, "Thank you sir for this opportunity."

--On the boat--
Alain relaxes as the boat heads up river, I wonder if a group of traveling minstrels could bring peace to towns. It would be an impressive feat but I think Iyani is right about starting at Godshead. He takes a glance at her swimming in the river, I don't see her as the type that would fit in a rigid military atmosphere, I don't think I would either. He begins to

Dice Perform (Sing):

1d20+8

(15)+8

Total = 23

whistle to himself as he mulls thoughts about in his head. I guess the good thing about disguising as traveling minstrels is that to make it work you must draw attention to yourselves, in any small town an extra person is easily noticed so if we come in with a good song and a good impression being foreign visitors wouldn't matter...maybe even by cheering up the livelihood they will forget about a rebellion and be in good cheer.

[ManicMonky]

"You make a good point, Sir. The fewer people that know of our plan the less risk there is of being discovered." Tayrren bows before dismissing himself to go with the others to talk strategy.

It was quite clear the young gal had little modesty about her body or being so nearly nude in front of others. Tayrren averted his eyes as she striped down and jumped in the water. He did still keep some watch over her as she was in the water though; after all, she was still a member of their squad and members looked out for each other. The others had seemed to agree about Cranston and had minds set on being performers. It may not be his ideal plan, but he was not the one put in charge of this mission. "I shall yake up the role of bodyguard then. I do not have skill in performance arts as you two have. But how do we know that these people will accept us for such a role?"

[Adamah]

Iyani's exploration of the river bottom was fairly boring at first. It had clearly been dredged at some point in the not too distant past to allow for larger ships to pass through. She was pleased to see a large variety of aquatic life though.

Just as she was about to head for the surface something caught her eye. A stone, much like the other rocks that littered the bottom, except it seemed to be composed of a type of material different from the surrounding strata. She swam closer for a look and saw some unnatural looking grooves carved into one side of it.

[kaylara]

Iyani moved closer to get a better look at Cast: Detect Magic and scan the area.the carvings. Perhaps it was some lost piece of art or something. She wondered if the stone was a piece of something bigger. Deciding to play with it a little bit, she tried to lift, slide or flip it to see what was on the other side.

After playing with the rock a moment, Iyani decides to keep her You local mid-evil medal, err magic detector.detect magic active as she followed along.

[Adamah]

As she got closer she realized that her sense of proportion must be off, maybe it had been too long since she had spent an extended time underwater. The rock was only a little larger than her hand, and quite light. At first after casting the spell, she sensed nothing.

But gradually she began to detect something.

Something barely there, hidden deep and pervasive. As if a the rock had once had a magic purpose long ago. So long that it frightened her.

Something Necromantic... but not exactly...

[Vaerdis]

Alain stopped his whistling abruptly to answer Tayrren, "Because we will have no signs or talk of the military...travelers are a common sight from town to town and people accept this, or at least they should unless we are visiting some dwarves. As travelers we have our own opinions and we shall slowly make the town believe those opinions as long as we aren't overly patriotic or giving rank to eachother." Alain takes a glimpse at Iyani in the water.