[Game Thread] Chapter 1: There Is No Honour

[Avelestar]

Each of you has recieved a letter, inviting you to come to the manor of one Lavinia Vanderboren. The reasons for your being chosen is known to each of you, as within the past month you've all completed some rather extraordinary tasks and even if you didn't gain public adoration, someone noticed and drew Lavinia's attention to you. The letter reads:

Greetings, and I trust this missive finds you in good health!

My name is Laviana Vanderboren, and I humbly request your attendance at dinner at my estate on Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane tomorrow evening. I think that I can present you with an opportunity uniquely suited to your skills. Please inform the carrier of this letter of your response, and I hope to be speaking to you soon!

Laviana Vanderboren

The Vanderboren Manor is located in the eastern section of the Merchant District; the seven-foot-high stone wall that surrounds the estate is impossible to miss, as is the towering, gothic, three-story house that dominates the grounds within. Leering gargoyles and capering nymphs festoon the eaves of the manor's roof, and several trees give the manor grounds a nice buffer from the hustle of the city.

The elderly halfling woman who delivered the letter, is also the same one who answers the door of the Vanderboren Mansion, greeting you with a warm smile. "Come in dearie." she says, leading you past some rather expensive looking paintings and stone buffs to the atrium, a waiting room with comfortable couches and chairs. "Miss Vanderboren will call for you shortly, please wait here."

OOC: Please take this chance to describe your character, and do a little introducing and RP. Knowledge (Local) and (Nobility) checks can be made to remember anything about the Vanderboren name you might know. Only roll if you have a skill rank in that skill though! Those of you who have finished their solo threads start the game with your reward, the others will gain them as soon as their solo adventure is over. Otherwise, welcome to the game!

[Prometheus]

Among the first to arrive at the manor is a wide, stout warrior. Weighed down with more metal than a blacksmith, the dwarf's scale armor gives a deep, heavy clang with every movement. Nearly a half-dozen axes are carried on his person, as well as a shield and a hammer. One of the weapons, a wide, large axe with a short haft, stands out from the others in make and appearance, and is positioned to be the easiest to grab.

Boar is, or more accurately, was, a minor player in the local arena fight circuit, his claim to fame being a spectacular fight with a giant spider and its young that was talked about for weeks. After this, however, the dwarf has no record of any fights, won or lost. An optimistic soul would say that he retired at the height of his popularity. He prefers not to say anything about it at all.

He stands to one corner of the waiting room, using a rather ornate silver plate as a mirror while he shaves with one of the smaller axes... wait, shaves? The dwarf's dark beard is short and trimmed, and look as though it would belong more on a human's chin than one of the mountainfolk's. He finishes, unceremoniously dropping the plate on an end table, and waits for the hostess to show up.

[Barark]

Herb stands leaned up against a wall oppersite the big gothic house, "looks more like a prison" he talks to himself quietly. After a little while he hears, its the only way to describe it... He hears a dwarf come along and enter the respective house. This makes Herb want to enter the house even less. He wonders just how many have been summoned and decides to wait, preening his many colourful clothes, however anyone assute enough may see the leather armour show through underneith now and then. After a while his hands fall to his sides, resting on the hilts of his rapiers.

"I wonder...." he says quietly, and takes a step to the left, letting a shadow engulf him fully.

[Redoak]

'I thank you kindly' says a figure in a black robe with white and black arcane symbols along the hems. He enters the room proper and scans it, seeing only one other person in the room he pulls back his hood so as to not be rude. A ginger haired young human nods at you, a slight electrical charge seems to flash at you from his blue eyes. His manicured hands and neatly trimmed and perfumed beard seem to suggest that he is more than comfortable in this noblewomans house. He places a quarterstaff across his knees as he sits down in a plush red velvet high backed reading chair and introduces himself.
"I am Hubris Rathanoir master dwarf, and I have business here with Lady Vanderboren." he says as he removes a letter from within his belt pouch.
"Are you here for similar reasons, oh excuse me I am being rude this is none of my business. But could I ask your name?"

[Prometheus]

There is no response from the dwarf for a long moment, but when he finally does respond, it is slowly, and with a tangible amount of disdain. Robes, He notes, still not speaking, Wonder if he's the kind who got magic from sitting inside for ten years reading a book, or because his granddad boned a demon. His spoken words, however, are more passive-aggressive. "I don't have a name any more, human. Is there something wrong with 'dwarf'?" He looks up at this 'Hubris' character again. If he drew attention for the same reason the warrior did, perhaps it'd be best not to break into open hostility just yet. "Was called 'Boar' in the arena. That will do here, too."

[HarpyBane]

Jules stumbles out of his hut at a later hour, most of the night having been passed at a bar nearby. His clothes are straight and well-made, but coated with salt and stains of countless expeditions upon the sea. his hair is long and straight, the brown locks almost obscuring his eyes, but not quite. As he makes his way through the azure district, he sees others who drank even more than he did, and who are still out cold. After about an hour, he roundaboutly makes his way to the manor, the stone walls almost causing Jules to forgo the meeting all together.

Jules studies the large building for a minute, a frown on his face. He has always been uncomfortable with nobles, being a simple sailor himself. But, this person had summoned him, and had considerable enough resources to do research into his backgroud. Striding up to the main entrance of the manor, he straightens himself out, and a thought strikes him, a slight grin appearing on his face Perhaps I may have some fun after all.. After politely introducing himself to the maid, he looks at the paintings and doesn't even try to make sense of them. Walking into the atrium, he catches a few parts of the conversation, and his smirk grows into a full-blown grin.

Finally walking into the room, he looks upon both of the faces and continues his silly smile. "Hello, I'm Jules, and this is my companion Regda." Jules stands there after a quick bow, alone in the doorway. " Nice ta meet you both, now, where was this boar? I'm a little hungry myself."

[Avelestar]

The older halfling lady puffs angrily at the lack of protocol from Jules, her face going red. Luckily she doesn't comment, but instead ushers Herb inside. Only one of them knows anything about how to act in public, sigh "I'll be back in a moment, please excuse me." it's five minutes before the halfling returns, and she ushers you through another large and expensively decorated corridor. On the way she makes a little bit of small talk, and introduces herself as Kora Whistlegap.

The five of you enter into a private dining hall, the table large enough to sit ten or so people without being cramped, or too far away from each other. From a door at the opposite end of the room four figures emerge, they're quite a diverse group and give off a rather tough vibe. The group is composed of a jaunty male half-elf dressed in leather armor and armed with a half dozen daggers of different shapes, a dark-skinned dwarf with a sour expression dressed in green and brown robes and clutching a large curved spear, an attractive but haughty-looking woman dressed in dark purple robes and with a tattoo of a crescent moon on one cheek, and lastly, a tall and handsome man dressed in polished breastplate carrying a bastard sword.

The handsome man in the breastplate seems to lead the group and comes to a stop just in front of you all. There's a couple of tense moments where he sizes you up, before announcing "Hmm. You must be the help Lavinia's bringing in to do the chores. Best of luck to ya!" Kora waves her wrinkled hand at him, clucking her tongue and speaking with an annoyed tone. "Hurry up you lot, and you better have not left mud on the backsteps again!"

OOC: Knowledge (Local) check to try and remember something about these tough looking mercenaries. Actually I just checked your sheets, and none of you have taken it! Oh well, I'll keep putting them up anyway, one of you might put a rank in it next level.

[Redoak]

Well I suppose they are chores indeed, she did mention cleaning up after you lot in her letter. he replied tauntingly to the armored handsome man. Flashing a quick smile and a wink to show he was merely bantering and not provoking Hubris takes a seat at the large table. Settling in he leans his quarterstaff upon the table top and introduces himself to this new group.
"My name is Hubris Rathanoir, and I hope I have not offended you with my jest. Who might you all be?" he asked politely

[Avelestar]

The half-elf doesn't look too pleased, but the armoured man barks a short laugh, a grin cracking out on his face. "You've got a quick mind, I'll give you that." he jerks his thumb backwards at his friends, "We're the Jade Ravens, and if you'll excuse us we have a long days travel ahead of us." They wait politely for you all to move so that they may leave. Kora gently prods anyone who stands in their way, trying to get you to be civilised.

[HarpyBane]

Jules grumbles and moves back, hissing slightly as she pokes him. Wait, hissing?

[Barark]

Herb already attached to a wall (leaning) does need to move out of the way but shows a mild contempt for all of them as they pass. He does not offer any explaination at all, and tries effortlessly draw no attention to himself whatsoever.

[Prometheus]

Boar has already moved out of the way as well, noticing Herb's good, quiet sense about the situation. He appreciates, or at least respects it, from one stoic to another, though to acknowledge him would be to betray that nature.

[Avelestar]

The Jade Ravens leave quietly as you let them pass, and Tolin nods to Boar, just noticing the dwarf now. "I'll remember that fight for a long time." Similarly the dark-skinned dwarf catches Jules' eye, chuckling softly at the hiss, and winking at the young druid. As soon as they have passed, Kora asks you politely to wait and hurries off to the door the Ravens emerged from. As soon as she knocks on the door, it swings open and a young woman walks through the door. She's beautiful by anyone's standards, and is wearing a long flowing blue dress, along with a pair of expensive looking gold earrings compliment her long auburn hair.

Laviana Vanderboren

Behind her walks another young man, a young half-elf with a bow larger than he is strung across his back, a dagger at his belt, and a well serviced chain shirt on his chest. He nods to you politely as he enters, taking a position half a step behind Laviana and to her left. Kora leaves the room with a curtsy to Laviana, and finally the noblewoman speaks. Her voice is soft, yet strong, however its also slightly strained with the trials of all her recent troubles. "I thank you for coming so quickly, I am Laviana Vanderboren, and this is my bodyguard Kevot." She begs you to take a seat at the table, and Kora brings in a light meal soon after. Most of you have no clue which fork to use, or why you even have a spoon when you've been served bread, fruit and cheeses, but Laviana turns a blind eye to this social faux pas and makes polite small talk. During the meal you can't help but notice the large painting over the fire place, directly behind Laviana's chair.

Untitled Portrait

After the meal is done, Laviana decides to get down to business. She speaks at length, politely asking you to leave any questions until she's done. "As you may have heard, I recently inherited my parents' estate. Along with this fine house, unfortunately, came a fine amount of debt owed the Dawn Council, the harbourmaster, and quite a few guildhalls. It seems my parents, for all their success as adventurers, were not as skilled at finance as one might expect. If I'm to get these taxes paid, I'll need to access my family's vault under Castle Teraknian.

And that's the problem, you see. The vaults are magically locked-keyed to special signet rings. Both of my parents had these rings, at least, until recently. My mother lost hers a few months ago. She arranged for a replacement, but it won't be done for another month or so, too late for me. Which leaves my father's ring. He never wore it-he had a thing about men wearing jewelry. He kept it hidden somewhere on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem there is that the harbourmaster's seized the ship until someone pays for the last four months of mooring. I've paid the fines to the man the harbourmaster's put in charge of my ship, a brute named Soller Vark. Yet when I went to claim my ship, Vark's men wouldn't let me board, claiming that I hadn't yet paid the fines. I spoke to Vark again and he denied ever receiving my payment. My complaints to the harbourmaster have fallen on deaf ears - he's a doddering old fool who trusts his man and won't relent.

Vark and his men are up to something on my ship, I know it. What I need is to find out exactly what they're up to. Unfortunately, Vark's not the type to react well to diplomacy or logic. I need someone who speaks his language...which is where you come in. If you can find out what he's using my ship for, or even better, recover the money I paid him, I'll pay each of you 200 gold in return once I've access to my vault." Laviana finishes her explanations, and asks if you have any questions to ask of her.

OOC: Askaran you may start posting now . Oh and Laviana makes Toki stay outside. For everyone, do you want me to put pictures in spoilerbuttons, or are you fine with them just being part of the post?

[Redoak]

Placing a banana rind on the plate in front of him Hubris daubs the corners of his mouth with an embroidered silk napkin. Wiping off his fingers with the napkin he sets it on top of his discarded rind and takes a slow drink of aged spiced wine. Setting the goblet down he clears his throat gently and addresses the Lady Vanderboren.

"My Lady, I would be happy to help you. For while my House is of lesser nobility my father often spoke of your parents with awe and respect. I can not speak for the others here but it would in fact be my pleasure to help you in your time of need." he says as he gets out of his chair, removing an ornate calligraphy case from his backpack.

"I would think it wise however to secure a letter from you, in case of emergency. For if we are stopped in our actions by the local guards, your letter of approval and in fact sanction would free us from suspicion." placing the set in front of the lady along with a parchment.

"Please use my writing set, if I may be so bold. I would treasure them more after your lovely hand had graced them with your touch." he flattered with an ease that left the rest of the group astounded.

[Avelestar]

"A lesser family you may be Hubris Rathanoir, but Wrath is a respectable man, as I believe are you, and I welcome you into my home." says Laviana, her voice like honey. Taking the caligraphy set, she sets about writing you a letter of introduction should you be accosted by guards. "May I borrow your wax Hubris?" she asks politely, before heating and melting the wax onto the parchment, imprinting it with the seal on her ring before it cools.

"Who made this writing set? These pens are exquisite, I'll have to look up the maker once all my accounts are settled." asks Laviana with a smile, handing both the letter and the writing set back to Hubris.