[Game Thread] Welcome to Belhaim

[Avelestar]

Beginnings You knew he was slimy when you first laid eyes on him but the guard fee was good and you were sorely in need of gold or safe travel through Taldor. Silas Gribb, trader, caravan owner and if the local sheriff is to be believed smuggler wanted throughout Taldor. Only an hour out of a sleepy little town called Belhaim Gribb's caravan was stopped by half a dozen mounted men. Their leader announces himself Sheriff Benhovy and produces a warrant for the arrest of Silas Gribbs by Baroness Origena. Outnumbered and despite Gribb's desperate urging not wanting to cause any trouble you quickly submit to the men and are escorted in to Belhaim. After a brief interview and double checking with the caravan's ledgers you are determined not to have known about Gribb's past and are released. However you are now stuck in Belhaim with no horse and with all of Gribb's assets seized, little gold. The next caravan isn't due for almost two months and its quite a long way to the next town. The local innkeep, Talia Orem, has taken pity on you and offered a few days free food and lodging, but her goodwill won't last forever.

Its been one night since Gribbs was arrested and you all became stranded in Belhaim, and not a very good one. The Wise Piper Inn only boasts four small cots in a single room in the roof, the mattresses long past needing restuffing. Clearly Belhaim doesn't get many visitors and the ones that do come don't stay for long. Still, the inns owner, Talia Orem, a pleasant woman in her mid thirties, plain of body and face but with a shock of brown hair to her mid-back and a huge smile, was trying to make your stay as welcoming as possible. Breakfast was a simple affair of eggs and hard bread, but it was a big improvement from the months old hard tack Gribbs had bought for the journey.

The four of you have known each other for a little under two weeks, though some joined the caravan together and might have been together longer. Introductions are long since past but there's an uneasy silence as the group tries to think of a way out of Belhaim. Even pooling their meager savings wouldn't buy a good donkey, let alone a four horses. You noticed some fields, a pair of blacksmiths, a small fleet of two person fishing boats and every other occupation a small town needs to be self-sufficient, along with a few fancier manors and one huge mansion.

OOC: So the characters have some idea of each other, names/faces etc, but we don't! Please post a description of your character and whatever roleplay you wish for the given situation. Your backgrounds are as known or hidden to the others as you see fit, feel free to add whatever you want them to know in character in a fieldset if you want. The 'landslide' mentioned in the advert will happen later, for now small talk!

[zevonian]

"Baroness. Is that an inherited title? If so, how does it give her the authority to arrest anyone?"

Alun was asking questions again. They were the kind of questions that weren't going to get them anywhere, but he asked them nonetheless. "Just because they wanted Gribb doesn't mean they needed to root through our rations."

By use of the word our, he may have been meaning the foursome of caravan guards that he was part of most recently. "Dad's not going to be happy if he finds out that we're jobless, Dania. He'll blame me of course." No, by our, he was apparently meaning he and his sister. That he was a full blooded human, no disguising it, and she was a full blooded elf, that didn't seem to preclude any sibling relationship, or rivalry. "You're the one that knows people, why didn't you see he was no good?"

Meanwhile, a quick brown fox rested quietly on Alun's lap. It was a most curious thing, for though Alun seemed to have no training whatsoever in the ways of animal husbandry, yet a fox decided to make Alun his best friend, and travel with him everywhere. That the young man spoke to the animal for a full hour every sunrise, before putting on his tri-cornered, jaunty hat and heading out for the day, well that was just odd to some, downright off-putting to others. But Alun didn't mid, and neither did his sister. Everyone else just had to deal with it.

Why? Because he was a smart man, and knew how to heal wounded folks with but a few kind words and laying of hands. People like that were useful. He was useful, and he knew it.

 

Alun is only over five foot tall if you count his boots and hat. His hair is a mess, the color of an onyx gem, except for a patch of blue that just happened to be there one morning. He is not even 20 years old, thin, unarmored, and only his walking stick could be considered anything weapon-like upon him.

During travel, he speaks of historical and events that took place near whatever stretch of road he's on. On days when he rides in a wagon, the fox sits next to him. When Alun walks, the fox, on occasion, can be found sitting on his well crafted backpack. But usually he is running along beside him. But on the slightest hint of trouble, when anyone holds up a hand to stop the caravan, the animal finds a place to hide. Clearly it's not a typical member of its species.

The backpack, for reference, is probably worth more than everything else Alun carries, and says one of his cousins made it for him.

[DoverianDragoon]

Rone stared out the window of the Wise Piper's attic, reclining, as it were, on the windowsill. Nothing out there seemed to particularly catch his interest - not the fishermen untying their boats from the moors, not the one blacksmith that could be seen mending a cart wheel from this side of the inn, not the birds building a nest in the awnings of one of the manor houses. He just stared, as he always did, in silence, his face an impassive mask.

He ignored Alun's questions. It was obvious they weren't directed at him. He idly polished his sword, so familiar with the movements that he didn't even have to divert his inattention to the town. He'd remained silent the entire morning, except for perhaps the occasional grunt.

"... If you're going to ask questions," he said while taking a break from window-watching to inspect his sword, "Ask useful ones." Rone never did seem to understand the need to complain.

 

As the post suggests, Rone is pretty quiet most of the time. He likes to let his actions speak for him, in fact, and seems to actively try to pack as much meaning as he can into as few words as he can. He comes across as inattentive, but he's actually quite aware of his surroundings. He also comes across as arrogant, which is probably accurate.

He stands about 5'6'', give or take. Probably somewhere in his early twenties. His hair is a bright sky blue, and his eyes a vibrant red that might be charming if they weren't always glaring at something. He wears well-kept studded leather armor over tattered, patched clothes, even when there's no apparent reason to do so. He insists upon being armed; there was almost a bloody confrontation when the guards asked him to drop his sword. He drew it instead. And issued an open challenge. It's a wonder he's not in jail. He wears fingerless gloves, owns at least three weapons (a longsword, a dagger, and a short bow), and apparently really likes spikes. The spikes on his shield are practically blades.

He exercises a lot. He maintains his equipment a lot. He avoids questions a lot.

[Khalil]

Raufinus Delmonte, rested his forehead on his arms as he sat on a simple wooden chair with his legs splayed out. His hands themselves were folded around the hilt of a falchion which now stood on its point. The sight of a defeated man. A morose mood hung around him like a stench, and if he could afford any drink it would not be the only odor lingering around. He was an older looking fellow with peppered gray hair and a beard to match. He wore odd spectacles that seemed a size too small. His face seemed pocked marked, probably the side effects of the hazardous chemicals he dealt with and kept in his satchel. A medium sized leather bag that never left his side... the only memento of his past life. That and the decorated A previously expensive clothing, now dirty and soiled from recent travels.quilted doublet he wore. While he looked mostly human a slight under bite and two crossing pairs of canines gave his orcan heritage away. Like his clothing the man spoke properly and intellectually, even while trying to keep hidden within his lips. From what you had gathered, this had been the second caravan disaster he had been part of in the past month. Well the latest one wouldn't really be considered a disaster compared to the first. Only two handfuls of personnel had survived a large goblin tribe raid as they had tried to cross Isger. Raufinus had survived, but not before having to bury his father in a shallow grave. A quite fury grew in the furrows of his forehead whenever questioned about the matter. The falchion itself while odd for a man of his profession, was a necessitated recent acquisition. A heritance from a caravan guard that would not be able to document it on a proper Will and Testament before his time came. A gift which had already saved the medico's life a few times. Raufinus hated how familiar the weapon felt in his hands, a favored amongst the orcs of the The Hold of Belkzen.Hold. He didn't even bothered lifting his head up as Alun spoke. He was in his own sorrow at the moment. Lost in his own thoughts of quite contemplation...

[Coelubris]

Dania sat quietly, cross-legged on the floor, her hands folded in her lap. She listened to Alun, whom the others had heard her refer to on occasion as 'little brother', and smiled. She said finally "It doesn't really matter, Alun. We are here, and until things change, we may as well make the best of it. I am studying things around us." She had been fairly quiet, not a huge talker, but given that she stood six foot four, with shockingly white hair and crystalline emerald eyes, she was startling beside her much shorter 'younger brother'. She carried a shortbow, and the dark gray of her cloak was the visible side right now. It was reversible, with the other side being unbleached wool. Warm when it rained, and something sensible for a traveler. She also wore a scarf beneath the cloak, although what was in that scarf was hard to say. She hadn't done much of anything to clue people in to what she did for a living, yet, but she seemed to do a lot of listening and observing.

 

She calls Alun Little Brother, she is quiet, she can shoot the bow she carries, and aside from her scarf and reversible cloak, she also has a rain poncho hidden in her backpack. She seems willing to let Alun do most of the talking most of the time, and has incredible patience. She also has startling good looks, but she seems very modest and tends to be almost shy, not being willing to skin off more than her cloak around anyone other than Alun.

[zevonian]

"For those curious, the answer is that the Baroness' title is inherited. Goes back a couple centuries thanks to her ancestors' helping stop a rebellion. It would seem that between that factor, and the respect of folks in the area, she is allowed the capacity to have anyone around here arrested."

Alun asked a question he already knew the answer to once in a while. Perhaps it was his way of giving fellow caravaners something to think about, perhaps he was testing their collective intelligence and comparing it to his own.

With that answer out of the way, he allowed for his foxy friend to jump to the floor before he himself rose from his seat. "Tell me, Rone, which of the two following would you consider a useful question? One, do we dare ask how we can assist in the Baroness' dream of draining the Dragonfen, in hopes that we can earn coin and a way out of here? Or two, where did you live before you moved to Taldor and lost what was probably a most fetching accent?"

[Avelestar]

Talia chimes in to the conversation from the inn's backroom. "I'll pay the muscly one to fetch me some new kegs from the brewery and put them in the basement." Walking out of the backroom Talia dusts her hands on her apron, flour covering most of it and her face. "My layabout son has decided he'd much prefer to fish all day than help run an inn, god knows why. Little bit of prep work and heavy lifting, then spend your nights chatting to everyone in town and serving ale." She sighs and shakes her head slightly, but puts on a beaming smile as she approaches the groups table. "Everybody full?"

OOC: Be active with your use of Knowledge skills and I'll reward you for it, like Zev has just now. I'll send you any information you gleam via secret text or PM and its up to you what you want to share. I'll leave you be for another post or two each before moving on with the adventure, I hate cutting people off mid introduction.

[Khalil]

Raufinus raised his head from its perch. He looked around the room to see if anyone else was moving to help. Something about the woman's words seemed to draw some emotion from him, enough that if no one else piped up, he'd do the job for free.

[Coelubris]

Dania looked to Talia when she came in, then tilted her head, listening with a small smile. She nodded when Talia inquired if she was full, she hadn't beef afraid to eat heartily of the bread and eggs they'd been offered for breakfast. She cocked her head to the side, looking to Rone with an arched eyebrow to see if he was going to help out Talia. She was definitely not strong enough to go carrying barrels of alcohol around, but she was good at listening and observing. Given her height and slenderness, she definitely didn't look like one who could easily move heavy weights around.

[DoverianDragoon]

Talia's offer brought Rone to his feet; he wasn't expecting a lot of pay, but doing something to add coin to his pocket was going to do more good than doing nothing and going nowhere. It was also fairly obvious (to him, anyway) that he was "the muscly one" He spun the sword through the air once before he slid seamlessly into its sheathe, then turned to leave. The large, somewhat faded bleeding rose emblem on the back of his long black coat seemed to fill the door frame as he stopped in it and gave Alun the briefest look. "... Neither. The first is a fear, not a question. The second will not help you."

[zevonian]

Alun smiled, perhaps because Rone didn't offer what he thought was a proper answer.

"Raufinus." He turned to the quietest one of the hour. "Any interest in visiting a wizard's house? Fairly sure that there's a stately manor owned by a man called Barclay near here. Mayhaps he could use a lab assistant, or someone to tend to wounds he's cau...incurred through his...studies."

[Khalil]

Raufinus stared towards the door even a while after Rone and Talia had up and gone. His attention was lost in some unknown thought. So when Alun mentioned his name his head snapped towards the young man, his brows shot up in surprise. His spectacles were yellow tinted and even through them you could see the overblown blood shot eyes. Raufinus's eyes slowly unlocked from Alun and they searched the rest of room to even encompass the man's sister. He seemed to be trying to figure out where he was at and how he'd gotten there, and what the hell was just said. Finally the eyes made their way back to Alun. He gave a slow nod almost as if unsure that was the right answer. That would be for the best. He stood up slowly, untrusting his own legs to support his weight and using the scabbarded weapon to help. After he straightened out he tossed the baldric over his shoulder and waited for the others to lead the way.

[Avelestar]

As Raufinus stands up and moves towards the door a loud rumbling shakes the walls of the inn, stopping him in his tracks. Talia shrieks and ducks under the bar, whimpering softly and refusing to come out. Closest to the window, Rone saw a huge plume of dust shooting up to the North East, spreading out across the town. The sound continued for a few seconds, like a raging thunderstorm right overhead, and then stops suddenly. A patter of feet can be heard rushing past the inn, with muffled shouts. "What in blazes was that?" "We haven't had a quake in decades!" "I bet that damn wizard finally blew himself up!"

OOC: Rone can tell roughly where the plume of dust shot up from, and the town is fairly open planned so its a fairly simple affair to locate it...or just follow the townsfolk.

[Coelubris]

Dania blinked, and looked out the window with mild alarm, then shot a look at Alun in inquiry, wondering if she should head for the disturbance, and if he wanted to go.

[Khalil]

Raufinus firsts thought were that they were being attacked. He stumbled towards the chair he had just been sitting at hoping to brace himself against the shakes. When it stopped he looked around with an almost panicked face. What more misfortune will I be thrown in! He thought in dismay. He looked at the others to ensure they were ok, and when he saw the woman hiding under the bar he went over to her and squatted down. Ma'dam are you ok? Are you injured?