[Game Thread] Chapter 1: Something Wicked

[Cherubaddon]

Aymeric merrily strides into the inn, glad that the day's trip is behind him. He looks around the large, comfortable inn, rejoicing at the thought of being served by the finest chefs in Khorvaire; they may all be duplicitous schemers, but at least they know that a Lhazaar salmon is only properly prepared with saffron. The young noble absent-mindedly waves his gauntleted hand behind him, causing the door to slide shut silently, before taking a seat next to the gruff dwarf who has introduced himself as Ugren. He musters the patrons of the inn for some time, then leans back with a shrug and retrieves a long-hafted pipe from his belt pouch, diligently packing it with the ground weeds he always carries with him. They are local fare, and lack the spicy taste he favours, but he only has very little Q'barran swamproot left and reserves it for special occasions. The Eldeen weeds will do. Somehow managing to snap his fingers despite the massive iron gauntlet encasing them, he makes a small purple flame appear at his fingertip, standing perfectly still, before he places it, physically, as it appears, into the pipe. He inhales strongly a few times, disappearing behind a cloud of smoke.

Having made sure the pipe is well-lit, burning slowly and steadily, he takes it from his mouth and looks to his neighbour; complete silence he finds oppressive, but he judges it wise to not address any of the kalashtar again; he had enough of that last night. "Ugren, was it?" he says, his usual dashing and extroverted tone having turned calm and contemplative. "From the Mror Holds, I make it? Tell me - " he puffs another cloud of smoke, obscuring his features for a moment, "have you ever hunted such a... thing before?"

[Cidolfas]

Ugren was rather dissapointed to be stopping for the night in such a stuffy place, but tries to make the best of it. He sits down and eats his meal in silence once more. When Aymeric began speaking to him he finally drew his thoughts back to the present. He had to resist a sneer when the man brought forth the purple flame, but resisted commenting on the showey display. The dwarf simply shakes his head prior to speaking. "I've hunted many a beast, but a werewolf I have not. 'Tis sure to be a daunting task from what I've heard of them." He glances sidelong at the pipe smoking human before continuing. "What of you, have you ever faced such a foe?"

[Cherubaddon]

"No." Aymeric pauses for a moment. "I am not much of a hunter, to be entirely frank. The jungle cats and lizardfolk in New Galifar, for the most part. Though I suppose a creature with the instincts of a beast and the mind of a human will compare to nothing that I have ever tracked." He puffs some more, the smoke rising lazily to collect beneath the inn's roof. He casts a short sidelong glance at the dwarf, but his facial expression is as closed as always, so he resumes gazing at the little clouds ascending from his pipe. "Then again, it is not finding it that I worry about," he says to the void before him with an ever-so-slight nod to the Lady d'Tharashk. "Trapping a creature of such ferocity will be no mean feat, nor will be bringing it back alive. I wonder if we are really equipped for this mission." The Q'barran shrugs again, his voice never rising from its meditative monotone. He would do his part, which was keeping them alive somehow; he hoped somebody else was both a good tracker and able to subdue the beast.

[mad_gondsman]

Fraela joins Ugren and Aymeric at their table, placing a few ales upon the table for them to take... or not, if they chose. She listened earnestly to Aymeric and Ugren but said little as she unwound from their trip. Subduing the beast may indeed prove to be a feat... but she wasn't sure that even that would be their greatest trial.

"Did either one of you get the feeling that something was out of sorts back at Windshire?" she asks in a low voice, plopping her chin into the palm of her hand as she took in the common room.

"I've never been one to throw my lot in with the religious, but... even for churchly types, those guys were queer. There's more to this little story that we were told."

She took in a deep breath and sighed heavily as she looked at the patrons of the Pious Dragon Inn and let the atmosphere settle in. She leaned heavily upon the table, drinking slowly, mimicking their postures and tired manner of speaking as she observed...

If she'd learned anything about people at all, it was that they liked to drink and complain about their problems. If there was anything unusual going on in Redleaf, she'd find out about it, given time.

[oogoa]

Koralask paused in the doorway of the inn, watching his new companions scatter. Truth be told, it had felt good to be moving again, and Koralask had been loath to stop at another inn. Still, everyone else, including his sister, had been insistent, and so he had gone along, silently vowing to sleep in the courtyard tonight, as was only proper.

Noticing the small cluster of companions, the dwarf, Quori, and striking looking Dragonmarked Lady, Koralask hesitantly approached the table, hovering as though waiting for permission to sit. In most social circumstances, he was guided by his sister, and was unsure of what to do next.

Coughing nervously, he bared his unusually sharp teeth in what he hoped was a friendly grin, but looked more like a frightened grimaced. He glanced over towards Aliandrah, and had to battle the temptation to bolt for her table. It was at her mental insistence, drilled into his head practically since they had started traveling, that he socialize. Finally, he stammered ...may, may I..uh...may I sit?

[Cherubaddon]

Taking a mug of ale with a grateful nod, Aymeric takes some time to consider the lady's words. As a matter of fact, he has gotten such a feeling, but with what he knows about the Silver Flame, he assumed it to be some minor obfuscation as to the exact nature of the threat. "Well," he says deliberately, exhaling a mouthful of smoke, "I did get the feeling that he was lying to us about his friend's spell, and that we are simply to bring one of the church's enemies in for execution." He considers the proposal for a moment, before continuing: "Then again, I may just be prejudiced. The Flamers we get in and around New Galifar tend to be the worst kind of fanatics... and my family being Cyran, I have never heard a good word about them." He takes a sip of ale, but decides he finds its flavour a bit malty for his taste and leans back again, chewing on his pipe. "I hence defer to your experience in such matters, Lady Fraela. What is - " At this moment, a shadow over him draws the young noble's attention. Looking up, he sees the broad-shouldered kalashtar standing by their table, grinning awkwardly as he seems to collect all his courage to ask for permission to sit. "You may, friendO sha nhath," the surprised Q'barran replies in Quor, smiling as he realizes that, despite his heritage, he has much more sympathy for one with too little in the way of social graces than one with too much; it means he has had more time to develop useful skills. "We were just talking about our employer," he continues in Common, "and the fact that none of us seems to have much faith in him. What was your impression of him?"

[Peter172]

Nalus waited and listened quietly, he wasn't sure he liked where this conversation was going. "I know that some of the followers of the flame may come off as a little over zealous, but I can assure you it is only because webserve a righteous cause, and a just and fair diety. Some of the "Purified", the proper term for of follower of the flame by the way, can take drastic actions for the cause, but it is usually for the greater good...usually..." Nalus' voice trailed off as he remembered some of the stories he had heard about the one's who served the darkness that was part of the ever living flame.

"If Brother Talesin wanted the lycanthrope dead, then all be had to do was ask. Well as far as I am concerned anyways. Lycanthropy is an abomination, something that Eberron would be better off without. That is why the beasts were purged in the past.
I do agree however that there might be something more to this story than meets the eye. It would be a great discovery if the poor souls who are afflicted could be redeemed, though it does seem unlikely. Either way we should be equipped to deal with the threat to prevent needless casualties. I was created with traces of cold iron in my body." Nalus holds up his arm, and upon closer inspection it seems he speaks the truth. The gray metal can be seen shimmering here and there throughout the constructs form.
But as far as I am aware only silver damages them permenantly. I will need weapons of silver, though I will need to take care in the fight, least I accidently kill the beast.

[mad_gondsman]

"True enough, he could have asked us to do so..." Fraela begins, but lowers her voice "... though perhaps we should not speak so openly of our purpose here until we find out just what we have been drawn into. Brother Purified was strange enough but it was his lute playing host that really gave me the willies. I saw a darkness in him that troubled me. There was something off about the entire operation that smelled of a sham." She goes on explaining what she had seen regarding the construction and the evasive staff but tries not to use actual names. One never knows who's listening...

She, after all, is always listening...

"Do you have any contacts that you could tap, Nalus, to see if the church knows anything about our employers and their little operation? Perhaps a little coin would be well spent in hiring a courier to see if they have been sanctioned by a higher authority to represent the Flame..."

[IrishKatt]

Aliandrah nodded at Fraela and reaches out with her mind once more, entering her head with her voice. The tattooed Kalashtar looked around smiling at a man and a woman sitting at a table, and then proceeding to look on to the others who are in the facility.

[ShadowcatX]

The morning is crisp, but clear, promising a beautiful day today. Already a small stream of clientele, either those who had a room last night or those who, having nothing pressing to do, decide to stop by for a bite, or a drink. Everyone still has the half awake look in their eyes, early mornings, especially when one has access to a House Ghallanda tavern, can be rough on people.

Sitting at your table, no one seems especially interested in your conversation, of course, that's how they would seem if they were especially interested in your conversation, so who can tell.

Up at the bar the bartender / inn keeper drops a glass, it shatters on the floor drawing your attention. He's shaking his head no with a hand over his mouth. Looking at him intently is a man, far too awake to have spent the evening in pleasure, nodding. Then, seeing as the eyes of everyone in the tavern are on him, he turns and stands. You notice the mark on his clothing that marks him as a representative of the law enforcement here in Redleaf.

"I'm sorry to inform you all that Aaron was found murdered in his shop only this morning. It appears that someone broke in to rob the place last night and he caught them. A struggle ensued and he was killed." He looks like he's about to be seated, then decided to tell the rest. "All the silver weapons Aaron had smithed have been stolen. We currently believe those are all that was stolen."

With that the man heads to the exit and a silence spreads throughout the tavern. Then chaos. Some men at a nearby table are visibly shaken. "How are we going to defend ourselves from that werewolf now? We've waited a week on that order already, we can't wait any longer." At another table, the patrons are angry, hurt, and suspicious. "Aaron was a good man, who would do something like this? Certainly no one around here." Their eyes fall on the strangers at a nearby table and they quieten their conversation.

[Peter172]

"The only contacts i have are in the small monastery I lived in for most of my life. I could of course petition for information at a local temple..." nalus looked up at the sound of the glass smashing and listened to the story, and the reactions from the patrons. As they glared at the newcomers to the town he began to get a sinking feeling. People always tended to blame outsiders for any problems that happened, especially when they had arrive in conjunction with the crime in question.

"Good people of Redleaf, I suspect that the crime was perpetrated by someone working in collusion with the werwolf in question. Please allay your suspicion towards us, for we have no need to steal weapons. If you are in need of protection from the creature we, or at least I, will do everything in my power to do so."

[Cherubaddon]

Aymeric looks up surprised as the constable begins to speak, taking his attention off the fist-sized hunk of wood he is diligently carving with his hunting knife; he is never the most talkative before noon, and he has not slept particularly well last night as thoughts of brother Talesin and his lute-playing friend have kept him awake, vainly trying to put his finger on the feeling of the peculiar Lady Fraela had mentioned. He had noticed no such air when he was at the temple, but now, he could not shake the thought, even as he tries to keep his concentration on what is in the early stages to becoming a new pipe. The redhead may just be making me paranoid, the Q'barran thinks sullenly. Speaking of paranoid... He is drawn back to the present, casting his gaze around the common room, where all gazes are slowly fixating on them. "How convenient," he mutters to nobody in particular, putting down the piece of wood on the table and sitting a little straighter, to better liberate the heavy Cyran battle-blade on his back, should it come to that. "So the weapons are gone, the townsfolk want to lynch us, and the werewolf is still out there," he says dryly. "Any suggestions?" Somehow, he has his doubts that a religious fanatic, not to mention a walking statue, is going to placate the people of the village. His eyes dart out around the room, locating possible escape routes, bottlenecks and cover.

[ShadowcatX]

At the thought that the werewolf may be behind the thefts people start looking a bit more nervous and the conversations become more subdued, a werwolf as a dumb beast is a terrible threat, but one that conspires to remove the weapons it fears can destroy it is another story altogether.

One large rough looking man appraises your group curiously. "So, you're werewolf hunters are you?" He waves his hand in Nalus's direction. "Silver Flame from the looks of your robe. That why you're here?"

[Cherubaddon]

[Peter172]

"Actually, yes that is why we're here. We were told of the resurgance in lycanthropy in the region, and commissioned to capture the beast. Any Information you can provide will be greatly appreciated; as well as a great help for the safety of your town." Nalus looked around at the townsfolk as he spoke, his dace seemed to have a sympathetic cast to it...At least that was what he was trying for.