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Old Aug 26th, 2022, 08:00 PM
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Call of the Ancient - Part 4

Treblefork was left in good hands with the Knights of Neomosis. Not all of the Knights were content to stay and build a stronghold in the city. They preferred the dirtier side of the business they had been involved in before, pure mercenary work, and thus split off to form their own bands of brothers to battle together. For those who did stay though, there was plenty of work to do, and plenty of opportunity for future work. Although Treblefork positioned itself in the mountains, it wasn't too far from roads that often had commerce that could provide work.

When Oren, Gillindan, Adelaide, Daybreak, and Lux (whom Oren had to re-summon via his Find Familiar spell) finally returned to Oakcrest, it had been nearly a month from the time when they first left. The sights and sounds of the small village were familiar, and welcome to the weary travelers, who were ready to rest from their journeys and battles. Lux, especially glad to not have had a long stay in the Nine Hells, was anxious for a drink of something stronger than the band had traveled with.

It looked like things in the village had not changed much, until they arrived at the small town square. Some visitors, a traveling merchant perhaps, had set up a stall where they were attempting to sell goods. Drawing closer, they noticed the familiar form of Frath, the local Tanner, haggling with the merchant over the price of a potion. "Look, I can only pay 25 gold up front. I'm telling you, when my work is done, I promise I can get the rest of the gold for this Potion of Resistance against Fire. It's a vital piece to this cloak I am nearly finished working on."

The merchant was a short man, who could have been mistaken for a dwarf. He was new to town, the just arrived travelers had never seen him before. Before an answer could be given though, Frath spotted Oren out of the corner of his eye. "Oren! Your back! Just in time too! Perhaps you can convince this talented young man here of the fact that you can, indeed, pay for the potion I need to finish working on your cloak. Maybe you can even vouch for the fact that it is a real dragon's hide?" Frath then turned back to the merchant. "Kerwin, this is Oren. The man I have been telling you about. Oren, this is Kerwin." Introductions aside, Frath stepped back to let the strangers meet each other.

OODMWelcome to the next chapter of our story! I want to give everyone a chance to meet and greet here, before we throw the next chapter into high gear.
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Old Aug 27th, 2022, 12:41 PM
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"Talented, eh?" Oren repeats the word Frath had used to describe the short man before them, appraising the potion seller. "I have heard that alchemy is the goal of every potion-maker, and alchemy is the art of turning one thing into another." No doubt the others in the group already knew where the warlock was going with this line of reasoning. Standing nearby, the slender tiefling woman who just a few months ago had to hide her form to avoid persecution by the townsfolk, looked over Kerwin's wares.

Daybreak was once a dryad, but had no memory of that life. Once an immortal fey spirit, she was now aging, and cut off from her true nature, and Oren had vowed to help her return, even if she herself did not know exactly what he was talking about.

"Tell me, Kerwin, do you know Alteration magic? Are you versed in Trans...mognifying and uh, anti-Fuseafacation magic?" It was also well known to Gallindan and Adelaide that Oren was by training a soldier, and was thrust into the role of warlock only recently by fate. His arcane knowledge sketchy at best, limited to just the few books left behind by the dragon whose cave he now called home. "Because I -- we -- may be in need of such magic, whatever it's called."

"As to the cloak, I can vouch this is dragonhide because I slew the beast, together with Daybreak here," he introduces his companion, "around a year ago. We can pay what you ask to complete it, but it is your other skills that may be of even more interest to Daybreak and I."
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Old Aug 28th, 2022, 01:28 AM
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Kerwin Powell
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Oakcrest. Finally. Kerwin had been travelling for quite some time to arrive in the beleaguered and demon infested town. He would have gotten there a day or two sooner had his donkey, Gretta, been more donkey and less ass on the journey. Nevertheless, there it was. As his small cart rattled and jostled its way toward the village center, the alchemist couldn't help to have a small frown crease the edges of his lips. He had been hoping for pandemonium, chaos, desperation. The town seemed almost like any other. Those demons had obviously not done a good enough job of terrorizing the populace if that populace had been able to put their lives back together so quickly.

He might have to work for his bread in Oakcrest which was disappointing to say the least. Kerwin did not like work. Not at all. So, as his cart and donkey finally pulled up to an empty spot in the market square of the town, the wizard spend a solid fifteen minutes summoning an unseen servant that could aid him in setting up his stall. He pulled one side of the cart down on hinges and placed a few timbers beneath it to form a shelf that he began laying a purple cloth on. There was a chest in the back of the cart that he opened with a key..and bypassed the arcane lock on account of being the fellow who cast the spell. Inside the chest were various bottles and potions, all nestled tightly amidst a pile of pine shavings. He began removing several of the bottles, and pinched a few beetles as well. He'd have to replace his shavings soon, some of them were turning to dirt more than they were still wood. A chore for another day.

Once he had a half dozen bottles set out on cloth upon the shelf, each a different color than the next, he put on his cheeriest grin he could muster which looked more like a beholder with a piece of wool fiber caught in an eye. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Kerwin to rope in a customer. Seemed the local fletcher had a nasty itch in an area best not discussed in public. Luckily for the fletcher, Kerwin was a discreet individual and knew a man in distress when he saw one. Snatching up the silver potion, he placed it on the palm of his hand and said to the man, "This will cure you right up, my good sir." The man eagerly reached for the bottle but Kerwin pulled it back and smothered it in his hand. "Not so fast. We haven't talked about price. Twenty gold."

The fletcher's jaw dropped, "You can't be serious? That's half a month's wage!"

Kerwin shrugged and turned to put the bottle back into the chest. "Your crotch, friend."

"Fine, fine, twenty gold, but not a copper more."

"Sold!" Kerwin said with glee as he took his coin and then he dropped the kicker. "Of course, if you want to know the safety precautions, it'll cost you another twenty."

Stammering, the fletcher repeated the phrase, "S...s...safety precautions?"

Kerwin feigned shock at the man's ignorance, "Of course. Magical potions are not toys. My dear sir, this is serious business. But I can talk you through the means to ensure you avoid the worst of any possible hallucinations, orifice prolapses or certain madness."

A deeply concerned look was the fletcher's only response as he dumped the remaining coin from his purse into Kerwin's outstretched hand. "Don't drink it, by the gods, don't drink it. I don't need a trail of corpses following me on my travels. I'd advice you not to touch it either. Maybe try to put some on a piece of hide...with the fur still on it. Let it soak into the hairs and then apply it to your...area."

"I'd give it a week and then your, ah, problem should be taken care of."

With a nervous smile, the fletcher took his potion and departed.

Kerwin had about three days to get out of town for he was almost certain he had given the man the flask that was filled with the smelting waste. The smiths referred to the substance as arsenic and quite often the apothecary would come to collect it but Kerwin had gotten his hands on a sample first. It would surely kill the little parasites plaguing the womanizing arrow maker's nether regions but would almost certainly also cause him to loose every hair in the area and possibly more than just that. No matter, Kerwin had forty gold pieces for his trouble and seemed to have another customer as a man with greased back hair, a hawkish nose and an air of importance approached.

He was the local tanner and seemed to be working on a dragon scale cloak of all things. He was requesting a potion of fire resistance that he said the making of the cloak required. Kerwin didn't have such a thing but if dragon scales were magical as anyone who knew anything knew they were, why the need for the potion. Ever the salesman, Kerwin didn't miss a chance for some coin.

"Eh, I've got something like that. Its, ah, fire proof potion. Only difference between fire resistant and fire proof is one is stirred and the other mixed. Just alchemical technical babble really." He looked the man up and down before deciding he could risk a higher price. "Tell you what, chap, I'll sell this one to you for the low low price of fifty gold. I'm losing the shirt off my back selling at this price but I'd be honored to be party to the creation of such an artifact as your cloak."

"Look, I can only pay 25 gold up front. I'm telling you, when my work is done, I promise I can get the rest of the gold for this Potion of Resistance against Fire. It's a vital piece to this cloak I am working on."

Before Kerwin could respond and seal the deal, friends of the man showed up. Quite unwelcomely, if Kerwin would have had his say. They looked road worn and dangerous. The type to know a good potion when they see one. Unwelcome indeed.

"Oren! Your back! Just in time too! Perhaps you can convince this talented young man here of the fact that you can, indeed, pay for the potion I need to finish working on your cloak. Maybe you can even vouch for the fact that it is a real dragon's hide?"

Frath then turned back to the merchant. "Kerwin, this is Oren. The man I have been telling you about. Oren, this is Kerwin." Introductions aside, Frath stepped back to let the strangers meet each other.

The alchemist tried his best to hide a grimace as his mark took a step back to let his friends who were not buying potions continue the conversation. Kerwin tried to put on a happy face.

"Talented, eh?" Oren repeated the word Frath had used to describe the short man before them, appraising the potion seller. "I have heard that alchemy is the goal of every potion-maker, and alchemy is the art of turning one thing into another. Tell me, Kerwin, do you know Alteration magic? Are you versed in Trans...mognifying and uh, anti-Fuseafacation magic?" It was also well known to Gallindan and Adelaide that Oren was by training a soldier, and was thrust into the role of warlock only recently by fate. His arcane knowledge sketchy at best, limited to just the few books left behind by the dragon whose cave he now called home. "Because I -- we -- may be in need of such magic, whatever it's called."

A puzzled look escaped Kerwin's face as Oren spoke or better yet, stumbled over his questions about different magics. Perhaps these weren't great warriors after all, sent by the devils of Oakcrest to ruin Kerwin's business but just another group of saps ready to be taken advantage of.

"As to the cloak, I can vouch this is dragonhide because I slew the beast, together with Daybreak here," he introduced his companion, "around a year ago. We can pay what you ask to complete it, but it is your other skills that may be of even more interest to Daybreak and I."

Grinning a giant smile, the alchemist dove in to respond in the most confusing way he could possibly muster. "Well, my good man, the word I believe you are searching for is Transmutation. There are many schools of magic, Evocation or blowing things up, Illusion or fooling the mind, Conjuration or creating that which was not, or even Divination or sensing the future. The Lady of Luck must surely be shining upon you, for I have spend many years focusing on Transmutation or the altering of that which is into that which it was not. Allow me."

Kerwin reached down to the dusty market ground and plucked a small stone out of the dirt. "Behold, it is but a stone." The alchemist held the rock out for all to see. Flipping up the lid of his chest, he took a flask out of the pine shavings and pulled the stopper out with his teeth, spitting the lid back into the box. He pulled the purple cloth away from the shelf and placed the pebble on the flat cart side. "A bit of my special alchemical mixture...and a bit of magic," Kerwin waved his fingers over the pebble and whispered some nonsensical words. "And it will become, naught but a piece of wood." It usually took about ten minutes to transform a cubic foot of material with such a Starting at 2nd level when you select this school, you can temporarily alter the physical properties of one nonmagical object, changing it from one substance into another. You perform a special alchemical procedure on one object composed entirely of wood, stone (but not a gemstone), iron, copper, or silver, transforming it into a different one of those materials. For each 10 minutes you spend performing the procedure, you can transform up to 1 cubic foot of material. After 1 hour, or until you lose your concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell), the material reverts to its original substance.minor alchemy trick but with a pebble of such small size, the experiment only took a few moments.

Picking the wooden sphere up off the cart ledge, Kerwin held it out for any to take. "Wood!"

"As for the cloak, your friend is twenty-five gold short of securing himself a fire proof potion." It was a great name because Kerwin was certain that the liquid in the bottle he offered the tanner would definitely not catch on fire.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Kerwin inquired about the job Oren seemed to infer existed. "And you had mentioned a need for my services, please elaborate."

 

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Old Aug 29th, 2022, 06:16 PM
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Gallindan watches the exchange with some amusement. His mastery of magic is as an infant's. But he's been around magic long enough that he knows the words that Oren doesn't, even in this foreign tongue. Something about this alchemist rubs him the wrong way, but he can't put his finger on it. Maybe it's just this Winter, which he can't seem to shake. But Adelaide is always scowling at strangers, so the eladrin smiles weakly and interrupts the conversation... not accidentally preventing Oren from perhaps saying too much too soon. "Welcome to Oakcrest, Kerwin. I am Gallindan, and this is Adelaide. What brings you here?"
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Old Aug 29th, 2022, 11:18 PM
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Adelaide Darkdraft
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Quiet meditation was difficult for Adelaide, attempting to be so still in a world so full of life and chaos. She might even have been making progress that morning after the liberation of Treblefork before a squawking crow interrupted her, and led her through the woods like some hound leading rescuers to its master in need of aid. Yet the woman Adelaide found had little need of aid, beyond a respectful burial at the foot of an old oak. It was pure chance, or perhaps not, that her shovel cracked open the small cask buried at the base of the tree, as she dug the grave. Wood rotted to dust, nails rusted until they were little more than a rust coloured smudge on the carefully bound package within. A robe untouched by the countless years that had reduced the vessel to nothing; a robe that contained some obvious magic. It was also rather ugly, and Adelaide loved it all the more for it. She had been concerned about the multitude of patches which seemed ready to fall off, but had assuaged those fears by the time she left the small forest grave, and the large rowboat that now rested atop of it.

Adelaide was less enamoured of the alchemist than the others, having seen the damage such hucksters and charlatans often left in their wake when passing through Riverbend. There was always someone just desperate enough to fall for their lies, and all the logic in the world wasn’t going to convince them they were being conned. The scowl on her face did not diminish as the man looked in her direction as Gallindan introduced her, nor as she took a better look at the man. A man that short was hardly to be trusted, having overcome such a disadvantage in a manner that was obviously not the hard, honest work that had left her all sharp edges and sinewy muscle.

Speak your mind, girl, or don’t, but don’t dwell on it. The words of Hakkouth Granitehorn sounded often in her mind despite their short time together. The old dwarf hadn’t been her mentor long, but she’d taken his every word to heart in that magical time after first swearing her oaths. Her gaze turned away from the troublesome newcomer and towards the abandoned chapel that had been her home for a brief time before Treblefork. Hakkouth was buried on the chapel grounds, and she felt a pull to pay her respects now that they had avenged him. It would also be a good idea to see if a new priest had arrived in town while they had been gone and evicted her from her lodgings.

She offered the ‘merchant’ a sharp nod of acknowledgement before turning to Gallindan, ”If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave. I would like to pay my respects to master Hakkouth, and see if I still have a roof to sleep under.” Her tone was direct, urgent even, and yet she waited for his leave, a sign of respect for the man who had taken on the role of her master in the order, teaching her how to uphold her oaths.




 


 
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Old Aug 31st, 2022, 11:58 PM
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The warlock laughs, waving his hand to stop him as Kerwin spouts off the name of every school of magic known to man. The show of scholasticism was encouraging and Oren appreciated the effort. "Sure, I'll take your word for it."

But when the dog and pony show drags on, Oren's expression changes. He might not be well educated, but he had touched the blood soaked soil of the lower plains with his bare hands, and negotiated toe to toe with a demon goddess. He could see this young man was trying too hard. As Gallindan graciously tries to take the conversation in a new direction and Adelaide makes her annoyance plain, the writing was on the wall.

Sighing, the old soldier admits the promise of a traveling potionseller possessing the remedy to Daybreak's curse was a little too optimistic.

"Maybe another day, friend," he says in response to Kerwin's request to elaborate. "Frath, pay the man for his potion and deliver my cloak tomorrow. If it isn't fire resistant, at least I know where I can get my money back." He gives Kerwin a smile and turns to leave. "Good day."
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Old Sep 1st, 2022, 01:25 PM
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Gallindan turns to assess Adelaide. She had grown in power and skill so quickly... Clearly the Ancient One values her, and her burning talents. But still she struggles with the call to be a beacon. Truth be told, Gallindan himself finds this difficult in Winter. But his young pupil has heard his lectures on the subject too many times. "Go, then. And give my greetings to my old friend. After the long journey, let us not worry about training this day. We can resume tomorrow."

He ponders for a moment whether it was still fair to call her a pupil. Her skill with sword and spell equal his own at this point, despite the eladrin's lifetime of experience. He needs to find the balance between treating her as an equal in most things while still nudging her towards the light.

And in that time, the exchange between Oren and the alchemist has ended. Gallindan isn't entirely sure what he missed, but he turns to watch as the two part.

Last edited by zebedee; Sep 1st, 2022 at 04:07 PM. Reason: Stupid verb tenses
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Old Sep 1st, 2022, 03:46 PM
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Kerwin Powell Having been playing fools for most of his life, Kerwin knew when he had encountered...not fools. Despite the man named Oren's flubbing of magical pronunciations, he had a level of street wisdom to him that belied his simple appearance. And he didn't like the way Gallindan was looking at him either. No point in making enemies quite so soon. The veiled threat from Oren didn't help matters.

Kerwin called out after the warlock as he began to depart, "Now, now, let's not be hasty. I said that the fire proof potion was the best I had. The best of what is already made. If you'd like something different for your cloak, a proper potion of fire resistance, I can oblige your needs. I'd hate to sell someone something they didn't really want...all over semantics."

Rubbing his hands together, the alchemist attempted to repair the rift his greed had caused. It seemed the group wanted more than just a simple potion. There was more to this rag tag assembly than they were letting on.

"Ingredients are always difficult to procure for such detailed work. A potion of fire resistance can benefit greatly from demon shins or devil horn. Perhaps you've a bit of dretch liver. Mephit hearts work well if they're the right breed or if you've a piece of phoenix egg shell. Ground down brass dragon scale could work if mixed in a solution of azer piss."

A smile creased Kerwin's face, "Such ingredients are rare and sometimes difficult to obtain but if this town truly was inundated with demons, there's bound to be some manner of remains we could experiment with. And there was another matter you wished to discuss?"

Selling colored water to fools was easy money but the alchemist wasn't above honest work if it paid well...and kept his head attached to his neck.

 

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Old Sep 1st, 2022, 11:33 PM
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Adelaide Darkdraft Hiding a grin at Oren’s skillful play and that the revelation that Kerwin might not be a complete charlatan, Adelaide takes a step back from the group to offer a warrior’s bow, ”Good day and good health to you all. Come find me at the chapel if you need me.”

Unlike the warlock, Adelaide is quite genuine in her desire to move along and her desire to return to the chapel. She has not been at this adventuring lifestyle long enough yet to become inured to the long and arduous days of travel. Training? She’s hoping for a cold drink and a quiet nap, though it did remain to be seen if the chapel was still vacant. If not she would have to seek out lodging elsewhere in Oakcrest suitable for a young woman; preferably a place free of farmwives trying to marry off their unwed sons.




 


 
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Old Sep 6th, 2022, 11:54 AM
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Having taken a few steps away from the merchant, Oren pauses. The young man was still making a hard sell despite already losing his audience.

Yet... Oren pauses. If it was any other day, the warlock would have kept walking. Today though, a funny thought strikes him and he turns back to the man.

"Tell me, what brings a person of learning so far into the demon-infested outlands?," trying to assess Kerwin's credentials. There weren't many people versed in the arcane who passed through Oakcrest, and this portly merchant clearly knew the right words to say about magic. Being able to keep one's head and use magic in a time of need is what, to Oren, set a true wizard apart from a huckster.

Perhaps beneath his fixation on money, there was some redeeming value Kerwin could bring if given the chance. How to determine that was the question.
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Old Sep 6th, 2022, 04:22 PM
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Kerwin Powell He couldn't help himself, he really couldn't. In a situation where the truth would accomplish enough to get him what he wanted, a sale, his mind would send far too much out of his mouth and it was always lies mixed in with just enough truth.

"Why come to Oakcrest? A town in need, needs an alchemist indeed. My reasons are two-fold. A place so close to such turmoil and conflict can only be in need of my skills. I can make some coin here...hopefully. But aren't there people in this world who also hope that their own special abilities can make the world a better place? Where their good works will bring a certain light into the darkest shadows of civilization. Yes, I have come to Oakcrest to make a lot of coin but in doing so, I may also aid the recovery of this beleaguered town."

Had he laid it on too thick? Nah, heroes liked to see heroes in other people too. Nobody wanted to be a lone hero.

 

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Old Sep 10th, 2022, 12:38 PM
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The Warlock and AlchemistA few days has passed, since Oren, Gillindan, Adelaide, Daybreak and Lux had returned to Oakcrest, and met with the alchemist Kerwin. Worried that perhaps the potion would not perform as expected, Frath ultimately decided to finish the cloak without it. The following day he had given the cloak to Oren. The dark scales of the small dragon it had come from had a shine to them that made it difficult to distinguish individual scales from those next to them. It gave the cloak the appearance of a dark flowing liquid. "It won't do too much against fire, which I had hoped to add, but it is fairly resistant to acid, as it turns out," Frath explained to Oren. "Oh, Gillindan and Adelaide have a visitor at the church in town. Looks like someone important. You might want to go meet him."

OODMI'll let Oren decide of Daybreak and Lux accompany him, or if they stay at Dragonhall.

Black Dragonscale CloakThis cloak functions as a Cloak of Protection (+1 to AC and Saves), and provides the user with resistance to Acid damage. Requires attunement.


Frath also met up with Kerwin, informing him of the new face in town. Was this someone here to challenge his business, which was doing well, with competition? Maybe a new a Preist to take over the 'fold' of Oakcrest, since the previous Abbot had been run out of town? Maybe he would be a future customer if proper introductions were made. Either way, Kerwin would need to venture a trip to the small chapel in town to find out.



Meeting at the Chapel
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The small church Abbot Urthwin had left was in need of cleaning, having been untouched for several weeks. Adelaide and Gillindan worked to keep the place in order, and used it as housing. Late in the evening, an unexpected knock came to the door. Outside stood a gruff-looking middle-aged man, wearing armor with a Warhammer at his side. Scars on his face were left from many battles he had seen in past years. He wore a white cloak that seemed naturally clean for one that had traveled so far. What stood out the most though, to the pair of Paladins was the holy symbol hanging at the end of a gold chain around his neck. It was the familiar throne, atop an empty mountain.

The man smiled as he looked over Gillindan and Adelaide. "Ah, you must be the ones I have heard about from Urthwin, and Hakkouth before that. My name is Marcus." Gillindan and Adelaide recognized the name instantly. Their mentor, Hakkouth had mentioned a man, in the Hooded Lantern, who had given him directions and instructions from time to time. The Hooded Lantern did not have a hierarchal structure, per say, but Marcus was one that Hakkouth had respected, and to some extent feared, much the way an employee would fear their boss.

Marcus refused to say why he was in Oakcrest initially but when he asked the pair to gather those they had recently traveled with together so that he might ask them about Trebblefork, Gillindan and Adelaide could make an educated guess. Marcus was here to investigate for himself the demonic invasion that had been reported in the region. Luckily, Frath had already been busy spreading the word. The following day, both Oren and Kerwin arrived at the Chapel around the same time.

Marcus set up several chairs in a circle in the middle of the chapel and asked everyone to take a seat. Marcus' eyes followed each individual in the meeting, studying them and judging their character. "I am here on order of the Brotherhood of Saints," Marcus began. The Brotherhood was a collection of clergy that normally serviced the larger cities in the southern side of the empire. They normally would not visit smaller villages, or travel this far north. "We have been researching the recent invasion of devils and demons into our lands, and are working to root out the cause of this aggression. I have heard that there has been activity in this area, more specifically in Treblefork. I would like for each of you to tell me what you know about the events that happened, here and there, and what involvement you may have had in them. I would also like to know what your current plans are in Oakcrest. As a precaution," Marcus stated, as he reached for his hammer, which instantly began shining white light, "we will be speaking under the influence of a Zone of Truth. Not that I don't trust you. I just don't know you well enough to know if I can or cannot." Kerwin had to wonder if it was a good idea for him to come here after all. He had heard rumors as well, which brought him to Oakcrest, but hadn't had much other involvement.


OODMWhile in the Zone, if you would like to try and lie, you will need to make a DC 17 CHA saving throw. Otherwise, everything stated must be truthful.
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Old Sep 12th, 2022, 10:46 AM
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Kerwin Powell Having only agreed to meet this new priest on Frath's behalf and to get some intel if he had competition in town for his services, Kerwin was apoplectic when the man began asking all manner of questions and declared that he was doing so under a zone of truth. He seemed to be some higher up in the church, a superior to even Oren, whose bad side Kerwin had no desire to get on. A zone of truth and questions asked...what was a charlatan to do? Deflect.

"We have been researching the recent invasion of devils and demons into our lands, and are working to root out the cause of this aggression. I have heard that there has been activity in this area, more specifically in Treblefork. I would like for each of you to tell me what you know about the events that happened, here and there, and what involvement you may have had in them."

First questions easy enough, Kerwin thought to himself, "That about sums up my knowledge of events. They happened. I was not here and therefore was not involved in the slightest." The rotund alchemist grinned a silly smile at passing the first test.

"I would also like to know what your current plans are in Oakcrest." Kerwin had a pithy retort in mind about merely selling potions to aid in the recovery of the town and sending the proceeds back home to help his ailing mother but...

"I came here to take advantage of the situation, charge outrageous prices for mundane solutions and to attempt to pawn off bottles of colored water as magical brews before departing the town in a maelstrom of discontent, while my purse strings strain under the weight of all of ill-begotten coin." He slapped his hand over his mouth in shock at his admission and gave a sheepish grin toward Oren.

In an attempt to avoid being gutted by the warlock and his associates, Kerwin elaborated, "I am capable of making magical potions, mind you, and could have made the fire resistance solution had I been provided the proper time and materials. I can make them, I just choose not to. Most people don't know any better and are really just paying for hope." Again he slapped his hand over his mouth. By the gods just stop talking, he though to himself before his speech inexplicably began again.

"Take the fletcher. He came looking for something to get rid of his crabs. I sold him a tonic that is most likely rather toxic and is most certainly going to cause all his hair to fall out. No hair, no crabs and it all works out." A third time the alchemist slapped his hand over his mouth as his eyes darted back and forth to Marcus and Oren and then to Adelaide and Gallindan.

"I do feel awful taking advantage of people and that guilt manifests as over eating." He rubbed a hand across his ample waistline. "I've always dreamed of being some grand adventurer, like you folk," he nodded toward Oren, Adelaide and Gallindan, "but I've always been a bit of a worrywart. 'Too smart for your own good', my old professor used to tell me. I think I'm too smart for honest work but in reality I'm just too lazy. I'm just itching for an opportunity to come around for me to prove my worth...not to you or anyone else really...but to myself."

This time Kerwin did not slap a hand over his mouth, but hung his head in shame and averted his eyes from those in the room. While a zone of truth spell could not compel the speaker to confess wrongdoings, speaking a few truths had seemed to unstopper a rush of honesty in the alchemist that he had been unable or perhaps unwilling to hold back any longer.

 

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Old Sep 12th, 2022, 10:21 PM
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Adelaide Darkdraft Listing to Kerwin speak had been fascinating, and Adelaide was going to have to find out if she could learn such magic. There were a great many people who could be improved upon simply by removing the ability for them to lie. People who took to it as easily as breathing, like Kerwin here. He seemed almost relieved for having spewed all of that truth out at the feet of the priest, as much as he looked mortified and ready to flee, anyways.

”Look,” Adelaide began with some aggressive hand gesturing, ”there was a demonic presence in Riverbend and Hakkouth helped me with that. Then he said come to Oakcrest and train with this elf guy, so I did.”

Her wild gestures paused for a moment while she pointed out Gallindan, then picked right up with words, ”Then some kid shows up with Hakkouth’s body in his cart and yelling about demons near Treblefork. We buried Master Hakkouth out behind the chapel here, and then we went and sorted out the demons in Treblefork.”

Adelaide’s gaze lingered in the direction of the small cemetery behind the church for a moment as she considered her words, ”So how are we involved with the demons? Killing them mostly. Thwarting, maybe. Banishing?”

”Plans?” The question actually seemed to stump the blisteringly forthright paladin for a moment before she drew her sword and looked along the finely honed edge and the mirrored finish on the flat, ”Go where I’m told and kill more demons, I guess; seem to have a talent for it.”




 


 
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Old Sep 16th, 2022, 10:29 PM
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Gallindan struggles to hide his amusement at both the answers before he speaks. Truth be told, he can't be angry at the alchemist now that he's heard the man's reasoning. But he also now knows that his instincts had been right, and the man can only be trusted so far as it benefits him. The same can be said for most people, the eladrin supposes, but some more than others. He is even more amused by Adelaide's response. She has never pulled punches in sparring, and she has never pulled punches with words, either. But the Lantern means well, even if Marcus's manner leaves a lot to be desired. So Gallindan begins his response by providing more details on the incident at Treblefork - specifically, the involvement of the Knights, the power of the Chasme, and the fact that they had sealed a portal in the middle of town. As he has nothing to hide, Gallindan tells as many details of the story as he can remember, and pays no mind to the Zone of Truth. He goes on to recount his arrival in Oakcrest and the defeat of the incubus and the discovery of the Old Book. However, while he tells no lies, he speaks slowly enough to be able to think ahead and avoid any mention of Lux.

"As for my plans... I do not know. Hakkouth sent me here to deal with the incubus, I believe. And then he himself was killed by the demons we banished from Treblefork. I have no orders at the moment. I am willing to hear them. In the unlikely event that there are no incursions here, I could return to my own people. But I cannot imagine that you would be here if that were the case."

OOC:Truth be told, Bhelogan, I can't even remember if there are other events from the last 3+ years that Gallindan should be obfuscating! If there are, feel free to point them out to me and I'll have him hem and haw about them
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