Retech

-Rocco "It is Sumpfratte, the druid of the swamps. He has become corrupted in his desire of perfection and begun the change of nature itself. The man has forgotten that nature is perfection. Instead, he has begun using the town's rat population and changing it, combining their speed with the size and aggressiveness of the swamp rats. Mother nature has already severed his connection with her, but the swamp he gains his power from is not an ordinary one. The swamp outside the town has been fed by years and years of waste from the waste channels. Several druids have already attempted to find him within the swamp, but we suspect that he is somewhere else: beneath the town itself. We cannot go down there ourselves. The town is too polluted for us to stay for even a minute." -Pieis "Go right ahead. It's not like we have any leads."

-Rocco Two druids appear to be facing each other in combat. One of the druids is wearing traditional druidic dress: flowing green robes with an abundance of leaves and flowers. The other druid is wearing a swampland dress, full of swampweeds. They spar with their quarterstaffs while the traditional druid raised vines and called on the woodland animals. The swampland druid replied in kind with swamp roots and dire rats. Soon, the dire rats overpowered the woodland animals, distracting the druid. A swamp root took advantage of this and knocked her to the ground, as the swampland druid disappeared into the brush. -Pieis There doesn't seem to be a single tree outside the house. The rafters are rather close to the floor, and Theros can almost touch them on the tip of his toes. -Ross The glass orb quickly checks your magical aura, before Kemios opens the door. "Ah, you're back! I've been adding extra magical defences to the house. It seems dark times are ahead."

-Pieis There is no one under the furniture pile. It seems that the piece of weathered wood was a branch of a tree, after some observation. -Rocco Rocco travels into the forest, but the druid was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he hears the sound of cracking twigs further in the forest. -Ross "I didn't really know the falconer, but he was well-liked by the people of the town. If we are ever going to solve this, then we need to find a druid. Wizards never felt at home in the forest, but perhaps a villager such as yourself would find yourself comfortable there?"

-Ross "A werewolf? We haven't seen one of those in generations. But how would a werewolf produce so many droppings, and why would a werewolf attack a falconer? As a wizard, I have no knowledge of animal feces, but if we found a druid, maybe they could identify it for us." -Rocco The guards point to the forest. -Pieis They seem to have come from one direction, but it is too difficult to determine whether they come from one point. The indentations seem to be produced by some sort of shrapnel, from something splintering. -Earth "Ah yes, you have some brine kelp. I will give you...two gold pieces for all of it." -Nex "Well instead of gathering the arcane energy from the enviroment and shaping it, they seem use the energy within their bodies to channel it. Apparantly it increases the power of spells and makes them simpler, but it makes the user tired and could have potentially disastrous effects if anything goes wrong." -Archi Archi begins working on a wattle-fence house.

-Rocco "It could be. The rangers can't spare any men right now, but maybe you should try and find this druid and question her. They're always up to something." -Pieis The indentations seem to be of all different shapes and sizes. They are spread out rather evenly, unlike the marks downstairs. -Ieyfura After reaching her hand into the various herbs, Ieyfura accidentally pops the caps of several whistling mushrooms, which soon fill the air with high pitched squeels, deafening both her and the apothecary. As she reaches to break the vials, a magical barrier throws her back. After looking around, she notices several alleyways, as well as a group of wealthy merchants bartering over the yearly shipment of salt. -Ares Ares finds the soldiers coming back towards the merchant square, defeated by the wizards. "What do you mean," they ask. -Nex "There are more teachers in Brinefir, as most of us are retired, but our magical skill could match theirs easily. They have been pioneering a new method of magic, which doesn't appeal to us." (Back later)

-Rocco The guards seem to have been allowed to flee. However, Rocco receives a longbow from the shopkeeper and twenty metal arrows. "Well we no longer have any leads. Do you have any more ideas?" -Pieis "Well he was a falconer, so maybe someone had an affinity for rats," he says sarcastically. -Earth A large sea troll emerges out of the water and attempts to give chase, but Earth scrambles up the cliff face before the monster could catch him. -Ross There seems to be four lines, roughly the size of a human hand. The lines converge towards each other. The marks are about a centimeter deep. -Ieyfura The apothecary sneers before pointing at the door and replying coldly. "Get out. This is the merchant's quarter, not a charity. Go back to where you came, you peasant." -Nex "Most of the wizards here control the elements, darkness and light. Sound must be a new kind of magic, because we have never heard of it during our day. Perhaps the wizard's guild near Brinefir would be able to give you more information about that."

-Rocco Both arrows fly wildly and miss. "No such luck there!" -Earth After making it past the ledge to the calm area of the cove, Earth begins to harvest some brine kelp. After managing to pull up twenty feet worth of it, he prepares to head back, until he hears a snorting sound behind him. He spots a large, grotesque hand grabbing onto the ledge. -Theros Unfortunately, the darkness and Theros' fuzzy memory can't recall anything unusual. (What would you like to examine about the furniture?) -Nex A cleric promptly comes out to heal Nex. When asked, the wizards are puzzled as to what a sound mage is. "Do you mean a bard?" -Ieyfura "Ah yes, I have the perfect thing." The apothecary carefully plucks a yellow potion from the shelf behind her. "Fifty gold pieces please."

-Rocco Rocco fires again, but misses the head guard and hits one of his underlings in the shoulder. Meanwhile, two elderly mages step out of their houses. One of them waves his hands in intricate patterns. Suddenly, the guards are flung to the side of the road. -Nex Nex rushes forward with his paper towards the wizards, holding it in front of his face. The wizards quickly read it, before the other wizard summons vines to bind the guards to the buildings. "Thank you for your warning, but we have already received one from the rangers. The wizards of the old quarter will ensure that a necromancer will not operate behind our protection." -Pieis "That is an interesting hypothesis, but remember that the falconer did not have a battleaxe. The falconer has no family of any kind within this region." Theros remembers that he saw the house last night. -Earth As Earth decends the slippery slopes down into the cove, a particularly hard wave hits. He almost slips on the causeway. There is a thin ledge extending twenty feet along the cove wall, until it reaches an area of calm, which might be an easier place to harvest kelp. -Ares There are claw marks on the first floor's floor. -Edel Edel finds the path that led to the city. -Ieyfura "Spirit clap tonic? I've never heard of that in my life! If you know its effect, then maybe I can brew something up for you that does the same things."

-Nex The guards continue to march and when Nex steps in front of them, they knock him aside. Nex continues to be persistent, and finally gets the head guard to read it. Unfortunately, an arrow strikes Nex in the knee, and the guards move him to the side, preparing for battle. -Pieis "The falconer had a woodcutting axe, to cut firewood, but he usually just used his falcon. Why do you ask?" -Rocco Rocco fires an arrow at the headguard, but he misses and strikes a civilian talking to the guard in the knee. -Ieyfura After wandering through the peasant's quarter and only finding stalls, she finds an apothecary in the merchant's quarter.

-Rocco One of the mages leads Rocco into his house, while the shopkeeper follows you. "Have you ever used a composite or longbow before? After the battle, I think that you deserve one." -Nex Nex rushes as fast as he can, until he catches up to the guards walking out of the peasant's quarter. -Earth After arriving in Brinefir, Earth spots a shiny marble tower. Several rotting houses are perched near the cliff side, and a small path leads down to the salty coves. The wind seems especially strong, and salty spray lingers in the air. -Pieis "We have no other suspects at the moment. We suspect that the animal droppings are from a small rodent, but the size of the piles calls into question that theory." -Ieyfura It is around noon and her stomachs growled at her. The five gold coins that the departing villagers were given had been a pretty hefty sum of money out in the farms, but here in town, it wouldn’t last for too long. The small iron gate squeaks as the guard’s rush her in, closing the gate quickly before the bandits arrived. The town wall was a conglomerate of palisade and trench on the peasant’s quarter, magnificent crumbling marble on the “old quarter”, and newly built stone walls on the merchant’s, artisans, and noble quarters.

-Edel Edel tries his best to access the worlds of magic, but his lack of training and the mark by the cleric prevents him from using arcane powers or aid from the divine. -Earth There are two offers of employment that you hear about. Carting fish from brinefir back to Avernum, the payment being one gold piece. The other peasants tell Earth that the apothecary is always in need of brine kelp, which only grows in the salty coves in Brinefir. -Rocco The shopkeeper leads Rocco through the middle of the town. After warning the old quarter, several old wizards emerge from their houses to hear the news, before going to retrieve their magical weapons. It seems that they haven't seen light in years, but their lack of physical strength is augmented by magical power. They thank you, and ask if Rocco would like to stay and fight. -Nex "The guards have already left. If you want to catch them before they enter the old quarter, I'd suggest that you leave immediately." -Pieis The only signs that Theros can see are strange indents on the back wall and on the furniture.

Zey are dead.

-Nex "So it is the magical healers you say? Yes, that fits the picture. We will move with eight of our guards into the old quarter and arrest all of the healers! I have always expected the wizards to do something like this. You have our permission to search the house." Meanwhile, eight guards with pikes are marching into the old quarter. -Edel Edel blunders repeatedly with the complicated attacks, but still manages to maim the guard anyways. As he starts putting on the helmet, a cleric and a wizard enter the room. The cleric begins moving towards Edel, but his arms are stuck trying to put on the chainmail. With one swift club with a mace on the back of the head, Edel falls unconcious. Then the cleric heals the wounds of the guard and Edel, before waving his arms over Edel's head, marking him as a murderer and an outlaw. The wizard and the cleric drag him outside. With a swift movement, the wizard launches Edel over the town wall with a gust of powerful wind. Edel wakes up in the forest with his ankles and his arms broken. He still has the chainmail, but the other three items (helm, sword, knife) are gone. +0.2 Knives and Daggers -Ross and Pieis After watching the incident with the ugly nobleman, the cleric and Kemios return to the house. "Well that was rather rude of him!" The house is in a complete mess. The door is open, hanging on only one hinge. The first floor was rather cramped, only around twenty feet by twenty feet. The larder was broken into various pieces, and crumbs of food were scattered around the floor. Several large piles (if you put the tips of your fingers together with their counterparts, and spread as far as they can go) of animal droppings were scattered as well, with pieces of flesh. His falconer supplies were smashed open, and several pieces of falcon rested nearby. The staircase leading upstars was incredibly steep, with steps almost as tall as a human's knee. It was also wide enough for only one person, with the cleric walking sideways to get through, due to his weight. The second floor of the house was cleaner. There were no food crumbs or animal droppings either, except for a large blood splatter in the center of the room. All of the furniture was on the back of the room, on the opposite side of the open window. In the pile was a writing desk, a bed, small tables, several chairs, and a piece of weathered wood. -Rocco "We have just received word that the town guard is sending members to arrest the healers in the old quarter. Though the healers are formidable fighters, I'm not sure how well they could do against swordsmen. Could you and the shopkeeper warn them to prepare themselves?" -Archi Archi presents his two gold coins, and receives fifty loafs of bread and five pieces of meat. Archi also purchases a bedroll and gets nine silver pieces in change. (100 CP = 10 SP = 1 GP) The apothecary tells him that he always needs whistling mushrooms and brine kelp. He will pay 1 SP for a whistling mushroom, and 1 SP for each foot of brine kelp. However, two gold pieces and nine silver pieces isn't close to buying poison, of any decent quality. -Iey Basic Summary: Party walks down dirt road towards Avernum, which is the biggest town in the area. Party encounters fork. Ross, Icu, Edel, and some other people go down the left fork, while Rocco, Earth, and Kemios go down the right fork. After encountering bandits at the right fork, they continue until they reach an abandoned mine They are overpowered by bandits and robbed Meanwhile on the left fork, Ross and Icu try to get past the bear. Ross and Icu manage to get past, by sneaking through the brush. Nex gets his middle finger bitten off by the bear, and Edel gets attacked as well. Rocco "manages" to kill the bear, until it turns out it was already bleeding heavily from a battleaxe in its underbelly. The bear has a wounded cub, which Rocco takes with. Everyone reaches Avernum. Ross becomes the apprentice of an old adventuring wizard Rocco becomes the apprentice of a shopkeeper, who also happens to be skilled with the sword Nex and Rocco get healed by a cleric Rocco returns to get bear, which was leashed outside, but finds it missing. When asked, the guards tell him a druid took it into the forest Icu helps break up a bar fight Theros (Pieis) jumps into a peasant's house through a window and takes some food from a bewildered family eating dinner Theros is arrested for jumping on people's houses Edel is brought into the guard house, because he has decent clothes and could be mugged at night. -Next day- Town falconer has gone missing. House ransacked, and stuff in his house (explained in posts above). Lots of people go to help, but Edel tries to kill a guard. He is then knocked unconcious and marked as an outcast by a cleric, before being blown over the village walls into the forest by a wizard. ----- Red square = Horseheads inn Red dot = Falconer's house Brown square = Guard's post Yellow Dot = Retech's Adventurer's equipment emporium Green dot = Kemios' house Olive Green Dot = Cleric's house Light brown north of square = Town hall Light brown east of square = Guard's Headquarters This is just a rough sketch, and the dots don't have to be perfect. If anyone wants to make a new map that is nicer, then that would be welcome. Remember that the inn has to be on a road near the peasant's quarter, Falconer's house is on a road near the peasant's quarter, but not near the inn. Guard's post has to be around where it is. Adventuring equipment emporium has to be on the merchant square. Green dot has to be off the main roads, somewhere near the old quarter. Cleric's house has to be on the main road in the Old quarter. Town hall has to be where it is, and guard's headquarter has to be where it is.

-Ross After entering the guard's base, they give you some ID, before giving you directions to the Falconer's house in the peasant's quarter. -Kemios and Edel After signing the waivers, the guard's lead you to the falconer's house. It was much nicer than the other houses in the peasant's quarter. The door was slightly open and half off its hinges. -Nex The cleric gives Nex the signature, before he heads off to find a sound mage. Not a single one can be found. Meanwhile, the meeting has begun. "I call to attention the abduction of Dwight the falconer!" "Abduction? The last thing you told us was that he went missing." "I suspect a necromancer in our fair community. We must find the culprit!" "How do we do that? If necromancers could hide themselves up to now, how do we find them?" "Necromancers are wizards. That means that we can find them in the old quarter!" "Don't be so rash. Though wizards keep to themselves, we can root out the bad from the quarter ourselves." After some pointless arguing, Nex learns the location of the Falconer's house in the peasant's quarter. -Rocco "Yes, there was an open window on the second floor, on the front of the house. How does that have any relevance? No one could've gotten in from such a height!" ---- Night everyone. I'll respond to posts tomorrow. :thumbup:

Iron chainmail, iron shortsword, and a bronze helm. :lol: Roughly two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG-0_p_yefg&feature=related

(It's always more fun with background. Don't think I'm going to make this about mundane life, eh? :P) -Rocco Rocco is lead to a large oak tree near the town walls, where the rangers have called a meeting. "...and I suspect that a necromancer is involved in this situation." "Necromancers? What do the undead have to do with a ratcatcher." "The ratcatcher is a person, and necromancers need bodies. Enough said?" "Then why not use any other person? If they just abducted a random peasant, no one would have known!" The shopkeeper enters the ring and sits down. "Up to your accusations again, Charle? What is this I hear about a necromancer?" "Ah Vinius, good to see you! I wonder how the arms trade has been. Meet any interesting characters in the business?" "Actually, I just took on a new apprentice. His name is Rocco." "Ah yes, splendid. Back to the case at hand though. What we need to focus on are the facts. The ratcatcher is missing. His house was ransacked but his door showed no signs of forced entry. There were animal droppings all over the place, and bits of skin and flesh, which makes me think it's a necromancer which is doing the dirty work. What do you think Rocco?" -Pieis and Edel "First we have to ask you to sign these forms. It basically waives our responsibility incase you happen to lose any body parts on the mission." -Ares "Kemios. My name is Kemios." Ares arrives in the merchant's quarter. -Grim Grim starts walking to the old quarter, before he is stopped by a guard. “What is your business in this quarter? Only those who have been given permission may enter. Those that live here do not want to be disturbed.”

Quarries? Rivers? Bridges?

-Rocco As Rocco steps out of the house with the shopkeeper, a town crier in the main square informs everyone of terrible news. "Dwight the Falconer has gone missing from the town. His house, ransacked. Reward offered by town officials for information leading to him." The shopkeeper turns to Rocco. "Are you ready for your first mission?" -Edel "Well certainly. Just turn up at the guard post whenever the town bell is rung with your weapon. However, one of the falconers has recently gone missing. Perhaps you could find them?" -Pieis "You are free to go at any time. Just make sure not to do that again. We have some work to do. The town falconer has gone missing, with his house ransacked." -Ross "No, nothing at all." The wizard begins guiding you through the first arcane tome. It is nothing more than a children's book, but helps illustrate each of the arcane glyphs. After commiting a few to memory, a town crier is heard outside. "Dwight the Falconer has gone missing from the town. His house, ransacked. Reward offered by town officials for information leading to him." The old wizard immediately took notice, and grabbed his staff. "Actually, I do have something that needs to be done. The falconer seems to have gone missing and the city officials have offered a reward. Perhaps if we found then, I could persuade them to give me the keys to my old house. I have to meet with the city officials to use my magical talents to help them. Maybe you could go to the main guard headquarters in the merchant's quarter for more details?" -Nex "I receive my magic from the gods themselves, not the arcane winds that blow from them. If you seek magical training, I would suggest that you find a wizard in the old quarter to teach you. I must be off, as I have been summoned by the town officials."

If you switch to documentaries by the age of eight, you have nothing to worry about. Why not try the Simpsons? It's still relatively appropriate and still appeals to older people.

The next morning -Pieis Theros wakes up in a straw bed inside the guard house. His ankle is in a cast while his arm is in a sling. "We brought you here because it isn't safe on the streets. Also, you weren't exactly doing us a favor by jumping on walls and stealing food." -Rocco Rocco has porridge and tea with the shopkeeper and his wife for breakfast, before they get ready to go out. The shopkeeper attaches the sheath for his sword onto his suit, before asking. "Would you like to register at the ranger's camp or try some archery practice before you enlist?" -Ross Ares is awakened when he suddenly drops from the air onto cushions beneath him. They eat some magically conjured stew before he asks you. "So what would you like to learn first? Reading from arcane tomes or maybe trying out magic for yourself, outdoors?" -Edel The guard responds, "Well you could always enlist for the militia. If you can hold a weapon and protect this town, then that could provide some direction." -Nex He hands you a quill, a jar of ink, and a parchment.

-Pieis Theros accidentally falls, but manages to catch himself on a stall before smashing into the floor. He breaks his ankle, but is otherwise fine. The guards drag him to the guardhouse for the night. -Ross "Ah yes, an adventurer. I'd be glad to take you on as an apprentice, Ares. From what I've heard so far, you'd make a fine adventurer. But remember, when you are at the top of the world, remember that not everyone can be there. Don't abuse that power and privilege. It's getting late and I don't have any space for you to stay at the moment. Are you comfortable with being off the ground?" Without waiting for a reply, he waves his arms, levitating you in the middle of the room. He grabs a gem and places it on the ground beneath you, before putting out the candles and going to bed. "See you in the morning!" -Rocco "Yes, we stock arrows. For the moment, I'll give you stone arrows to use, but the ranger corps will supply you metal arrows when you join. Good night!" -Earth All the employers have already left for the day, so Earth huddles up near the other prospective employees and goes to sleep. Meanwhile, Edel is rounded up when he was sleeping and moved to the guard house for the night. ----- I have to go for about 40 minutes. When I return, it will be morning time. Start of a new day!

-Ross Ares hears several clicking noises before the door swings suddenly open. An old and frail man with discolored blue robes with silver trim and a pointed hat answers the door. He quickly ushers Ares into his small living room, which is covered in piles and piles of arcane tomes and runic text. After showing you to a seat, he mutters some incantations to lock the door again, before turning to you and smiling. "Why hello, so you are here for the position of apprentice! I had not been expecting visitors, so please pardon the mess. I need an apprentice because I've grown too old to sort through my old tomes and find magical ingredients. Back in the day, I used to be an adventurer, crawling around slimy dungeons and fighting dangerous beasts. I used to have hundreds of gold pieces, but I've spent them on arcane tomes and frivolous trinkets. Now I live in this small house that I owned when I first become a wizard. So, what is your goal under my tutelage, and what do you already know about magic? Keep in mind that my specialty was elemental magic, so I can't be teaching you anything beyond that." -Rocco "Great! I'll talk to the rangers tomorrow. Do you have anywhere to stay for the night? I have a guest room if you'd like, at least until I can prepare better accomadations!" -Pieis Two guards with pikes notice you jumping, and begin chasing you. -Edel After some walking, Edel enters the artisan quarters. The stalls seem to have packed up for the night, and the streets seem rather empty, except for several guards, who ask Edel what he is doing. ---- Night is falling, so last things before I fast forward to the next morning. :thumbup:

-Pieis The frightened family hands over a leg of chicken and a loaf of bread, before Theros hops out of the window. He lands safely on the ground. Thankfully, no one saw his little escapade. -Rocco "Well, lots of hunters who come into the town to sell their goods use archery often. If you wanted truly good archery instruction, you might want to go to one of the archery schools in the area, training soldiers for the ranger corps. It'd make you adventure through the woods if that's your thing. If you can be my part-time apprentice, helping me with certain tasks, I could recommend your name to the head rangers." -Edel Edel arrives in Avernum. There is an old restricted quarter if you take a right and the peasant's quarter if you take a left. Otherwise, taking a left and continuing past that will lead you to the merchantile and artisan's quarters.

-Rocco The shopkeeper greets you with a firm handshake. "Out a bit late, eh? The store is almost closed! Hmmm, iron battleaxe...medium quality. I'll give you five gold pieces for it. Is that fair?" -Pieis Theros expertly jumps into the open window of a peasant family eating dinner. They are incredibly startled, and the father rushes to find his weapon. +0.1 Acrobatics -Ross A glass orb floats over your head and begins glowing. It states clearly. "Please state name and purpose of visitation."