War of the Wyrms: Accepting Players

[figment of mind]

Reggie looked at his Dwarven ally, then at the foreman. Sensing something between them he decided not to ask, besides, if he wanted Reggie to know Wulfstain would have told him.

He walked into the tavern and found Marisa talking with an elf, and he got over there just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation.

"So, I'm guessing you've had luck in finding someone to protect?"

Spoiler: Yay, i'm back...

and I'm pissed, perticularly at my neighbors. Turns out that comcast never turned off my cable and internet and instead, someone(my neighbors) stole it. Then, on the 19th, after comcast sent someone out to fix it, they stole it again, not ten mminutes after he fixed it and left! I swear, if they do this again, i'm going to take a pair of hedgeclippers and rip apart their damned cable with them.

 

[Higurashi]

Marisa leaned to Reggie and whispered. 'Mayhap. It depends on if he has valuable merchandise with which to attract the highwaymen.'

She turned back to the elf. 'Could be, good sir. We are only three', she gestured to the two paladins behind her, 'but all of us are trained in protecting others. What wares do you transport?'

 

[Dramatic Flare]

"I... I transport coal mostly. But I also transport other things... things I would tell you about if thievery wasn't as common from the supposed guards as it was the thieves." he stammers out.

 

[Higurashi]

Marisa smiled. 'Ah, I understand completely. We can escort you to the end of the mountain and through the forest, which is the main problem area. From there, it's open fields to the town. Minimum wage.. 50 silver a head. Sound good?'
She reached her hand out to the elf to shake on the agreement.

 

[Dramatic Flare]

The Elf thought for a noticeable span of time.
"Um... what sort of game are you trying to play here? I don't know of any mercenary company that would take this job for less than 10 gold apiece. I bet you're after my cargo. I'm not an idiot, see."

Spoiler: DM

The target is now extremely wary. Roll diplomacy, or bluff if you're thinkin' of nippin' the cargo on the route.
May seem like a bit of a curve ball, but the game is... dying. I'll try and make it a little more interesting here.

 

[Higurashi]

<spoiler=Roll>12+9 Diplomacy=21

Marisa scratches the back of her head.
'Not at all, sir. We're sent here by the church to solve the bandit problem around here, so any pay outside of that is just a bonus. That's why I can't really charge you that much for it. If I wanted to con you, I would charge a normal price so as not to attract more attention. If you want to pay us more, that's fine with me', she explains casually with a shrug.

 

[figment of mind]

Spoiler: Sorry bout that

I was waiting for you all to finish doing business before posting but i've just thought of something i can do while i wait.

As Marisa and the Elf talked, Reggie wandered outside to where wulfstain was at.

"Well, Marisa seems to have found us a merchant to hook up with so with luck we'll be out of here soon. Just need to let her convince him that we are trustworthy...Hey, Wulf, why don't you come into the bar, i'll but you a drink. I still have some money left and the glasses didn't look that dirty."

 

[Dramatic Flare]

The elf seems unconvinced, but after a moment's deliberation he nods.
"So you'll be gettin' off after the forests. Alright. Then we'll do half the normal price then. 5 gold a head."

 

[Combined]

"Hah! Now you're talking my language," Wolfstain says with a manic grin. "I like you more already."

He gave the foreman a strange look that seemed to say "I'm watching you," then picked up his heavy maul and placed it on his shoulder, ushering Reginald inside, following him closely and, once inside, immediately approaching the bar.

He really likes his ale, apparently.

 

[figment of mind]

Reggie laughed at the dwarf's comment(the friendish type) and walked up to the bar with Wulfstain and got a couple of glasses of ale for the two of them, leaving the coins on the bar for the bartender. He then handed one of them to Wulf and drank his own. As he drank he spied Marisa out of the corner of his eye.

"Wonder if she's fully convinced him yet?" he mused to himself after lowering his glass down some before resuming to drink.

 

[Higurashi]

Marisa smiled and shook the elf's hand. 'When will you be departing? We're ready anytime.'

 

[Dramatic Flare]

"Well, with your help, I suppose we can leave tomorrow morning, right at dawn," replies the elf.

 

[Higurashi]

'Splendid. Let me know if you need our services till then.'
With a grin, she marched up to Reggie and slapped him on the back before sitting down next to him.
'Alright lads, we have work tomorrow! Have to say, this guarding business pays well, even at half price. On the other hand, it could be a very low price for someone's life. Ah, what a strange world we live in, that people risk their lives for belongings.'

 

[figment of mind]

"Aye. A strange world we live in indeed..." Reggie said, looking at his now empty glass of ale with a frown. He looked over at Wulf to see if he had drained his glass yet and then looked back at his as he held it up to his face while tilting it so that the top was facing him.

"...But one i'd prefer as long as it keeps it's ale. The only better world would be one where your glass never runs out of ale and your pocket is always lined with money. Aye, and where bastards like him would just show up already so i can gut them..." The last part he muttered to himself, low enough for the others not to make out what he's saying.

He then put down his glass and looked at Marisa, getting over his contemplation mindset and adopting a more cheerful one. "So, anything we need to know about our employer?"

Spoiler

The sad thing is that i could easily picture Reggie contemplating about all means of alchohol and how it could improve the world.

 

[Higurashi]

Marisa shook her head. 'He's very cautious and isn't revealing anything. Either he's been robbed before or he's just scared from hearing about what's been going on here. I don't blame him if that's the case. Astounding that this gets to continue to this degree without anyone doing anything about it.' she said while stroking her chin in contemplation.

'Oh well.' Marisa looked at Reggie with a smile.
'I'm getting hungry, so I'm going to unpack some rations and remedy that. Then I plan to stir the pot a bit, talk to some people. We'd probably do best separated, so we can meet up here in the evening.' She got up with one hand supported on his shoulder, walked past and sat down at a table, unpacked some terrible military-grade rations and began devouring it with a healthy appetite.

 

[Combined]

Wulfstain drained his mug, burping afterward and covering his mouth with a crudely armoured hand. He blinked a few times as if he was attempting to find his bearings once more. "Right. That's quite nice, there."

He grins at the prospect of money and more ale, food and goods for himself. Overjoyed, he starts to hum a quiet, alluring melody. He interrupts himself for but a moment to speak - "I hope he pays up. Would be unfortunate that I'd have to force justice to happen."

He puffs slightly with slight anger and glances at the foreman through a lonely window. Clearly, he does not like other surface Dwarves.

 

[figment of mind]

"Eh, i don't really care if he's gonna pay us. Don't get me wrong, i'd like the money but if the bishop was right then whatever we loot from the lair will put what we get from our client to shame..." Reggie said, partly to himself and partly to his comrades. He then went and got some food for himself before returning to the spot he was once preoccupying.

As he ate he noticed Wulf glacning angrily out the window at the foreman again. Reggie, being both interested and...concerned about what his friend may try to do(espesially since it would probably drag him into it), decided to ask, "Want to tell me why you keep glaring at him? What, did he wrong you in the past or something?"

 

[Higurashi]

Marisa observed the patrons in the corner of her eye as she ate. The mood was pretty rotten, and there was no lively conversation going on in there. She was a person who was used to just taking care of herself, and wouldn't be able to stir the crowd for any purposes, so she decided to aim for the tough guys in the back.

She got up and walked along the wall so as not to attract unnecessary attention, and nodded to the dragonborn as she approached them, but stayed at a respectable distance as the humans looked protective.
'Marisa, paladin. Rooting out bandits. Could I have a minute of your time, sir?'

 

[Dramatic Flare]

The dragonborn glares at the Paladin. "Another one of you religious types. Look, I don't care what you're taught. We're from Arkel to do business, not steal your damn valuables. You all seem to think every damn dragonborn in this country is a thief and a liar and I can't have decent beer without someone trying to figure out where my nonexistent hideout is, or maybe if I'm the contact for the thieves. Not that any of the damn thieves would trust me either."
One of the humans softens a little. "Rhokesh..." he begins, looking at the dragonborn.
"No. Screw it. You can't have a minute of my time; just let me drink my damn drink in peace."

 

[Combined]

"It's a dwarven thing," he replies with a stiff glare at the other dwarf, before turning back to his empty mug. "Surfacers aren't particularly well-liked where I come from," he continues.

His attention is immediately caught by the dragonborn and he grins, observing the situation and hoping that it will escalate. "Seems promising..." he mumbles to himself, his grin widening.