DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games LMP: Lost Mines of Phandelver N-3.1.1 The Old Owl Well

Jaliera

She is thinking whilst she stands guard. Thinking about the smell of death. She wonders if zombies always smell that bad or whether it is that they are in fact the prospectors. She doesn't think it likely that the wizard would have travelled with his entourage.

She recalls the sight of the zombies, trying to see if she remembers any details that might support or deny her theory.

[Iirc the reports of Old Owl Well came from the prospectors themselves, who'd been chased away by the zombies.]

[OOC Thanks! ]

Wizard

He looked over at the dragonborn and answered,
"I see."

Then he added, "At least you come with a reasonable request for information and a legitimate trade offer. Of course, that is nothing I have any need for."

ooc: I can tell that you think that it's about you gaining important information about the dwarves here but it's not the mission. You might gain information as a by-product but the objective is to return to Phandelin with answer to the Daran Eldermath's questions:

Quote:

If you would visit the ruins and find out who's there and what they are up to, it would be greatly appreciated."

Davroar

It seems there is no small animals about to query and when the wizard declines Kriv's offer, Davroar will approach closer to bluntly ask in a even tone, "I'm Davroar, a druid. What's your name, sir, and ah, how long you planning to be here?"

Wizard

"Hmmmm. I suppose that you are curious and I can appreciate curiosity. My business is my business. I will be here a while. It's only fair that we exchange names first. That would be proper, wouldn't it? My name is Kost and I would be open to a barter with you. Would you be willing to do some some favors for me in return for the information? "

Davroar

He looks to Kriv first to make sure he is not going to get angry at him for jumping into the conversation like this as he replies with a hint of distaste in his voice, "Sir Kost, I'm not likely to do any favors for someone that controls dead bodies, unless my companions can convince me otherwise..."

Davroar will look to Kriv and wait to see what he has to says about doing favors for the wizard.

Kriv

It would be too much to ask, given Davroar's proclivities, but a third option presented itself. The Dragonborn counter-offered,

"Kriv Norixius. Whilst I may well be willing, it would be an uphill struggle to convince my colleagues. Not impossible, I'll grant you, but let us see what else may be done. I'm certain we can come to an arrangement one way or the other. Can I interest you in the location of a strongly rumoured powerful source of magic dating back to old Netheril, in exchange for information as to your intentions here?"

Kallista

Wizards dealing with Undead do not bother her as much as Davroar, and if dealing with this one will gain them more than fighting him, she has no objections. However killing him and taking everything he has doesn't really bother her either so she waits and listens, making sure to put a little bit of distance between her and the others. No reason for them to all clump up together and make a tempting target for a spell.

She does chime in in reply, "My name is Kallista. Interesting choice of companions you have."

She pauses, then adds, "I don't speak for the others, but it seems to me that doing favors in exchange for the answer to a simple question is a bit of a lopsided exchange."

Jaliera

The tone of the exchange seems to be changing. He does seem very secretive, not very cooperative. This could all go very wrong, very quickly.

She has already hung back from the others. She knows that wizards can be dangerous. Certainly the one they had to deal with recently was quite a handful. But a well aimed arrow could disrupt a spell. She prepares subtly.. just in case.

Chandan

Scouting around the ruins across from the pavilion, companions in sight, Chandan stops midstride, squatting suddenly and narrowly eyeing the stone.

He sniffs it, then leans forwards and licks it.

Chandan nods and stands back up.

"Stone." He says and continues, making his way over to Jaliera.

He plants his spear and leans on the haft.

"Wizard cannot tell us anything useful. He new around here. Either he not know about orcs at Wyvern Tor, or he too proud to admit they a threat.

"If he had enough gold to pay them off -- they orcs -- they just storm in here, kill him, take it anyway. Zombies not threat to band of orcs.

"If he powerful enough to chase them off, he easily chase us off too. Instead he halt zombie attack to talk." The old monk says to the girl conversationally.

"I think he secretive scholar type from foreign land, with high opinion of himself."

Jaliera

She glances at Chandan, a brief smile in his direction but her attention immediately returns to the topic of Chandan's conversation.

"Yes, could be. And I agree, likely to be dangerous. Stay ready."

Kost

The wizard listens to Kalista while watching the monk and his antics. A positive for the group is that wizard shakes his head, realizing that Chandan is insane and that he was obviously took on the role of spokesperson because he was the most expendable member of the group.

"You are so ready to dismiss my requests, without hearing them. That is either a negotiating tactic or an outright dismissal of what I want. Information is more valuable than gold. I do not give it away freely. I am going to give you the benefit of doubt and assume that you were just negotiating."

"As for my companions, they are not friends. They came to kill me. I just don't like waste. They now serve a purpose, even in death."

Kriv

He nodded in understanding: Efficient resource management was a logical solution, and turning attackers into guards had a useful deterrent factor both in being and in execution.

"I would not say we were overly dismissive: There is a clear will to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement here. As you say, information holds great value, thus an offer of the one for the other seemed the most equitable of all, a like for like exchange. I am something of a scholar myself, so I am aware full well how precious hard-won information can be. I would not think to devalue yours, nor would I expect our own to be undercosted. By all means, expound upon your offer as you would wish, provided that in doing so there is no offence taken if the negotiations lead to alternate paths, nor a dismissal of said alternatives outright. It behooves us all to keep our options open at this stage."

Kost

"Ah. That is all that I ask. You have not come to me with a threatening attitude like they did," he says glancing towards the tower and the zombies, "so I am willing to work with you."

"There are two things. First, I keep getting interrupted by the orcs. Your baffoon was correct in his assessment, they are a nuisance and I am too busy at the moment to perform the necessary cleansing. It seems you were going to undertake that effort regardless of whether I asked for it or not, but I am asking now. I gave you my name already, for free. Having and knowing a name is, in itself, a powerful tool."

"The second thing I ask for is simply an exchange of information for information. You are unlikely to have the answer I seek now but I know where you may obtain it."

"I need to learn the name of the wizard that built this tower. As I said, there is power in knowing a name. There is only one that has the answer and her name is Agatha. She is a woeful creature that refuses to pass from this world. She knows this answer and it is what I need. I simply ask you to ask it of her and give it to me."

Davroar

He is slightly relieved that Kost does not seem to be a true necromancer of the sort that actually animated the dead bodies, but rather just turned them to his own use.

Some of the bigger words spoken between Kriv and Kost are lost on him, but understands that a deal is still possible, so he asks the obvious question, "Who and what is Agatha? Is she nearby?"

Jaliera

She listens intently from her over-watch position. Good ploy by Davroar pretending to know nothing of Agatha. They were asked to look into a banshee called Agatha.. probably one and the same.

She stays alert, her recent experiences of wizards making her very cautious.

Kriv

"Correct me if I am wrong, but your exact phrase was 'It is only fair that we exchange names first', rather than doing so freely. Indeed, we repaid you in kind, you have my name and that of my colleague here,"

He indicated Kallista with a magnanimous sweep, then dismissively jerked a taloned thumb over his shoulder back at Chandan,

"And that one's name was also spoken in your presence. I fully accept and appreciate that names have great value and power, but a three for one exchange is already an excellent trade on your side, is it not? As you have surmised, it is likely that we will engage in pest control in a mutually beneficial manner from which your gains will be pleasantly incidental, but given the establishment of the value of our names earlier, it would clutter up the metaphorical ledger to assign it a new value here. Rest assured that the matter in question will be resolved to both our benefit, but we recognise your name has greater value than the relatively inconsequential happy convergence of our interests, a value already matched on an equitable like for like basis."

He paused, and considered Davroar's question, although the coincidence of names with their prior assignment may well point in the same direction.

"I concur with my colleague on the necessity of knowing with whom and what we will be dealing with. Trading with a shopkeep named Agatha would require a different preparation to wresting the knowledge from a dragon named Agatha, thus for the successful completion of this request, which otherwise seems entirely reasonable and amenable, that information would seem a prerequisite."

Jaliera

**Kriv does like to talk.. but probably a good job someone does!**

Kallista

She listens intently. Kriv and Davroar's questions are valid, although she does have an idea of who or what Agatha is from the general description Kost had already provided. Still that description covers a lot of ground.

Kost

"So far you have been forthright and fair to deal with. If you are asking about Agatha's nature, that I will share with you. I did not elaborate on her nature because I was not sure that you would understand. But you ask and since it could help you obtain the information that I desire, it behooves me to pass on what I know about her - to help you succeed in obtaining said information. That information is very important to me and I hope to establish a verbal contract with you for it and hope that you do."

"Agatha is a banshee, a spiteful creature formed from the spirit of a female elf. You will recognize her as a luminous, wispy form that vaguely recalls her mortal features from long ago. She was once beautiful, but in life she did not use her beauty to bring joy to the world. Instead, she used her gift to corrupt and control others. She was therefore cursed and is no longer can experience joy or gladness. Her mind and body decayed over time until she became what she is today, a creature that is dead but still lives. She is bound to the place where she perished, while she can move around the area, it is limited. Each day she recalls every moment of her life with perfect recall but her corruption is so complete that she cannot see or accept responsibilities for anything that she did."

"Agatha is very vain and that is important to know. Flattery will stay her hand and bribery might win her over. She covets beautiful objects but be careful not to let her see her own reflection which will send her into a rage. She despises what she has become and that would surely make her wail. If you've ever heard about banshees before today, chances are that all you know about them is that if you hear a banshee wail, it is the last sound you will hear alive."

"I hope that is sufficient information to help you succeed in your task. If you agree to do this for me, I will reciprocate with the answer to you question about what I am doing here. Are the terms agreeable?"

Kriv

So, it was the same target. Another two birds with one stone opportunity, another step closer to fulfilling their obligations, and hopefully drawing closer to Gundren.

"I am happy to proceed, unless my colleagues wish to give voice to an objection..?"

Davorar

Not wanting to muddle up what Kriv has accomplished with what appears to be a good working relationship with Kost, Davroar will simply nod and say, "No, I'm okay with this..."

The trick will be to find something that a banshee wants. So far to Davroar, it seems like they are going one step forward and then two back.