DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3Dc - Shop hopping (Jaliera & Davroar)

Jaliera

"Hi. Just had a thought. Is there a place or a person where one can find current local news?"

Jaliera Investigate
Gypsy rolled 1d20+5 and got 10

DM

The gnome doesn't provide any useful information. It's not that he's not chatty, he just has nothing new to offer or the things he thinks are important are only important to him. Having wandered through the fish market and made their purchases, Jaliera and Davroar's plans were to check out some of the establishments.

OOC: The roll was for this entire day. New circumstances may come into play later. What place on the map is next?

Jaliera

"Not the most talkative bunch are they?"

She speaks softly to Davroar as they move away. Although she thinks it was worth it, buying the potions has left a large dent in her finances. She considers the other shops.

"Maybe just take a look in the map shop?"

Davroar

"Sure. And maybe ask which explorer's they pay to update their maps."

Davroar figures if there is any explorer that lives here, perhaps he or she could have some valuable information.

Jaliera

"Yes, great idea. And if not, maybe we could apply?"

She grins at him and heads towards the map shop.

DM

The pair started walking by the shops that surrounded the market square, looking at the wares and seeing what's for sale, be it merchandise or information. They started their walk at the north of the square, right next to the building that they knew Arus and Bern had gone into, the Lionshield Coster. They could see that that building was abuzz with laborers loading and unloading crates from the caravan that they had escorted into town. The wagons had been parked outside the city overnight and must have entered in the morning.

Instead of going in there, they walked into the shop to the left of it. There were several stalls nearby, including the one where they had just purchased the healing potions and spell components from. The sign over the door read "Esklindrar's Maps, Books, and Folios". A bell hanging over the door threshold rang as they entered the dusty, musty old shop. At this hour of the morning, a dust-filled light beam that poured in from a skylight window splashed to the floor in the center of the store. Looking at the spot where the light landed, many footprints could be seen in the thick layer of dust that covered the floor. There were probably thousand of maps, books and scrolls that lined the shelves that were the walls of this establishment. A large desk and several tables had piles, upon piles of tomes and map scrolls stacked upon them so high that it seemed a single other scroll placed atop the heap would cause an avalanche of paper. The place looked and smelled old.

There was only one door in the entry room and it opened as the pair sauntered in. Through it an ancient man, hunched over, shambled through using a cane to help him walk. He was bald on top but his stringy white hair grew very long in the back. As he approached, he dug his shaky hand inside his ratty blue robe and pulled out a large lens which he used to look through and see his customers.

"Hello. Yes? What can I help you with?"

Davroar

"Morning", he says with a slight smile. Now seeing how old some of these maps and books might be, a line of questioning suddenly pops into his head.
"I'm wondering if you could help us. Would you have any old maps of this area and Triboar that might indicate giant kingdom's. You see a pair of giants dug up a strange thing right in the middle of Triboar and just wondering who's land it once was."

Jaliera

She looks at Davroar with admiration. What a good question!

She looks back at the old man and smiles.

"You remind me of my mentor Sir. He is a sage and knows so much."

Esklindrar

The old man shuffles further into the main room, "Ancient lore? That I can research for you. It will take some time...yes it will, and I can't guarantee that I will find your answers, but I am sure there are old maps of the Valley here," he says as he raises his cane and point to the thousands of scrolls and maps.

"And who is your mentor?" he asks, curious.

Jaliera

"Randal Stagg from Neverwinter sir."

She does not elaborate and does not expect this gentleman to know of him.

Davroar

He does not like the sound of the old mans comment about taking his time to find answers, so he asks, "Ah, just what do you figure? Time like. We talking sometime later today or tomorrow?"

Esklindrar

His reaction to the name Randal Stagg has him raising his eyebrows. Jaliera can tell OOC: Passive insight=12, DC=12 that the name did not land well on him. He has likely heard or seen the name before in a negative context.

"It shouldn't take too long, perhaps a day. And then there's the cost, 500 gold for my labors. So, which giant stronghold do you wish to find? Which ones dug something up?"

Davroar

"500 gold, for a possible answer", he says in a dead pan tone, then looks to Jaliera with a defeated look and adds, "Ah, guess that's not going to happen." After spending almost all of his gold on potions, Davroar figures they would have a hard time to convince the others to split the heavy price on a chance of gaining some information. Perhaps Jaliera has another idea, but it seems to Davroar there is nothing else here for them, judging by the amount of gold this old man wants.

Jaliera

She is so shocked by the amount he quotes that she totally misses his expression. And whilst Davroar retains his cool, she just stares dumbfounded.

Jaliera Passive insight
Gypsy rolled 1d20+2 and got 10

Davroar

Seeing that Jaliera is even more shocked as he is regarding the exorbitant price, he says, "Ah, sorry that's too much for us."

Going back to hio original question when they approached the building he asks further, "Do you employ local explorers or scouts to help you keep your information current?"

Davroar tries to put on a friendly face, hoping the old man is going to answer without another demand for money.

[OOC OK Ta ]

Jaliera

So people have heard of her mentor here? She wonders what he might have done to have caused this much of a negative ripple here. Of course the cartographer may have come from Neverwinter. It might be personal. Well at present best not increase any bad feelings. She keeps quiet but smiles, trying to put a good face on it.

Esklindrar
"I acquire books and tomes and pay for my information, as it comes," he says cheerfully. "And the gods often speak truths to me when I ask them a question."
OOC: He's a sage. Think of it as a specialty class of mage. There is a "Sage" background in D&D but there are also some homebrew attempts at creating a sage class. You can assume that he has divination type spells. And as for Jaliera's mentor being known here, remember that he is a sage

Davroar

"Really!" His tribal background shows up as he then rhetorically asks, "So you can talk to the gods like a shaman? Never knew one with so many books, I took you more as a normal scholar than anything else."

Esklindrar
"Yes. Oghma, specifically, if you are wondering. And if you are wondering about my reputation, you can inquire. I can see that finding your giants stronghold is too expensive or worth the price, but perhaps in the future those circumstances will change."

He turns to Jaliera now and says, "What do the Zhentarim want with giant strongholds?"

The tone with which he said Zhentarim was acerbic. It was clear that stating the name of her mentor triggered associations. Both Davroar and Jaliera were starting to realize that this was not just some librarian that tended a shop filled with dusty tomes and maps. This was a person that possessed a great deal of knowledge and access to much more of it.

Jaliera

"I am here with a mixed group of people. We were in Triboar when a large contingent of giants, orcs and other creatures attacked the town and dug up this metal object from the ground. They also attacked our caravan on the way here. So we are looking into a problem that is killing people in the hope of preventing more deaths and ensuring safe travel."

She pauses.

"And I expect the Zentarim want the same."

She is not apologetic, nor is she aggressive, just confident in who she is. She is glad though that she had already told Davroar.

Esklindrar

"I'm old. Very old. Old enough to remember the fall of Zhentil Keep. I remember dancing when that happened. Alustriel tells me that the Black Network is changing it's ways but my memory is short.


OOC: Two History rolls for both of Davroar and Jaliera. The first is to know about the fall of Zhentil Keep. Jaliera gets to roll that one at +5 and with advantage. The second is to know who Alustriel is. Jaliera rolls at +5. Davroar gets no adjustments, just to rolls of 1d20. The first history roll is DC 15. Your actual roll matters. The higher the roll the more detailed the answer. The second is a DC 12.

Davroar

He can obviously sense the old man's prejudices with the Zhentarim and perhaps Esklindrar has every right to them, but he is going to stand with Jaliera if the old man gets too belligerent.
For now Davroar will simply stand by and wait to hear what Jaliera has to say since he knows nothing at all about Zhentil Keep nor who Alustriel is.

Davroar History rolls
Dugan rolled 1d20,1d20 and got 10, 3

Jaliera

History rolls - definite success on the first, second is borderline..

Jaliera History roll 1 & 2
Gypsy rolled 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d20+5 and got 10, 20, 11

Jaliera

"You are indeed a venerable age and I can understand your views given that you remember that history taking place. I am only 16. And I respect your wisdom and views. But I cannot view things in the same light, only with regard to my own experience, even though that is pitiful compared with your own. I am not a bad person Sir, I would not do something I did not believe in."

She hopes that he might accept her words but does not hope out much hope. She is however respectful towards him.