DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 2b - Triboar Attack Aftermath

Jaliera

She looks at Zhu.

"No, I don't believe in coincidences either."

Good question from Davroar. They might learn more this way.

She looks over at Sindar. She had thought last night that she had seen him before. Now she is sure of it. She just needs to remember when. Then she realises she is staring.

Sindar

If he noticed her staring, he didn't make an obvious sign. Maybe he was concerned about her feelings, but he did turn enough so that she might see the scar on his cheek.

Arus

Arus isn't a long-time resident of Triboar, the Savage Frontier or land in general, so he has nothing to contribute to their threadbare intelligence. In his role, he tends to rely on allies feeding him intelligence so that he can action it in the name of the Protectorate.

"So we need a loremaster who knows the history of Triboar and the surrounds." He says, more or less repeating Davroar's notion.

"Darathra Shendrel, any suggestion where we might find such a one?"

She's the town's overlord, presumably she'd know and presumably want to share. It's not as if she can despatch the Twelve to pursue this affair, they're clearly needed to defend the town.

DM

When Davroar asked about dwarves, the smithy glared at him and said, "Am I not a dwarf?"

Darathra replied to him immediately, "I am sure that he meant another dwarf, that was here before you."

She then replied to Davroar, "None that would have the knowledge you seek." From the observations, there were a few half elves, elves that were part of the caravan guards and Ghelrin the dwarf in town.

Then Arus offered that they need a loremaster and she replied, "I do not know everything but I doubt that there is anyone around here that knows more about Triboar than I. That is not a boast, but it is my job to know. We here are ranchers and farmers. Triboar is lucky to be at the center of trade routes. Although it is unlikely that answers lie here, perhaps there is more to be learned here that could eventually lead to those answers?"

"It also strikes me as odd that fire giants would attack here, deep into the Dessarin Valley, without me receiving any forewarning. Have any at this table heard any rumors about giants before today?"

<Bern>

"Just a =bit= of a correction", he offered looking at Darathara. "The giants were =not= 'attacking you'. They were 'retrieving and item'. Now ... depending on what the item is, that could make matters more ... or less ... important ... or desperate ... or whatever."

MikeD

Kriv

Humans.

“Bern...” Kriv interjected, his tone weary. How to get into their indignant, on-edge companion’s head that unleashing shock troops, cavalry and arsonists on a town very definitely constituted an attack, that a great many people in this room had seen livelihoods destroyed, property damaged and friends slaughtered earlier today? If the locals took offense at his choice of words, it could be damaging to their prospects. So, first a diplomatic tone, then getting the conversation back on track.

“The attack by the giants was indeed cover for robbery, but that does not diminish that it was an assault on this town that has left scars here that will take a long time to heal, if at all. Getting back to the question in hand, and in full awareness of the weight and consequence of these words... I have heard that giants are acting against, targeting and killing those who profess affiliation to the Lord’s Alliance, in particular their agents.”

<Bern>

He just shrugged in response to Kriv's 'rebuttal'.

It now seemed clear that no one wanted to hear from him so he would not bother to 'distract' them with his useless ... at least in their opinion ... observations in the future.

Davroar

"Oh, well. Just a thought." he responds back to Darathra. He does give a slight nod to the smithy and also adds, "I meant no disrespect sir."

Remembering what Reidoth had asked of both him and Bern, Davroar speaks up.

"Kriv, when I was talking with Reidoth earlier, he told me before we left that he sensed an 'imbalance' in nature. He wasn't very specific about it though. It may not be just directed to those of the Lord's Alliance, but all of us."

DM

Darathra couldn't contain a tiny gasp of shock. It was as she feared.

"If there was doubt, Kriv, now there is proof. Indeed it was an attack, but I understand Bern. It wasn't a random attack. The attack appears to be more of a distraction. Whatever that big piece of metal was, they came her for that. Had they wanted to destroy the town, there would have been a dozen of them. The orcs and fire creatures were distractions and living shields. As soon as the item was retrieved, they were gone."

"I agree with Davroar. This is bigger than Triboar," Urgala added. "This could impact the entire valley. What happened here should not happen again. Word must get out about this."

Darz, the campground caretaker added, "You have worked well with Urlam recently. I know it was hard for you to deal with the Zhent but he was a hero and fought to defeat the armies of the Dragon Cult. He will not be happy about you not bringing him here to talk about this. I think we will need his mercenaries."

To which Darathra responds, "He died on the battlefield today and needs time to recover. But yes, someone will need to talk to him. He may have already learned things from his men."

<Bern>

"It seems to me that the key to 'getting in front' of this is to figure out what they 'retrieved', how they knew it was here and if there is anything else ... it did not look like a complete item, more like the part of something ... where would those other parts be."

Kriv

Nodding in the human manner to Bern, he picked up the thread,

"I was close enough for a good look at it, let me see how well I can describe what I saw..."

The Scholar went into as much detail as he was able. He'd almost been killed in the course of getting that close, but hopefully it would prove worth that cost.

DM

And so Kriv went on to describe the item...

"It was a broken piece of metal, black as night, bent and twisted into a rough, semi-circle. It was thick as a young human's forearm and it seemed twice as long as a human is tall. It was heavy, even for a giant."

OOC: 11 feet long, 2 inches thick

To which Ghelryn Foehammer simply replied, "Adamantine."

Darathra frowned. "I have no knowledge of such an item."

"Might I offer an idea? My colleague in Yartar, Aldis Graywind, might have some information," Narth Tezrin, the proprietor of the Lion's Share offered. "Arus here knows him. He runs the main location of the Lionshield Coster in Yartar. He always keeps his ears open for information about strange items."

"Great. Do we need to trust someone in Yartar now?" Darz Helgar said with a mild look of disdain.

"You are not even from Triboar, Darz. It did not take you long to develop an envy of Yartar," Darathra interrupted. "Whether you or anyone in Triboar cares, they need to be warned about the giants and word has to spread from there. If the fire giants are up to something and risked their lives to retrieve this thing, it could be very bad."

Zhu

She nods agreement with Daratha's last statement. She doesn't know if the item was indeed Adamantine, though she trusts that the Dwarf would, however she does know that like Mithril, Adamantine is a special metal that is more effectively used in creating items of magic.

But Daratha is correct. If this is not an isolated incident, the other towns in the area need to be warned.

Jaliera

She thinks about the item but nothing comes to mind about what it might be.

"Do we know where the giants might have come from?"

Surely nothing that big could hide. Someone is bound to have seen them.

"They came in from the north I think."

Darathra

"As I said, it is surprising they were here at all, this far into the Dessarin Valley. The valley is surrounded by hills and mountains. Here, let me show you."

She unfurls one of the scrolls that lays on the table

"Look. There's the Sumber Hills to the south, the Dessarin hills to the west, Phandelin is at the foothills of the Sword Mountains to the east and southeast, the Surbrin hills are to the north east and the Starmetal Hills to the north west. The giants could have come from anywhere, but it would sure be good to know."

<Bern>

He listened to the 'presentation'. He looked at the map, he considered the 'arguments'. But it was not convincing. Never to be one to 'hold his tongue, he 'injected' his opinion.

"I do not think that we should use what the giants did as an indicator. They wanted that 'item', that much is clear. But there is too much that =we= do not know as to what that was about. However, it =is= clear that there is something more going on. But", he said with a glance to Darathra, "if =you= do =not= care, that is fine. But we will continue on our own ... if that is what we have to do."

Arus

"Aldis is well connected and does business across the Frontier." He says, nodding to Narth.

"The arms trade brings him into contact with the best and worst of people. And Yartar itself has as seedier an underbelly as any I have seen."

The triton crosses his arms across his chest.

"Aldis. Yartar. It would be a good place to start." He says to the assembled adventurers.

Arus is decided.

"I shall go. Is anyone with me?"

Darathra

The hostility from the one that called himself Bern was troublesome. He came here as an accused. She had given him the benefit of doubt. Now was being belligerent. She chose to ignore the outburst that she took as an insult. Instead, she replied to the triton.

"As you might have sensed, there is enmity between people from Yartar and Triboar, but some answers may indeed lie there. But word must get out."

She turns to speak to Sindar. She and the bard had spent the better part of the morning together and they appeared to be colleagues of some sort. "You were heading in that direction, were you not?"

Jaliera

She is sure Bern is not himself. He is not usually aggressive.

Maybe he is not himself? Maybe this =is= the doppleganger?

She decides to watch him more closely. Perhaps Davroar could scent him?

Zhu

She waits for the others to answer. She has her own mission, which heading off with Arus and Sindar would be better aligned, but she told the others she'd help them track down the Doppelganger, so if they choose to go another way she'd be obliged, at least for now, to go with them.

Sindar

"I am quite interested in what has precepted the giant's actions. I would certainly be willing to accompany those interested in traveling to Yartar and investigating. It would be my honor to assist," he nods to the Protector at the suggestion.

DM

Narth looks towards Darz and asks pointedly, "Where did you say that the one who looked like Bern, the doppleganger, was heading?"

"Yartar," the campground caretaker said. "Two days ago. I had a rather heated discussion with him before he left. I saw him leave and I made sure he was gone. He was in an unsavory mood. I kept my eye on him even as I kept my distance."

Kriv

There it was again. As much as he prejudged humans and did not think highly of them, there was that hostile tone from Bern, both out of place and unusual for what he’d seen of the man over the course of their association. Here he was, suspicion of the doppelgänger wearing his face rampant, yet it seemed he was going out of his way to insult and aggravate those who were on the same side, who had fought with them against the giants and had invited them to share counsel here. If he wasn’t the doppelgänger, he was doing a surprising amount of work that the impostor would be very happy with.

He glanced around at the other members of their party, to see if anyone else was picking up on it. Once Darth had confirmed the actual doppelgänger’s disposition, he affirmed,

“Then it seems, regardless of any connection between the giants and the doppelgänger, that our interests coincide, and we are best served by working together, going on to Yartar.”

Arus

"Then it looks like all our roads lead to Yartar." He says.

The doppelganger could have lied to Darz the groundsman, although the best lies have a kernel of truth.

Or Darz could actually be the doppelganger, trying to get rid of them.

Ultimately Arus doesn't know Darz. He fought in the battle only an hour or so ago, and his fellow townsfolk vouch for him.

Likewise, Arus has no doppelganger suspicions about Bern.

Bern had fought bravely during the battle, showing himself to be a formidable bowman. None of Bern's companions has commented on this, so presumably they expected it. So unless a doppelganger can imitate a Bern's honed archery skills too, this is the real Bern standing before them. He's hardly been out of sight since the battle an hour or so ago.

The man had been more amiable over a pint of ale, true, but who wasn't. He also hadn't responded to Arus's quip about owing him a drink, but that's not unusual the day after.

If Arus has one suspicion about Bern, it's that he might be one of those fellows who doesn't loosen up until they've had some liquid refreshment.

He places a steady hand on Bern's shoulder.

"Come Bern. Let us pursue this doppelganger that vexes thee and carve thine initials on its brow."

<Bern>

He sighs as his attention focuses on Arus and his comment. He gave him a smile and a nod. "Good plan", he said.