[IC] Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia rubbed the back of her head at the thanks given. She accepted the pay given to her, as well as the pay that Buddy was handing her. She pocketed the money. She answered Ferric with a smile, “We’ll definitely stop by the shop! Take care, you two!”

She then looked to her friends and suggested to them, “I think we should get to the Silver Stag. After we pay for our lodgings, we can talk about what to do next,” She then led the way to the inn.

[Lucius Cypher]

"Alright. Let's just hope it's not as loud as Shor says it is." Pylia says quietly. After gathering their belongings from the wagon the party would continue onward towards the Silver Stag. Almost immediately after you step into the market district, people called out to you to sell their wares. Fancy clothing, snacks, tools, and other knick-knacks. Some people were trying to sell you sand dials, others were selling folding razors, there was even one trying to sell you a chair. Pylia however made sure to push you onward and keep the merchants off of the group, in particular wrangling Shortfang whenever he was about to reach for his coin purse and impulse buy something shiny that caught his eye.

Finding the Silver Stag was easy enough thanks to it's large wooden sign; it had the silver colored buck on it. It was nearly noon, so there were only a few patrons, however the ones who were here were gruff looking strong types who were already drinking and eating. Unlike Rick's humble inn in Cassari, this place was much more boisterous and also had barmaids serving food and drink. There was a notice board near the entrance with various bounties and requests, much like the one back at Cassari's inn. Aside the bar maids and the patrons, there was a heavily scarred orcish man working in the kitchen very fervently with a strange looking elvish woman. Another, more conventionally pretty elven woman stood behind a bar cleaning mugs and serving drinks. Pylia looked towards you. "Perhaps we should talk to the barkeeper for a room?"

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia chuckled hesitantly at Pylia's quiet comment. That's right...She forgot that Pylia didn't like loud noises. She reassured Pylia, "Maybe we can find earplugs for you today," She then made the way through the bazaar, politely declining the merchants who were trying to sell them stuff, with numerous "No thank you," "Sorry," "Gotta go!" She was grateful that Pylia was there to keep pushing her along, and she helped make sure that Shortfang did not impulse buy anything.

Once they reached the Silver Stag, she led the way inside. After taking a good look around, she spotted the elven woman behind the bar. After hearing Pylia's suggestion, Sylvia nodded in agreement and stated "Sounds good. Let's try talking to her," She then led the way up to the barkeeper and she greeted politely, "Uh, Hello! We'd like to purchase, uh..." She looked at the four of them before continuing, "Two rooms for the night? How much would that be?"

[Lucius Cypher]

The elven woman looks over to you with a smile. “For two basic rooms it’ll be five silvers each, so one gold total. The basic rooms have two single beds, locks on the doors, a desk and a locked box for safe keeping. From the looks of it you’re adventurers yes? We do have a shared quarters also for one gold. There are two bunk bed, as well as a larger table area, a fire pit, and even a water closet. This room also comes with a secure door and locked chest and wardrobe.”

Shortfang tugged on your sleeve as he held out a coin. “Shortfang pay! Shortfang use money for first time “

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

When the barkeeper asked if they were adventurers, Sylvia nodded yes in response. After the barkeeper mentioned the shared room, Sylvia answered her, "That sounds like a better option for us. We'll take the shared room, thank you!" She looked to Shortfang when he tugged on her sleeve and she smiled when he eagerly said he wanted to pay, much like a child who was paying for something for the first time. It was kinda cute. She answered Shortfang, "Thank you, Shortfang," She lets Shortfang pay for the room.

[Lucius Cypher]

Shortfang happily took the coin and put it onto the counter, which the elven woman took without a fuss before handing him a key. “Your room is just down that hall, number five. Kitchen closes at midnight. Is there anything else we can get for you? Anything to eat or drink?” The woman handed you a rather thick menu with very well illustrated pictures of food. Unlike the one in Cassari, these meals looked quite complex and appetizing, but also expensive. The cheapest meal was a roasted beast sandwich for seven silver!

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia accepted the menu and looked through the menu. Wow, the dishes looked good, but they were expensive! She wondered if she could replicate the recipes on the road if she tasted them here. That would probably be a challenge though. She answered the barkeeper, considering the group just ate before entering Gransys, “I think I’m good for now. Unless...you guys want anything?” She asked the last question to Pylia and Shortfang.

After they answered, Sylvia decided to head towards room 5. She was hoping to talk to Shortfang about his dream about the black dragon as well as their next plans.

[Lucius Cypher]

"I'm not hungry right now." Pylia replied. Shortfang however looked at the menu and took out two gold coins. "Shortfang want these things! The soupy thing and the meaty thing!" The order would be finished in about ten minutes, and they'll deliver it to your room. With that business done the group head to room five. The door was of solid oak, with a iron five nailed onto it's surface. The door had a padlock that opened with your key.

Once you opened the door you'd see a quite hovel area. On the farside of the room was two set of bunkbeds, fitted with box-like frames with hay-stuffed mattresses. The pillows were made of and stuffed with cotton, and the blankets were simply cotton sheets. There was a window between the two mattresses with wooden shutters, kept closed with a simple wooden bar. Between the beds and the entrance was a firepit off to the side underneath a chimney of sorts. There were a few logs stacked up nearby presumably to fuel a fire, and on the opposite side of the fire pit was a large table with two benches, one on each side. As you moved into the room on your immediate left was a built-in closet with another padlock which your key opened, and inside that was a sizable space to store weapons, outfits, and other items, as well as yet another padlocked compartment inside of that, which was already unlocked. Inside of this compartment were two sets of keys that unlocked the padlock to the safe. To the right of the entrance was the water closet, which consisted of a small room with a large barrel of water and a bucket. The bucket itself was covering a hole that presumably led to the sewers, given it's rather ghastly scent.

Pylia immediately headed to a bed, taking off her armor and other supplies to fall face first into the mattress. "Aaaaaaaah, I miss having a nice mattress! Of all the things I wish i could've saved from my home, I had this wonderful fur bedding that made it so easy for me to sleep..." Shortfang explored the water closet, opening the barrel and splashing it around. It was notable dark in there, as there were no windows. "We do poopy here?" Shortfang wondered curiously as he covered his nose. Buddy simply stood off to the side of the entrance, waiting to see what you'd want to do next.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia raised an eyebrow at Shortfang’s order for food. Was he that hungry, or did he just want to spend the gold on food?
Either way she didn’t ask, and instead led everyone to the room. Sylvia has to admit, the room was nice. However she was somewhatembarrassed to find that a water closet was not a shower nor a place to bathe like she had thought. It was a bathroom...

After taking in the room, she watched as Pylia rested on a nearby bed. Hearing her talk about her own mattress reminded Sylvia of the beds back home...

Before that thought continued, she commented, “It’ll be nice to sleep here. I call top bunk!” She added the last statement smiling.

She looked to Shortfang to find that he was...investigating the water closet. She answered him awkwardly,”Yes, uh....Shortfang, why don’t you come out of there, I’ve got some questions for you,” There was never a better time to start the conversation than now.

Once he was out of there, she asked him, “Shortfang, you had the dragon dream as well, right? Could you tell me what you saw? Maybe where he was headed, or what he was doing? My dream only showed the dragon flying above the ocean,”

[Lucius Cypher]

Closing the door Shortfang joined you outside of the water closet. "Shortfang remember not much. Kalmeet on black mountain, roar loud, breath fire. Shortfang see all kobold tribe with weapons ready for war. But Shortfang not see his tribe, his people, and Shortfang scared. When Shortfang wake up, he talk to elder, who say this good thing; Calamity Dragon return mean kobold become new rulers. But Shortfang talk to pa, say no good thing, Kalmeet kill everyone. No care for kobold. Talk more, but... In end, Shortfang leave. He no know what Calamity Dragon want, but not good." Shortfang said as he sat on the benches. "Shortfang leave to humie lands, try find other tribes. See if they have dragon dream. Hmm... Shortfang know kobold tribe here, in Gransys. Greenscale tribe called Sewer Dragons. Maybe they have dragon dream too. Go see, yeah?"

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia listened as Shortfang answered her question and explained what his elder's and father's thoughts were. After he mentioned that there was a tribe of green scaled kobolds called the Sewer Dragons, Sylvia had a pretty good guess that they were probably dwelling somewhere in the sewers of Gransys. That thought just made her glance towards the water closet.

She looked back to Shortfang and she answered "It couldn't hurt to check and see if they had any premonitions," She also mentally added that going to see the tribe might allow them to prevent them from being tricked by the dragon...
She then added thoughtfully, "We'll also need to keep an eye and ear out for anyone else who might have had dreams about the black dragon while we're here as well,"

She couldn't help but think about the events thus far. With Shortfang's dream, Sylvia was sure that nothing was a coincidental about this. Shortfang was guided to this area by his dream, and she was guided to him by...that hunter with Jackson. Recalling the mission in catching Garruk, Sylvia looked to Pylia, and she asked "That's right...Pylia, quick question. Is it normal for dogs to be able to roar here...?"

[Lucius Cypher]

“Mhmm. Shortfang go see, know if Shortfang no go, Kobold hide from humies.” As he said this there was a knock on the door. A female voice called out saying it was their lunch, to which Shortfang gleefully hopped out from the bench to go receive. Meanwhile Pylia rolled over on her bed and looked at you. “Roaring dogs? I... Can’t say that’s normal. Do you mean howl? Like wolves? Because howling is pretty normal for dogs.”

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia shook her head and answered, “Nope. It definitely wasn’t a howl. That dog from the first camp, Jackson, practically roared in Garruk’s face,” She then added, “Just thought I’d check, since I had seen some animals that are different from the ones back home,” Sylvia was left with more questions now. Was she going to encounter the hunter again in the future?

She then asked Pylia and Buddy curiously, “Was there anything you two wanted to do in Gransys? We do have some time,”

[Lucius Cypher]

“Roaring dogs?” Pylia pondered this got a while before snapping out of it. “Well, as much as I detest the church, we could try and head to the temple in the city to see if they know anything about the dragon. If Shor and his men know about dragon cult activities, I’m sure those bigwigs know more about the beast themselves.” As for Buddy he just shrugged. Seems that he was up for anything. As for Shortfang he chowed down on some tasty looking bean soup, along with stuffed pork buns. The food was still very hot however, and he burns his tongue eating them so quickly.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia nodded in agreement with Pylia, and commented, “That’s right...! I couldn’t get any information about the dragon back in Cassari unless I joined the clergy. Maybe you’ll have better luck! And if they won’t tell us, then we can still ask Erod when I go to talk to him,”

She looked to Buddy only to see him shrug. She got the message that he was up for anything.

She planned out loud, “Okay. So we’ll need to find the Sewer Dragons, go to the church, and I’d like to help out Gransys, since Shor and the guard seem to have some problems, while making time to enjoy the festival before Erod comes back. A fortnight is about a week...I think. So, that might be enough time to get all of that done. How does that sound guys?”

[Lucius Cypher]

"Works for me." Pylia says as she goes back to put her armor back on. Shortfang just finished eating and was cleaning his hands in the water closet. "Okay okay! Shortfang ready!" Buddy simply pushed himself off the wall and stood at attention. If there was nothing else to do, the party would be ready to move onwards. Shortfang himself, after washing his hands, went up to you. "Sewer Dragon live in bad part of Gransys. Might be trouble! Kobold have secret signs for kobolds so Shortfang show you when Shortfang find them. Oh! And will be dark. Kobolds no like light, so very, very dark. Is okay?"

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia nodded in response to Shortfang and answered, "It shouldn't be a problem. We can use a lantern or a torch to light the way. Unless...we need another way to see in the dark?" She wasn't sure if it would be considered as rude if they brought a light to a dark place if the kobolds preferred darkness.

She also noted, "If we're going into the bad part of town, then I might need to switch out of these clothes and put some stuff away before we head out," She'd rather be safe than sorry. She had a feeling her dress would put a target on her. She could switch to the other pair of clothes she got from the cave she woke up in.

[Lucius Cypher]

“That’s a good idea. You already stand out as a foreigner, last thing we need is people thinking you’re an easy mark.” Pylia says. Shortfang nods in agreement. “Torch and lantern, okay! Just want you know very dark, so you see. Okay, we go!” Shortfang gathered up his gear and headed out. Buddy followed behind. Pylia double checked the windows and locks to make sure they were secure, stashing her excess gear in the closet. She only took what she needed for possible combat as well as her coin purse, and not all of it either. “Let’s get going. Hopefully things won’t be too tough, but I imagine we’ll run into trouble on the way.”

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia answered Pylia and Shortfang, "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," She then tugged at her sleeve of her dress as though to say she still needed to change. After the three were out of the room, she proceeded to change out of her dress and into her first set of clothes from the cave. She kept the medallion around her neck, hidden under her shirt. This was something she wanted to know where it was at all times.

After changing she sorted through her items and put them away in the closet as well. She only took fifty gold pieces of her funds with her, while leaving the rest hidden in the room (including the platinum pieces). She looked at her magic items and realized most of them didn't look spectacular nor worthy of stealing. The rings would remain on her fingers. She looked at the acorn and feather charm, deciding to keep it with her since she still wanted to know if this was enchanted or not.

Then there was the oracle doll...

While she was alone she decided to take the chance and whispered a question to the doll, thinking that Pylia wasn't going to tell her the truth if she asked her the third time,

"What did Pylia encounter while she was away from the camp last night?"

[Lucius Cypher]

Pylia nods as she leaves the room so you can change. The old clothes were just that; old. Even after getting cleaned by the seamstresses in Cassari, they still had an uncomfortable feeling of belonging to someone else. Not to mention you pulled these off a corpse. As you finished up and asked your question to the oracle it would glow once more and awnser your question.

”An old friend. A new enemy.”

The oracle didn’t elaborate any further as the glow faded and went dormant once more.