Lucius Cypher

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Sweet. Post up soonish.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

It's not much but I got a little bit of something out for two people. If anyone want anything from me, just message me and I'll see about sending something your way. Most of you are in the middle of a conversation and I'm not sure if I should pull you guys away or not. If that's okay with y'all though, I can start the monster hunt at least, putting anyone who wants to participate outside of the city so they can begin. You can mention making needed preparation retroactively of course.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

Bit by bit, moment by moment, time would pass. What was once early morning was now firmly noon. People were still going about their business but at the same time many were taking a break from the daily grind, drinking in taverns, eating meals, or other leisurely activities. But for many there was still work to be done. Some may still be continuing, others were just finishing up. Either way time goes on.

---

As Hark walked towards Lord Dulbur, he'd notice that this part of the town was obviously much better maintained and had actual trained guardsmen instead of the militia recruits currently manning the walls and gates. The merchants here sold higher quality goods as well, such as fine textiles, jewelry, or sweet cakes and pastries. Certainly a higher class area. As for the keep itself it was rather plain compared to some keeps Hark has been to. But plain as it was it was functional enough to serve as the final bastion against an invading army; a moat to prevent troops from climbing to the walls, plenty of sniping ports for archers, and only two entrances both which could be withdrawn. The guards stopped Hawk for a short while when he arrived to the gate to inform Lord Dulbur that he wished to have an audience. Shortly after Hawk would be allowed to meet the lord, though the rest of his men had to wait in the courtyard.

Lord Dulbur was dressed in fairly plain clothes, suitable for hard work. From his heavy breathing and the blunt sword nearby the lord must've been training. When he sees Hawk he gives him a nod and sweeps his arm over the table before him. "Commander Hawk. I imagine you're here to learn about the orcs? Fortunately I have some news." Taking a small stick Dulbur pointed towards a village to the north, about a day's journey away. "My scouts report that this village, Neworth, will likely be targeted next. Apparently there had been small bands of orcish raiders who have robbed the caravans and stolen cattle from here, likely to prob for their defenses. It's a large farming community that yields at least twelve percent of the crops this city gets in taxes, which is a considerable amount. We don't know what their exact numbers are or who leads them, but my scouts do tell me that whatever Warlord controls these bastards isn't near this village. Likely he has a separate warband operating on their own, gathering supplies and plunder to bolster themselves before they join the warlord's main army. Dulbur marked various spots where the orc attacks had taken place with a small green figure.

"Obviously I can't send my own troops as I'll be leading them towards the east to face-off against the insurgents. Those orcs may burn down a few villages, but only those traitorous bastards have the means to take my city. I don't plan to let them take one step on my lands. Dulbur pushed a medium sized blue figure, his army, towards the east to show where he'd be at. Hawk's army, represented as a small red figure, was pushed towards Neworth. "So you'll be dealing with the orcs. I don't care what means you use to destroy them, just make sure that they don't do too much damage to my villages. Burnt fields and dead peasants are useless to me. Unfortunately I don't know where the bulk of the raiders are hiding, nor when they'll be attacking Neworth. However I still have scouts at the village who may know more by the time your men get there. I expect that you and your men will be ready to leave by tomorrow at the latest." Lord Dulbur stood up as a servant entered the room with two chalices full of wine. He took one, and one was given to Hawk.

"Any questions?"

@Elevation

---

As the two warriors went to look for work, they'll know that the captain of the guard was looking for willing and able fighters. With the lord of the city currently out on campaign, the city's seneschal was also looking for work. That being said, the captain of the guard would be the easiest to find as the seneschal had his hands full dealing with paperwork and other requests from the various guild to the recent raid. So the duo would eventually arrive to the barracks where the captain of the guard was easy enough to spot. He stood tall among the other soldiers, with broad shoulders, a firm jawline, and a grizzled face. A veteran of his own battles. He appeared to have been drilling a lesson to his soldiers about courage, duty, and the consequences of not following them. He seemed to have noticed Johnes and Garren, and then dismisses his soldiers after he finished his speech.

The captain walked up to the two men. He dressed in a sturdy looking gambison and had a fine sword on his hip. His hands were rough and gnarled, and his right eye seemed faded. He was either blind or had a hard time seeing out of that eye. "You're not one of my soldiers. I'm guessing you're looking for work? I could use strong arms in these times. But before I hire you I'll want to make sure you're not just a bunch of cravens wearing stolen armor. Follow me." Should the two knights do as they were told, they would meet the guard captain in a dusty training field where many other soldiers were training. They were either doing squad tactics with spears and shields, target practice at the archery range, or hand-to-hand at a circular dirt area. The captain turned to the two knights. "I've no doubt that you're both skilled fighters. But what I really need now are smart men. I want you to go to one of those three training areas and show my men something new and useful. Show me that you have an understanding of your own techniques and aren't just a dullard following his instincts."

@ArkmageddonCat

The Occult Investigations Agency

In his final moments Darc saw what Lenny saw. He was just moving some props around the back when her heard a struggle. Lenny barely had time to even ask what happened when suddenly men in yellow cloaks surrounded him and the other actors and stage hands. Some of the stronger men tried to fight, but were easily killed. Those who tried to fight or run were killed almost instantly. Those who surrendered were tied up with ropes, some forced into strange outfits the strangers pulled from the costume room. And that’s when the slaughter began. One by one the others were killed in various gruesome methods, either by slit throats, stabbings, or other methods that Lenny didn’t have the stomach to watch. But he’d hear it. Their choked screams and cries for mercy.

Soon it came to Lenny and some of the others. There didn’t seem to be any purpose for why these people were chosen; Lenny himself didn’t even have an acting role yet. Then he felt something sharp enter his body. He didn’t know at first but a few seconds later the agonizing pain wracked his body as he was barely able to look and see he had been impaled by rebar spikes. Between the pain and tears however Lenny did see something, something that Darc needed if he wanted to find out who did this.

Lenny saw a man, a sophisticated looking man. Perhaps in his early forties, black hair, grey eyes, trim goatee. A face that Lenny didn’t recognize but Darc saw enough that he’d be able to try and match it to the OIA database later. He heard the man say that their work was done, that they needed to head to the chapel and help their other “brothers” there. Once they were finished there was only one more thing left to do before their lord was back. Lenny tried to hold out for longer but the wounds he sustained were killing him quickly. The last thing he saw was one of the other actors who managed to crawl out before any of the others noticed him. And with him, the prayers that someone will stop this madness. And with that everything turned black.

In the span of that one second Darc gained this information and immediately brought up his pad to store the information into his database. Accessing his digital spellbook he stored Lenny’s memories within and uploaded the data to the OIA cloud storage. Once he gets back to base he’ll be able to break down and process this information individually. Lenny was diligent in using his dying moments to give Darc as much info as he could, though it wasn’t fool proof. Lenny was a regular human and there’s a good chance that the man he saw might’ve been in a mortal disguise like Darc is right now. His fear and horror also would warp Lenny’s perception of reality so that was something else Darc would need to process through. But it was evidence nonetheless. Better than nothing.

”They have one more ritual before they’re ready to summon their dread lord, or whoever it is that caused them to do this.” Darc said outloud as he took pictures of Lenny and the others on the stage. ”Men in yellow cloaks did this to them. Guessing it might have to do with the King in Yellow from the old stories. Some harbinger of misfortune or some such, I’m not familiar with the elder mythos. In any case they have a chapel too. And more importantly, I have a face to look for.” Darc pulled up the image of the man that Lenny saw, showing it to the others. Hopefully they might recognize it. Even if they didn’t Darc will make sure to have his familiars know this face so they can either find information or even better, find him.

”Recognise it?”

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

@Arreyis

It’s been quiet, but perhaps I can breath some life into the RP once I get home.

Ruins of Norn: Walking Apocalypse

As the party conversed, an hour would pass. It was getting late but there was still enough daytime for them to either try to leave the city or explore it. Beyond the crashing waves outside of the chapel there was no noise from trog swarms or any other beast that may be lurking within the city. The wraith still never showed up and frankly it was questionable if it ever existed. The Chapel almost seemed more dilapidated since last time they were here; the stain glass windows were cracked, there was holes in the ceiling, and many of the pews seemed to have been visibly damaged not just by time but blades. Yet at the same time, the only people who have been in here recently were these same adventurers. Beyond that not much had changed.

It was time. The party must either leave now if they wish to finish their journey before nightfall, or settle in the chapel once more and hope that tomorrow brings better fortune. Everyone was largely healed up, their stamina restored. The loot was also distributed, with various potions and gear given to whoever needed or desired it the most. Once more the path was open for the adventurers.

Ruins of Norn: Another Side

Regular point buy.

Ruins of Norn: Another Side

@rocketrobie2

You'll be second after Tangle.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Guess it's my turn. Aside from the kobold next to Torus, is there any other beasties within 30 feet that Orchid could run and hack down?

The Occult Investigations Agency

"Ronath?" It was a name that Darc wasn't familiar with, at least not intimately. There was a possibility that he might've heard it in passing and pulled up his phone to access his database. An online Wikipedia of sorts encrypted in his own home-brewed demonic language so he could have a ready access to information at his fingertips. Now that was an invention humanity had over demons. Usually demons just had to have a really good memory or written it down somewhere. These information databases were like the akashic records for mortals. Sort of. Soon showing up was the newbie, Nova Amherst. He vaguely remembered introducing himself to her back at the office, however he was in demon form at the time, not his current human guise. For a bit of a laugh he'll keep that a secret; he loved messing with newbies by going demon mode when they least expect it. So he simply nodded to Nova as Issac took lead in the investigation and guided everyone inside.

As Issac lead the others in Darc messaged his familiars in the nearby area to begin overwatch, investigation, and interviewing. Various imps using invisibility magic would swarm the area watching civilians and investigators alike, ready to swoop in and assist or apprehend as needed. And it wasn't just the imp familiars that Darc had on hand; various birds and vermin had also arrived to lend their assistance. Thanks to their heighten mental abilities due to the familiar contract they could communicate with other fellow beasts and learn what they might've seen. After all, even the most fanatical and vicious cultist tends to ignore flies on the wall. And Darc had trained quite a few flies to become his familiars. Finally for Darc's human familiars, instead of letting them wander around the crime scene he had them gather information about cultist activities. If what Darc thinks is true, this cult might've brought in new initiates from the city's homeless, vagrants, or just the desperate. After all either the victim was bled out by a sadist who wanted him to run, or a novice new to this whole cult business and hoped none of his contemplates noticed his mistake.

Once inside Darc saw the gruesome scene before him and scrunched his nose. "Yuck. I didn't even finish my lunch yet." It was another massacre. Not the first time Darc's ever seen one, but they always had a way to give him a bit of a shock. Definitely a demon cult though. Your run of the mill koolaid cults wouldn't have the stomach to arrange all of the bodies like this, even if they were willing to carry out the slaughter. This took some devotion. Still didn't rule out that they might've recruited some newbies into the gang brought them here to get them bloodied. It was a common enough tactic to at least allow them to see just how "hardcore" they could be. Cults would do this for two reasons: to show new guys they mean business and what may await them if they betray the cult.

Darc took out his business touch pad, which was a fairly bulky device that also served as a camera and communication device. He made sure to take picture evidence of the scene without touching any bodies, getting images of everything he can. Each body, all the costumes, ever corner, even underneath the seats. No place left unseen. As he was taking images of the body Darc held his breath. "Oh no... Look how they massacred my boy..." He recognized this corpse. Lenny Duran, and his cross shape birthmark on his neck. He was only twelve when he first met Darc. A was a troubled youth who smashed his dad's head with a fire extinguisher during one of his drunken rages, ended up joining a street gang. When they left him behind after a run in with Darc's demons, he took the boy in a contract and had him work as a spy on the inside of various street gangs. When Lenny was eighteen he wanted to become an actor and seeing that Lenny did Darc a lot of good, he gave Lenny the skills and knowledge to make it in show business. Since then Darc had never called Lenny up again for any familiar work, though he was still under contract. Everyone is always under contract. Sometimes Darc simply forgets about them.

"Real shame Lenny... Would've loved to see your act." Darc reached out to touch Lenny's head. Even if he was dead Lenny was still under Darc's contract, which meant that he could still extract and examine his memories. In half a second, all of Lenny's memories would flash into Darc's mind, allowing him to know everything Lenny knew in his life. Though all Darc wanted to know was anything that happened in these past few hours up to Lenny's demise. Anything he heard, saw, or thought could provide Darc some valuable clues to what happened here and who's responsible.