Lucius Cypher

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

The kobold tilted his head. It was hard to get an idea of what his expression was. These kobolds were like little lizard men, very unfamiliar to you, almost terrifyingly so. “Travel? Hmm... No tricks? No lie?” He seemed to lower his guard a bit but still doesn’t get close to you. “Don’t mind... But why me? Shortfang... Kobold. Humies no like kobold. Plus... How Shortfang get out to go?”

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

For an area that was suppose to hold criminals, there was only three guards. One who seemed to be napping at a seat, while two more looked bored and tired. They didn't even bother to look at you as you walked into the area. The kobold was sitting in a cage chewing on a chicken bone. When he see's you he stands up and steps back from the cage as far as he could, but seemed calm. "You, humie. You, new. Talk to Shortfang? About stealing? Shortfang no do it." He tried to look at you but he seemed to have a hard time doing so, partly due to the cage making it hard even for him to look up despite barely being waist high, but also because it seemed like sunlight in general made it really hard for him to see anything.

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

You spend a while chatting with strangers. Most of them put on airs of tough and ready warriors, but after an introduction and a few honest words, many drop their act and speak much more casually. They're foul mouthed and quick to take up challenges, however they treat you nicely as you speak to them. Unfortunately, many of them were not available for an escort job. Most were simply resting up at this location, planning to head westward or south. The few going north didn't plan to stop by Gransys, and most were simply not interested. That being said many offered advice and information, some which may be useful for you.

Thanks to a steady stream of adventurers moving through the area, bandit activity has gone down a bit. Lone travelers will still likely be attacked, or ones without any noticeable guards, but most of the gangs have become very cautious about which groups to attack. A short while ago a rather unassuming dwarf was said to be prowling the roads looking for these bandits, slaughtering them alone, so most have gone into hiding until things blow over. Unfortunately, monster activity has gone up in exchange. Many note feral wolves and harpies. You remember seeing many harpies in your dragon dream.

There was one lead for an ally. An armored warrior with a dog pointed towards an isolated area of the camp. There were a few guards over there as well as a few cages. He mentioned that he saw a kobold tossed into the cages there under the accusation that he stole some items from the other adventurers though he knows this isn't true. He saw the real thief but he escaped before anyone could catch him. He thought about saying something, but he also knows the kobold is looking for new friends and he didn't want to disappoint the little guy. "Maybe you could convince the guards to let him go or try to free him somehow. These soldiers are lazy anyways, so I doubt they'll do much if the guy escapes on his own."

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

Cool, I'll post the results soon.

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

Just to expedite things, roll me a persuasion check to see how well you can gather some new allies from this rabble.

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

"Ah, is that so? Well then, how bout we split up and meet back in say, an hour, share what we learn. I'll look for some more info about what's ahead and we'll compare notes. You should look for some new mercs. You might be new but you're... Approachable. More than me at least. Sound good?" Pylia suggested to you. She has so far never really interacted with anyone, at least not as far as you've seen. While she's nice enough to want to help others, it seemed that she was more of a person of action over words. Someone with more conversational spark might be able to chat up the others better than she could at least.

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

Scratching the back of her head she nods. "... Yeah, sure. Thanks." The man took the coin, checking it before smiling. "Thank you very much! Your tent is number 27. Please remember, we are not responsible for any lost or stolen items you might leave at your tent. Please do not anger the soldiers stationed here either, there will be no refunds if you are kicked out of camp! Is there anything else I can assist you two with? Perhaps a meal?" Behind the man was presumably his family, a wife with three children, working the kitchen and making stew and serving drinks. Pylia looked over to you and shook her head. "I'm not hungry right now. Why don't we look around, gather some information for a while about the road ahead? Who knows, maybe we'll find out something interesting."

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

"Yeah of course. Let's see... That area looks promising." Pylia pointed over towards a large collection of tents in the distance. The area looked cleaner than other parts of the area, with people actually cleaning and disposing of trash in waste holes. There were also a lot of adventurers here eating, singing, or just chatting. There seemed to be some sort of shouting match between some religious looking folk calling upon the end times of the Immortal Emperor or the Smiter. Not too many people paid them any mind. Eventually you and Pylia would meet with a rather tall athletic looking man in fancy robes. "Greetings! Adventurers or soldiers?"

"Adventurers. Just looking for a place to rest for tonight."

"Of course. Just one tent? Would you like to upgrade to a yurt?"

Outside of this tent was other tents of different shapes and sizes. Most were pretty small; might fit you and Pylia if you don't mind sleeping side by side. The yurts were somewhat bigger, at least as big as your room back at Cassari. Considering how crowded this place was, such accommodations were about as good as it gets. "A standard tent will just be 1 gold for a night, but a yurt will be 10 gold, and we will also bring you food and drink at dinner time." Pylia looked over to you. "I can pay for a tent, but I don't have enough for the yurt."

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

Ferric parked his cart near the gates, getting out along with his son. "Well, me and my boy will be doing some work repairing the cart and making sure our mules are alright. Doubtful that we'll leave today due to her injury. But if you're still around, I'll be more than willing to hire you two to come with us to Gransys! Roads are mighty dangerous this time around and frankly, I was planning to hire some guards anyways. So why not hire some people I'm familiar with eh?" Pylia turned to you and nods. "Doesn't sound like a bad deal. I'm all tapped out for magic anyways, so some time to rest would be nice. Maybe we could find some others here who'll be willing to take the job too. More hands make lighter work, yeah?"

There was many adventuring looking folk loitering around the camp, doing business with various traders, resting, or rough-housing. Surely one of them would be willing to take up this job.

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

“Okay!” He didn’t seem too bothered.

The rest of the trip was long, but fortunately uneventful. Snacks were passed out, bit’s of sweet fried bread and water, before the camp came into view. It was... Not that impressive, frankly. The walls were about six feet tall and simply wooden logs hammered into the ground. The towers seemed sturdy enough although they also didn’t look to be manned at the moment. As you approached a guard stopped the wagon at the gate, though Ferric was able to talk his way through. Inside was quite a site.

Up till now most of the people you e seen were human, maybe a bit elf, and recently dwarves. But this camp had all sorts of strange looking creatures. Humanoid beast folk like cats, bulls, lizards, and even birds. Greenskin and redskinned orcs. Elves who truly looked majestic, but some who also looked tribal and barbaric. There were even gnomes with colorful hair, and handling with their pudgy bodies and faces.