Shu

Dragon Age: Dark Scion

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Dragon Age: Dark Scion

This is a nice blend of preliminary concepts so far. 👏🏼💯

Just to update everyone, we will have a Discord server ready soon(ish)!

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

Finally, with a low thunk, the safe opened - Firoz eagerly pulling the metal door open.

“Well, I’ll be damned…” Willory said as he climbed back up on top of the desk.

“What?” Iliskra asked as she crammed assorted roots, blossoms, and herbs from a nearby table into her bag of holding.

“Empty!” Willory spat, stamping one foot on the top of the desk.

“What?” Iliskra asked again in a sharper more distressed tone, this time turning around to face the safe. Firoz pulled the safe door all the way open against the wall revealing the safe to be bare. Iliskra’s shoulders slumped at seeing the empty safe interior. While this invasion of Jadarl’s estate had not been a waste of time considering what Iliskra had copied from the letters - not to mention the mixtures and alchemical ingredients they had taken - not coming away from here with pocketfuls of coin or jewelry was nothing short of disappointing.

“Hey… what’s this?” Willory asked suddenly, reaching a meaty little hand inside the safe. The halfling made a pinching motion with his index finger and thumb and held up what looked to be a polished pebble of sorts that was resting inside the safe. By now Iliskra had overcome her momentary disappointment and realized that the safe was just bait. A trap for thieves. But before she could shout at Willory to warn him not to touch the small stone it was too late. A high pitched squeal suddenly tore through the air that made everyone cry out and cover the sides of their head, Willory dropping the stone which bounced down onto the floor. The stone continued to emit the shrill keen which carried out the door and down the hallway.

“A stone of alarm!” Firoz shouted the obvious, though no one heard him as they all desperately covered their ears against the piercing noise. Iliskra felt feint vibrations against her soles from the floorboards. The low, rapid pattering of running feet. The guards were on their way and Iliskra and Leon needed to get out of this place now.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Finally caught up!

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

Iliskra was nearly finished, looking over the last of the four letters and scribbling away on her own parchment. The final letter was the longest but Iliskra was a fast reader, a quaint skill she perfected over years of being with a guild of thieves. The snowfall outside was beginning to thin visibly and the feint glow of the late morning sun was creeping across the floor in the laboratory. Even if they found nothing of value in the safe the four needed to leave the estate when they were done in here.

There was a telltale click from behind Iliskra. Firoz had managed to pick open “his” lock and as he had done with the padlock on the door caught it in hand before it fell onto the desk. Sensing the urgency Willory began hurriedly wriggling his wrists and twisting his fingers. With a shake of his head Firoz said to his companion, “Patience, do it correctly.”

“We don’t… have… Ah!… There…” Willory said with a relieved inhale as the lock opened and slipped from its’ mooring. Unlike Firoz, Willory did not catch the lock in hand and it bounced off the top of the desk with a metallic clank and then rattled onto the floor.

“Willory!” Firoz hissed as the halfling winced, putting away his pick.

“Sorry…”

“Just open the safe.” Iliskra said through gritted teeth as she refocused on capturing the last of the details of the letters. Willory hopped down from the table and Firoz began prying away at the latch that kept the safe door secured. With a few final scratches of her quill Iliskra had finished transcribing down what she needed from the letters and then stuffed them into Leon’s hands - instructing him to take them back to Jadarl’s room and make everything as it was before.

“I wonder if this feller has some well-aged cider or wine in there.” Willory said rubbing his pudgy palms together.

“If he does,” Firoz grunted as he cranked at the latch, “we’re selling it for a high price and not… pouring it down your gullet…”

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

“An alchemist.” Firoz said the obvious aloud, his eyes passing over the clutter of the lab.

“And presumably an astute and dangerous one,” Iliskra said, looking over the contents of a single table nearby, “I am by no means knowledgeable on alchemy but I recognize some of these ingredients. And look at all these books and transcriptions.”

“Hoy, Firoz,” Willory nodded toward the wall safe, “let’s try and get that open.”

Firoz nodded and he and his halfling companion walked over to the safe. Due to his height disadvantage Willory needed to climb up onto the desk to be able to reach it. After checking for pressure plates, trip wires, and any other trap triggers the two took out their picks and set to work on the locks.

“Is there any unused parchment on that desk?” Iliskra suddenly asked, causing the two thieves to stop with their task and look over their shoulder. Firoz then looked down at the desk top and back at Iliskra and nodded. Iliskra brushed past Leon and hurried over to the desk, grabbing a sheet of parchment and an ink well and quill also.

“What are ye’ doing?” Willory asked as Iliskra spread the parchment out on a nearby table and then pulled out the papers she had taken from Jadarl’s room.

“I am going to copy down what’s important from these letters and then put them back,” Iliskra replied, dipping the quill in ink as she focused on the topmost letter, “with any luck when Jadarl discovers that there was an intrusion we can conceal what we know or took.”

“Do you have the time?” Willory asked.

“How long will it take for you two to open that safe?” Iliskra asked, her eyes flitting in their sockets as she read over the first letter.

“Uhm…” Willory looked at Firoz.

“Several moments,” Firoz said, “she has the time.”

“Leo,” Iliskra said without looking up from her work, “grab a few of those… ‘brews’ from the shelves. Once I am done with this I will pick out what of those ingredients I know are of value. Once you are finished go put that ward stone back in Jadarl’s room. Hopefully he may believe the ward to his lab was removed by some other means. Maybe even an inside job…”

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

“R-Right.” Iliskra stammered, stuffing the letters into her pocket as she hurried behind Leon - not bothering to close the desk drawer behind them. She had a feeling that this Jadarl was going to know about their presence soon enough. Unless he already did. Thoughts of Elthel flickered through Iliskra’s conscious but the half-elf pushed them away for now. There was nothing to be done about her right now. Iliskra’s mind also swirled with this possibility of Jadarl being associated with the Thayans? Was this true? What had Leon discovered to indicate such? I can ask him and we can figure this out later. Iliskra decided.

Leon and Iliskra met Firoz and Willory in the hall, the Turmish thief had a worried look on his face. “We should finish here quickly.”

“Why?” Iliskra asked as she closed the door to Jadarl’s room.

“The snowstorm is passing, our shroud will be gone soon.” Firoz replied.

Willory suddenly pointed to the warded door, “If there’s anything of value here then it must be in there.”

“Indeed.” Firoz nodded.

Iliskra looked at the rune covered stone Leon had clasped in his hand. She knew enough of magic to ascertain that this was the key to lowering the menacing red wall of energy that protected the metal door. Removing the padlock would be the easy part.

“The honor is yours.” Iliskra smirked at her partner, nodding toward the stone and then the door. Firoz, Willory, and Iliskra all took a step back as Leon turned and approached the door and raised the stone close to the humming ward. With a feint hiss of magical energy the ward faded from sight, the metal door now removed of its’ magical barrier. Once the four were sure that there were no traps Firoz helped himself to picking the lock, swiftly catching it in hand when it finally popped free of the door. Leon led the way in, pushing the heavy door open with a groan of rusty hinges. Weapons at the ready, the group immediately saw that they had walked into a wizards’ lab.

Shelves lined the walls lined with a variety of bottled concoctions and odd alchemical ingredients. Tomes as large as cobblestones and stacks of papers were scattered about on tables, in chairs, and even on the floor. Bizarre plants hung from ceiling pots and flowery vines crawled up small trellises erected against the walls. The smells of the lab were in variety - from sour lingering scents to thick, sweet fragrances. Amid the clutter of the room was a neatly organized desk tucked away in a far corner, and above it was a wall safe with twin padlocks. There was no one in the lab, no guards, no servants, no Jadarl.

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

Leon’s god chose to pay heed to his servant, and mere breaths after Leon performed his small ritual fleeting but clear images began to seep into his mind. The first was of the desk that sat before Leon, locked securely. The image initially seemed to fade only to return showing the top left drawer to be open and within it lay a polished stone inscribed with swirling red runes, the warded door outside flashed only briefly behind Leon’s eyes before the mental picture receded into itself in a shadowy void. The faintest presence of Mask seemed to linger however and then immediately another premonition enveloped Leon. It showed a tall, thin man draped in heavily ornamented red and black robes like that of a priest or a master mage of sorts. The mysterious man was surrounded by figures encased in shadow who seemed to be welcoming of his presence, raising jewel encrusted goblets over him and clasping eagerly at his hands as the crackling flames of a nearby fireplace captured the man’s crooked grin beneath the shadow of his hood.

Mask’s presence was pulling away, however as the void of shadow seemed to close in around Leon one last fluttering vision was granted to him. The same robed man stood within what looked like a dungeon, its’ old stone walls and ceiling hung with moss and slime as water dribbled down the walls and from cracks in the ceiling. The man was surrounded by more shadowy forms, these however were hunched and brutish and presented the man before them with twisted swords and gnarled axes instead of raised cups of wine. The hooded man seemed to be making some sort of appeal with outstretched arms as that same wry smirk decorated his blurred visage.

The presence of Mask finally withdrew itself, Leon’s god leaving in his dark, otherworldly wake glimpses of ships on a near horizon, a vicious battle, and a massive, horned, godlike figure looming high over Scardale Town which flew blood red banners almost in a show of submission or maybe even loyalty to the fiendish-looking titan. The last wavering hint of Mask lingered momentarily in what Leon could not have mistaken as being a stern warning of caution and consideration in the near future for Leon to act on. And with that Mask departed from his devoted follower.

“Leon. It is me.”

The low voice of Iliskra came sharply from behind the Maskarran, the half-elf looking over her shoulder repeatedly with her dagger at the ready as she stood within the doorway.

“I take it this is Jadarl’s room. Willory and Firoz on are their way up. The second floor did not have much to offer. Have you found anything of value yet?”

What Are You Listening To?

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

Compared to the filth of the half-orc Gunalar’s domain what was clearly the bedchamber of Jadarl could be called “refreshingly posh”. Every corner, nook, and floorboard was as clean as could be. The furniture was well-kept and glistened in the cozy lighting and everything from wall ornaments to the books on the shelves was perfectly arranged giving the room an orderly look about it. A single candelabra lined with glowing candles stood between the one window and the bed providing adequate enough light to see by. An entire section of wall was reserved for four shelves of assorted spirits ranging from Cormyrean wines to Sembian champagne.

Jadarl was not present but there were clear signs that he had been and had perhaps not been gone overly long. The sheets on the preened bed were ruffled about such as when someone was roused from their sleep and had tossed aside the covers without bothering to straighten them. A night gown lay crumpled on the floor near the foot of the bed. On the right corner of the small desk across the room there was a single large platter, picked clean of whatever its’ contents were save for stray crumbs. A half-drank glass of some clear liquid sat near the plate. In the center of the desk there were four opened letters casually lain about. On the left corner of the desk there lay a peculiar looking ring that was made of polished iron, atop it was what looked to be an open palm hand - fingers pressed tightly together. The various drawers on the desk were all locked with no key in sight. There were no traps or tricks waiting for Leon, Jadarl seemingly the type of man uninterested in filling his place of rest with lethal mechanisms and wards.