"When it came to cooking, I was hoping to make myself useful in a manner that would make eating me more of a waste than not.

The fact that she didn't do anything to me while I was knocked out on the floor encouraged me that this dragon was different. Which was reinforced when she looked downright disgusted at me when I tried to flatter her. Apparently, treating a non-red dragon as if they are one is exceedingly insulting.

That's how I ended up discussing the philosophy regarding toads and frogs. I have no idea why she was so invested in the concept, but it was a very memorable conversation. We also discussed whether is it better to be mentally dominated and know it or to be ignorant of the fact.

Thanks to that line of discussion, I was able to get an idea of how to help her and accomplish our goal of getting access to the tower. The dragon was kind enough to let me go back to camp where I found this lovely dwarf who had the perfect magical abilities ready at hand. It was thanks of Krackor that we were able to dispel the magical binds on her and she was able to escape which then left the tower open to us.

I must admit, I am going to be sending a letter or two back to my bard friends at home. They would love the idea of conversations with dragons rather than the archetypical slay the beast and save the damsel."

In reply to Kali Xilrora (msg # 463):

Listening to her retell her tale, Krackor was not going to leave the lady on her own unless she said it was ok, not through any kind of dominance but she had joined him and he felt it impolite to then leave her alone.

I may have taken the binding off of the lady Dragon but it was your cool head that gave us the opportunity, there was speculation that she was doing it to have a larger meal, however your regaling of her disgust helped ease things.  I'm looking forward to eating such a fare, the dragon... he gave Kali a side long glance and winked and Kali here scoffed the lot To which he burst out laughing infectiously.

Kitheras

At a loss for how to deal with Neldor's closed building that doesn't involve breaking and entering, Kitheras eventually turns around and heads back to the group's home.

Kali and Krackor

"As well they should!" Vorn laughs, raising his mug in salute.

The two of you spend a bit more time with the two dwarven leaders, expanding the tale a bit more and delighting them with a description of the dragon in flight. Nothing that would make said dragon feel obligated to come back and eat you, of course. When your beers are done, you excuse yourselves and head back to base, leaving behind two very entertained dwarves.

Group sans Tarron

The night shuffles forward, with people slowly returning and deciding that after a long march, a longer journey, and the emotional highs and lows of a resurrection and reunion, sleep and reverie are probably for the best. Kora wraps herself in several thick blankets in the chair in her room, and is soon asleep beside the bed in which the now-solid Talindra has passed out. The rest of you find your rooms, clear the dust off your beds, and fall blessedly into slumber.

In the morning you make your way down one by one to the kitchen, where Krackor is busy making breakfast. Talindra follows slowly behind Kora. Tarron is not there.

Tarron

Planting yourself in the entry room of Neldor's shop, you begin your vigil in anger and umbrage. The night passes slowly, then in fragments as despite your best efforts you begin to slip into reverie.

So it comes as quite a surprise when a loud voice jerks you awake. "Who in Baator are you?"

Lurching upright, you turn to see a young dwarven woman standing in the open doorway out into Glen. The morning sunlight pours around her, and she has her hands on her hips as she glares at you.

"Tarron never made it back in.  I'm going to run over to the Sage's tower to see if I can get some answers.  If Corym's read on the situation here in Glen is correct, we may need decamp soon.  Assuming we mean to return to Myth Drannor soon, I propose that we relocate to Essembra.  The access should be just as easy, and the markets larger for acquiring provisions and information."

"Talindra will need clothing and provisions for travel.  Kora, that's always been your area of expertise as company treasurer and the most fashion forward of us all."

He considers the travel worn leathers that Corym is wearing with all of the random equipment jammed this way and that, and contrasts the image of the urbane and tailored elf he'd been reunited with in Myth Drannor.  "Perhaps more than one of us needs some clothing.  To feel right again. Horses, pack mules, and fodder if the treasury can withstand it."

"Krackor, we need to be prepared to withdraw the deposits we made and you're on the best terms with the elders here. Can you see to it?

"Tarron never came back in last night.  He has to have gone to see Neldor. I'm going to start looking for him. Let's rendezvous at the tavern for lunch and update the situation."

He places a hand on Talindra's shoulder--gently--"Welcome back, Lady. We'll have time to talk later, but my duty to my company directs my haste."

With that, the Captain departs.

Corym felt like a new man.  The memory of the pain and the shame was still there, but sitting across the table from a living-breathing Talindra made it more distant for the moment.  This wasn't a spell, or a diary, or a kiira--this was the real heritage of The People.

"With all due respect to the fare Gorm provides on our travels--Krackor's cooking is better."

"And with further respect to our Captain, I think Kali may do a better job at attiring Talindra.  I've seldom had the opportunity to shop for a Lady.  I can attend Kora and help with purchasing provisions.  If we hurry, Kora, we can work in a lesson this afternoon."

"Kali--let's say we were celebrating a birthday, what kind of groceries might you need to prepare an evenfeast? Supply a list, and we'll see it provided."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:36, Tue 31 May 2022.

Waking from his reverie abruptly, Tarron's hand immediately went to his hip. When he realised he was in no immediate danger, he calmed and relaxed a little. "Good morning sir." he said, "Hoping to find the owner Neldor, hopefully to have a chat about a minor misunderstanding." he explains.

Tarron

The dwarven woman bristles. "My name is Rethusra. Are you one of those adventurers who betrayed Neldor's trust? You won't find him here. He grabbed his brother, who was supposed to be teaching me, and teleported away to the gods only know where. Fortunately for you; Neldor is rather protective of his daughter, who is sleeping upstairs. Vergadain only knows when he'll be back, which means I have a dozen merchants who won't be able to buy the potions Neldor promised to make for them. You've handed me a hell of a mess."

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 467):


He wasn't for leaving a mess behind, especially one that may mean not returning. He and Kali had a great chat with the Elders last night but would that help cement them in the good books? When the only openly powerful Mage in town decides you did him wrong, how would the rest see you, especially as a caravan driver! No, he was an adventurer, he was a Priest of Gorm, he was a very young and very talk High Old One by nature of talent and dedication. A good cook he was not, on the road with little fare, he was really good but by the sound of it, Kali was great. Was this jest? Sounded like it but he had almost fallen into this mood of the others, he knew that Kali had been asked for the feast food. Was it a slight at the Tavern or him? How could it have been about him, he'd just....and then it dawned on him, he had just cooked a good breakfast, humour was being injected into the group, he smiled big.

Great or good, he decided to reflect the humour back out there. I liked the food at the Tavern, I could cook a Dwarven travel feast unless Kali would show me how to do it properly, better still is a great cook if up for it! After all, I have a Caravan to create. Then as Corym had said if the treasury allows

With his big cheery smile, he heads out to make the withdrawals.

With caravan season starting up and Glen's penchant for year-round cultivation, getting yourselves outfitted for travel again is not particularly difficult. There's even a halfling tailor who specializes in outfitting big folk at speed. The husband and wife team are able to whip together several complete outfits for Talindra that day, and promises that they can provide new travel clothes by the end of the next day for any of you who want it.

Horses are a bit more problematical. Mistledale is known for its horses, but Glen doesn't have any beyond some mules they use down in the mine. The group can find one pack mule for sale immediately, and the dwarves are happy to give directions to local ranches within a day's journey where you could buy riding horses and more ponies or mules.

Krackor has no difficulty recovering the material they had stored with the Forgesmith. Most of it were the two hundred and sixty pounds of books that Talindra had sent with Qasida, Euin, and Katarn, but there were also some other materials there as well, which you transport back to your house.

Talindra looked much better in the morning after a full night's rest, but it's the books, more even than a hot meal, new clothes, or rest, that seems to center her. She cries a little the first time she picked one up, but quickly pushes past that to start her first intense book review in centuries.

((ooc: Pausing here for Tarron's response to Rethusra. Do you want to take the extra time and gets horses and/or new clothes? So far, no one has approached you about Neldor."

That evening Kitheras will propose a plan of action.

"Glen has been a fine base of operations to us, but recent events has likely soured much of what we might have hoped for. Neldor is a long term upstanding resident that we've--rightly or wrongly--grievously offended.  Our house here is borrowed, with the residents returning soon now that the winter is done.  Krackor has been denied the opportunity to build the hold he wants."

"And we're all eager to head back to Myth Drannor, but we need a place to deposit our goods that aren't easily carried with us."

"To my mind Essembra poses many opportunities.  There are more people there for better supplies, more news, and more outlets for our discoveries. There are reputed to be many abandoned holdings nearby--and potentially one could be developed into a longer term keep.  The Lords of Battledale will be well rid of a ruin, and another part of their territory will be pacified."

I also think it makes good sense to acquire a pack of riding horses for more efficient conveyance."

"How vote you all?"

"Ahh, then good morning Rethusra. I do apologise. I don't tend to make a habit of breaking and entering, but it seemed an apology was needed from somebody not quite as involved as our leader. Needless to say, he's heartbroken as he saw Neldor as a mentor." he says.

"But...potions you say. We do have a number of skilled mages in our traveling group. Would it be helpful if we joined forces and helped you to create the potions that you require? No fee, of course. You have no idea how deflated Kitheras feels, and I'm sure he would jump at any opportunity to arrest his fall from grace." suggests the bladesinger.

Tarron

"Odd way to apologize, by violating the person's home. But what do I know, I'm just a small town dwarf." Rethusra snorts. "And no, I'm not going to be sharing any potion secrets with you. That knowledge is Neldor's to hold close or make free. And the people who buy from him do so knowing that they aren't going to be poisoned by accident. Or intentionally!"

She glares at you. "Run along now. I'll let Neldor know you're very sorry, whenever the gods grant I see him again. And that if he is in need of someone to retrieve obscure and dangerous potion ingredients, he knows who to call."

Kitheras

As you approach Neldor's shop you can see a lot of folks around it. Nothing quite so crass as a crowd, but certainly more people than usual standing in doorways or stopping in the street to "chat." And all of them are watching Neldor's dwarven shop assistant, Rethusra, standing in the door of Neldor's shop, facing inward, in full "peel a strip from your hide" form. Not a few of them are hiding smiles or sniggering into their beards. When they see you approaching, the smiles widen. You're close enough now that you can make out Rethusra's words clearly. It doesn't seem to be going well.

Tarron, if he had been so inclined, would have easily found it possible to form some kind of insult in retaliation. He was well used to being on the receiving end of criticism by others by now though, and he silently kept his calm.

"Some people would admire the tenacity to ensure an apology was received, but I see you're not one of them. All I can do is make my apologies, offer to make amends, and if this isn't accepted, graciously walk away in defeat." he says, smoothly as he can. "I can only hope that Neldor has given you a better set of instructions for making potions than we received for our own quest, for there was no description of what he truly desired and we were forced to guess."

Rethusra doesn't deign to give your statement a response. Instead, she steps inside, clearing the path to the door, and jerks her head at it in clear dismissal.

Given the apparent... confrontation? Argument? Kitheras spends some time wandering the town and listening in to conversations. It helps that he speaks dwarven, though there are enough halflings and a few humans living in Glen that he would have been able to get the gist regardless.

In short, Glen is a small town, and it has the finely-honed rumor mill one might expect of such a place. By mid morning, it seems everyone knows that the group went on a mission for Neldor and he wasn't particularly pleased with the results. None of the details (precisely where, precisely what he wanted/the group returned with) seem to have leaked. Just the vague overall shape of events.

Fortunately, Glen seems to find the situation hilarious. Neldor, you gather, is well liked, but considered odd even by the standards of an elf and a wizard. His daughter, Merialeth, is highly regarded as an apprentice smith, with an almost-dwarven love and feel for the metal. Neldor, on the other hand, seems to be validating all of the cautionary tales young dwarves are told about wizards, at least on the amusing side of the scale.

In fact, after a bit more listening, and more than a few jokes at your expense, you gather that the people of Glen are taking Rethusra's lead in how they're responding. The young dwarven woman is apparently very well regarded (not to mention highly sought-after by all the handsome dwarven lads). She could easily have raised the town against you, but seems to consider the matter over with tongue-lashing.

No telling, of course, what would happen if you actively sought her out. Or how long you'll remain the town's hot topic. But with the caravans moving and a winter's worth of outside gossip filtering through with every pack train, surely you won't be on the tip of everyone's tongues forever.

Surely.

Tarron leaves the shop in a nonchalent mood. Of course it would be the case that his employees would close ranks and side with the mage. He would expect no less from his own soldiers. "Have a wonderful day." he said as he left, trying to lift his own spirit by doing to others as he would expect them to do to himself.

When he finds that the group has become the butt of jokes among those in the town, his mood darkens somewhat, but he tries not to dwell on it.

Meeting back with the others, the tired elf shrugs off the events of the morning. "Neldor has vanished, leaving his apprentice to deal with the shop by herself. I think we are fighting a lost cause, but if we can stay for just a few more days it would at least allow us to check on the one thing we did escort to safety from that vault." he suggests.

"Then...perhaps we lift our mood by attempting to do something else good for the world. How is Talindra?" he asks.

Kitheras relates what he learned from town.

"I know that Corym wants to stay put for a bit to complete Kora's training in wizardry."

((DM--any hint about how long she needs still?))

"Talindra hasn't been especially talkative.  As I understand it she's nestled down with one of her master's old books.  If I had to take a guess, I'd surmise that she'd want to go to Velethuil with Elorfindar and Karilla.  She was an academic--not an adventurer--in her previous life, and I doubt that she wants to risk her new life."

In reply to Kitheras Sunblade (msg # 479):

Krackor hears and responds, saying the actions and sounds as he speaks truth.
Staying a few more days, slipping into conversation how Neldor threw his toys out of the pram, wink, like obsessed Wizards do, tut, shakes head.  It would get those knowing nods from the people of Glen.  It will give us time to collect things we need, learn spells from one another and make preparations in case we need to vacate for good.  He didn't like that last idea but from what Corym and Kitheras were telling him, contrary to what Kali and he had witnessed, then so be it.

Do our mage types have access to that Mount Spell or equivelant that has been mentioned before?  Just in case!!

Everyone Except Corym

Things look somewhat brighter after a night's rest and a hearty morning meal, and not only because the rain has stopped. Having packed up the house the day previous, most of you head out for Ashabenford, ready to begin gathering supplies for your trip down to the Three Rivers Land. It's a glorious spring day, the green leaves and grass glistening with the remains of the previous day's rain, the bright blue sky making the scattered white clouds pop as they race before the wind. The weather holds for the two and a half days it takes you to walk to Ashabenford, and with the gently rolling terrain, it's easy to find places to camp where the ground is firm and dry.

You arrive at Ashabenford around highsun on the third day, just in time for a fresh-cooked highsunfeast. The town is bustling, people walking about with purpose, calling out to friends and acquaintances. A caravan has stopped for a meal in a fallow field on the town's eastern edge, and beyond the buildings you can see the gleaming line of the River Ashaba.

((ooc: You have arrived, and can do whatever shopping you wish.))

Corym and Kora

When you tell Kora that you want to focus intently on completing her magical studies, she literally jumps for joy. Then she settles down, pulls out her nascent spellbook, and prepares to knuckle down and do the work.

The two of you spend seven long, intense days in the Glen townhouse, pulling together the past several months of rather sporadic teaching into coherent lessons and pressing forward into new territory. The naga spellbook forms the core of the training, with frequent diversions into more traditional wizardry so that Kora won't be handicapped when trying to learn, or defend against, the kind of magic most of Faerun's wizards use.

After seven days, you decide that Kora has taken about as much as she can coherently learn at one time. She's a good student, exceptionally smart, and when she applies herself, learns rapidly. But magic can burn out the brains of the unwary, and you don't want to spoil the excellent wizard you can see her developing into by pushing too hard, too quickly. So you call a halt, and together finish packing up the rest of the house, and, the next morning, set out for Ashabenford and the rest of the group.

((ooc: Is anyone talking with the dwarves about you leaving, or further connections with Glen? (This doesn't have to be Corym, despite him being the last one to leave.))

In reply to DM (msg # 481):

When Krackor goes to the Blacksmith who runs the Anvil, where their funds and a few 'special' items are stored, being one of the town elders, Dwarf to Dwarf, Krackor explains that they are leaving but want to keep an open channel, so leaves some Silver trade bars as collateral in case needed.

We are heading to Ashabenford then pushing on, looking for a place we can turn into a Stronghold, a Temple, a Home.  Do you have any recommendations or contacts we may be able to visit, maybe take some things down there with us if you have any to move?

It was difficult for the Gormite to see a negative thing with what they were doing but still managed, he was ever hopeful of making and keeping contacts, of spreading Gorm's message to be on your guard.

Krackor

High Forgesmith Lynar Boldenbar nods as he accepts the trade bars into his custody. "May the Soul Forger smile upon your  endeavors. There are too few of the People here, in these days after the fall of Tethyamar. South and west of us was elven lands, until you reach the mountains that were ours. If you do settle down, send word to us. I try to keep abreast of the dwarves of the Dales. And if your tunnels lead you back to Glen, the first round is on me."

Corym will pay a call on Nandae Foehammer prior to their departure.  He'll explain (probably at length) that he and Krackor want to put together a model community in the Three Rivers Land to see what can be accomplished without the burden of culture and heritage when engineers, architects, and artisans are allowed to design and populate a community from a blank slate. Particularly he wants to fuse several styles together--efficient halfling use of the land, gnomish spaciousness and light beneath the ground, stalwart dwarven bones to hold it all up, and elegant elven designs on the surface to inspire. While his engineering and masonry is strong, he'll need help with the architecture (the weakest of the three skills he has), but he knows that Nandae is equally interested (and considerably more practiced) in these things.

He indicates that they'll be making a brief survey of the land before their next journey to Myth Drannor, and hopes to be able to have Nandae review their initial plans for construction.

(7/42)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Tue 28 June 2022.

Kitheras will give a rousing performance in the inn before he departs--a farewell to Glen. He'll shake many hands, learn as many names, and leave as positive an impression as he can before he leaves.

In reply to DM (msg # 483):

This is a deal I'm happy to make.  We are looking at the Three Rivers Land, I'm hoping near a sturdy small hill that can be utilised and close to the river for fishing and of course, water until a well can be created.  I will definitely send word and have you visit if you would, Corym is taking stock of the possibilities as he likes to think of building things.

Any pointers and we'll take them in hand, abandoned keeps to watch for or manors that have been abandoned and not had Alhoon, Naga or Vrock taking up residence, we'll have enough of those when we visit Myth Drannor again.

He hands over the what is to be left and shakes the High Forgesmith's hand heartily May the Vigilent Host watch over you and the Soul Forger smile at your work.  He then waves as he leaves and finds the others.

Tarron leaves silently. He had clearly said enough to offend at least one of the residents. No point in making it worse. He doesn't look angry as he leaves, just accepting of his fate.