[ We find Our Heros on the road again! Because they just couldn't wait to get on the road again. Going places that they'd never been. And so forth. ] (Are we up on the stage? Playing the song again? Because Sei's got that turning the page thing handled.) [ They're setting out to find a piece of a weapon that may or may not belong to Plaguebringer. They didn't teleport the whole way because, Xiv said, their target would be looking for someone to teleport in from Black Peak. This way, you have ye olde elemente of surprise. ] [ So you're teleporting most of the way, and then walking the last few miles to the town of Harper's Port, which the seat of the barony of Tree-By-The- Sea. ] [ Session Start! ] * Ada already did the teleporting part! So, she's walking. * Sei stretches as he walks. "Even with the lack of books, this is sort of nice. Despite the situation." * Ethan walks along, twirling his glaive and munching on what appears to be a rack of lamb. *chews; swollows* "So is this whole thing gonna get violent, or are we just going there to negotiate with this guy for the piece?" I'd definitely prefer diplomacy, but it might go beyond that. * Nebrinel is walking too! She has seemed mixed between comfortable/happy, and worrisome. "The chances are extremely good that there will be violence, as without a thief we have only my skills at breaking and entering to rely upon." ... ah. So we're not even attempting diplomacy. *bites off another chunk; chews thoughtfully; swollows* Prolly for the best, with this group. *grins* * Sei smiles. "Point." * Nebrinel walk walk walks. "Well, as I said before. What, exactly, do I... or perhaps we, have to trade?" We could offer to betroth Sei to his daughter. Does he have a daughter? * Sei nods thoughtfully. "A sound plan." (... I don't know. Does he have a daughter?) (Because I like this plan.) * Ada snorts. "Fine with me." (It doesn't cost me anything.) ... I was joking, Sei. * Sei grins. "Hey, it might work. You never know." Trust me. Nothing good ever comes of betrothals. * Nebrinel smiles a little. "That would work for me. Although I will be sorry to see you go, Sei." * Ada eyes Sei. "The hard part would be that he'd have to go through with it." * Sei nods. "That would be a problem, yes..." * Nebrinel thinks for a second. "Well, as the Baron is undead, there could be some interesting side benefits. However, as I remember what little I can about the Barony, I do not believe he has a daughter." * Ethan quickly finishes off the lamb, chews, swollows... and nearly chokes. *sputter* "He's wha?!" ...wait, what? Are we talking "Evil, eats the brains of the living" undead, or "Xivilai's butlers" undead? Just undead. It happens. * Nebrinel says fairly calmly. "You are not familiar with it, Sei? Surprising." She nods at Ethan, then Ada. "Nothing so sordid as human tales, I am afraid." * Sei shrugs. "I keep getting all of the nobles mixed up." Okay. So he's just... undead. Not evil? Or any more evilish than your typical elven lord? * Ada smirks at Sei. "Or maybe it's not common practice where you're from. There's no shame in admitting it." * Sei grins. "Eh, it's the truth. Although it isn't common around there, no." ... I ask again. Is this guy relatively benign, or is he nastier than the average elven lord? * Nebrinel smiles a little sarcastically. "Nastier? Maybe not. But he is in no way the pleassant sort." Mmm... so what's the plan? We kick down his door, give his guards wedgies, then smack him around until he gives up the piece? I'd say we should try diplomacy first, but since you seem so eager... I'm not eager to fight an elven lord and face hot fiery burny blasts of... erm... hot fiery burny stuff. I'm just asking. It'd be nice to know going in, so I know whether to be in 'polite, quiet Ethan' mode or 'Stabby Ethan' mode. * Sei nods. "Diplomacy - at first - would be nice. It doesn't sound like we'll be able to get it without a fight any other way." Why don't you stay in polite, quiet Ethan mode and go into stabby Ethan mode if necessary? And yes, he is a powerful mage. Wonderful. Is that coupled with Faydra levels of weaponry skills? Because if so, again, forewarning would be appreciated. Not really. Wow. Good news. That's a first. *grins* * Ada stretches. "But we will be in familiar territory. To him. So try not to underestimate him." * Nebrinel nods, then says, "I doubt he sees his lack of prowess with a sword a weakness." Well, yeah. s'more time to work on his magic. But it at least means that, if we can get through his shields, he won't have the skills to keep me off of him. And that I don't have too worry too much about him physically whacking him. Always nice to know going into a fight how someone's planning to try to kill you. * Sei nods. * Nebrinel pets Plaguey a little. ... 'course, I'm a lot more confident when it comes to blocking strikes than dodging lightning bolts and such. But I guess that's the tradeoff. Oh, and don't worry. Once we get there, I'll be mostly shutting up. Diplomacy ain't my strong suit. *chuckles* You all probably noticed that. And if not, you're about as perceptive as a banana... mmm, banana... *munches banana* ... quite. * Sei nods. "I suppose I *could* do it, but I really just get involved when things go wrong." [ You come over a hill, and see a walled town large enough to house maybe ten thousand elves on a large cliff overlooking the sea. The further up the cliffs you go, the nicer the buildings become. This may be because water runs downhill. ] ... nice town, that. * Ada mmms faintly and nods. Not bad, but...well, coastlines. ... so where's the tree? Most likely on the top of the cliff. Ah. I was expecting a bigger tree. Since the guy is, y'know, Lord Tree- By-The-Sea. [ No tree is visible from here. It must not be much of a tree. ] [ Either that, or it's hiding behind one of the palaces that line the upper edge of the cliff. ] * Nebrinel continues walking towards the town! Hopefully there is some way to get up the cliff. * Sei follows! Figured there'd be, y'know... big ol' tree. Biggest tree you'd ever see. By the sea. Make you say " "Gee, what a big tree I see, there by the sea." [ You can probably ascend the cliff by walking, on this side. Steep walk, but still. ] Maybe it was a while ago. [ Ethan still sees no tree. The tree does not jump out from behind one of the buildings and say 'Gotcha!'. ] * Nebrinel frowns slightly. "That sounds like a children's rhyme." She eyes the steep mountain, and begins walking! Good thing we're all in shape. Right, Sei? (Hey, I can walk! And I've been training. So BLAH.) * Sei walks! He's doing okay. ... hmm. Maybe I have a future as a writer of children's stories after I retire from soldiering. * Ada chuckles. "Well, I'm not going to use it." [ You don't actually begin climbing yet, tho, because you haven't gotten to the walls yet. The gates are still open, though there is little traffic through them. And what IS that smell? ] * Ethan walks, and has no apparent problems with it. Go relentless training! * Sei sniffs, trying to identify the Mystery Odor. (It's a mystery!) ( Lord Tree-By-The-Sea forgot to cast his anti-rotting spell this morning. ) Huh, that smells li - I wonder if they didn't plan out waste disposal too well? * Ethan sniffs, and wrinkles his nose. "You mean that's... eeeeeew." * Sei nods. "I believe so." ... s'an interesting city defense tactic. ... I don't think it's a defense tactic, Ethan. ... so this is just a really crappy city? That, or something's wrong. Or both. * Nebrinel nods slightly. "It certainly makes sense, consideing the water flow." ( Dammit, this wasn't in the brochure!) Eew. At least back home, we've figured out how to mask the smell to a decent degree. * Sei nods. Streets are paved, and there're tightly lidded bins we dump the chamber pots into, which get emptied once a day a decent distance from the fort. And downwind, definately. There are all sorts of things being experimented with, but of course, most of them involve tearing up the entire city. Literally. I'dve figured most elven cities woulda worked out some kinda magic way of doing things. Like chamber pots that teleported your poop somewhere outside the city. * Nebrinel smiles thinly as she walks. Probably because smiling any more would mean breathing. "I suppose, during wartime they are warmed and used as defenses?" * Ada wrinkles her nose. [ Makes you wish you had the DnD spell 'zone of sweet air', dunnit? ] (No, because I might need that spell slot later!) ( Or in this case, those EP. ^.~ ) (Even worse. ^_~) * Ada puts her hand to her face once the smell gets worse, somehow, and waves her hand as she casts a quick spell. Apparently, *she* doesn't need the EP. * Ethan shakes his head, frowing. "No way. Trying to spread disease among the enemy isn't considered acceptable tactics." [ Not by humans, anyway. ] * Ethan holds a piece of what appears to be apple pie over his nose. * Nebrinel continues walking. "That, Ethan, is why you warm it." Hoo... ( I'm getting that damn piece if I have to _swim_ in this crap. >_>) (Swim in this and you won't get a Plaguey, you'll just get the Plague. c_c;) Was tried once way back when, during one of the periods of in-fighting in the human lands. Still ended up causing plagues... everyone ended up agreeing that tactics like that were just not to be used. * Nebrinel takes a breath and coughs, then says, "Very civilized of you." * Ada removes her hand and sighs, breathing easier now. * Ethan absentmindedly downs the pie, then blinks and produces another to hold over his nose. Ethan, you look ridiculous. And this is news? More ridiculous than usual, then. * Ethan grins around the pie. It looks effective, though. * Nebrinel rolls her eyes and walks a little faster. It looks like pie. Yes, well, this is significantly more effective than my cookie umbrella idea. I'd rather look silly than have to deal with that smell, personally. * Sei nods. ... may I have some? * Nebrinel looks back at Ethan. "A pie? Couldn't you have chosen something less messy?" * Ada gestures towards Ethan, and the smell leaves his senses. (Why'd you waste it on him? He seemed happy with his pie.) ... hey, that works too. Thanks. * Ethan downs his pie, and hands a fresh slice to Sei. Doubt he wants Ethan's nosepie. Thanks! * Sei consumes pie. (... I don't know how you people can eat with this smell around. c.c;) (Sei's a medic. ^_^) (You know taste is, like, 90% smell, right? c.c;) Ah, the many wonders of magic... (Eew.) It's convenient. (YES, EEW. Hence my statement.) ( Cowpie? =P ) (c_C;) * Nebrinel continues walking! Eventually we have to reach an area that smells better. (Obviously Mr. Baron doesn't live in shit. Eternal life living in this? Ugh. No thanks.) And effective. Many thanks. A thousand thanks. *holds up glaive blade in front of his face* ... I have pie in my goatee. Hmm. * Ethan pulls out his hanky and wipes his face. All clean! ... I hope my goatee wasn't hungry. Starving goatee would be bad. 'cause then it'd wither away and die, and then I'd have no goatee. * Ada sighs, tempted to let the spell drop. * Nebrinel coughs again. "Ethan? You are babbling." * Sei sighs, and walks on. * Ethan just grins. Guess this must be the peasant area. Not a nice way to treat your peasants. * Sei nods. "Not at all." [ You reach the gates to the city. The smell is worse, now, and you can see why; there's waste piled up in the streets, down here. Evidently, disposal isn't a priority here. ] ... eew. That's just *asking* for a disease outbreak. * Sei winces. "Not the most attentive city management." Are all elven cities like this? Certainly not. * Nebrinel coughs a few times. "No. No it is not. They can enchant a cliff to not erode, but they cannot manage the waste better than a human capital. Saddening." * Ada wrinkles her nose even though she's not smelling anything. She looks away on reflex. I'd hope not. Though if so, it would explain why the elves keep trying to invade the human lands. To get away from the smell. The grass always smells greener on the other side, and all. [ Clearly, anyone of any importance will be further up the cliff. The streets are paved and consist of level spots interspaced by stairs. Which is good, as the cobblestones probably get slick here. ] Unless you use manure to help it grow. * Ethan does his best to step around and over the waste. "Point." Then again, I never really hung around farming areas much. * Nebrinel coughs a few more times and just keeps walking. Must escape stench. "You should travel more, Ethan." * Ethan shrugs. "I was stationed where I was stationed. Did have much chance to travel until after I left." Where I'm from, 'travel' is usually referred to as 'desertion'. Not much for vacation, hmm? * Nebrinel trudges onward. Not so much, no. * Sei nods. Get two weeks off duty a year, but you're required to stay within 3 days ride, just in case. Bit paranoid, you see. Must be ever-ready for an elven invasion. Or a bandit raid on an outlying village. Or training exercise. Or drills. Or any number of a thousand idiotic reasons. ... nope, not bitter. Not at all. * Sei nods. "I can't blame you." * Nebrinel holds a cloth over her nose at this point. "That is the military life, Ethan. How else would you earn your training?" And that's why I hated the military life. Or at least the way they ran it. * Ethan shrugs. "If there's actually someone that needs fighting, I'll be there. But I don't wanna eat, breathe, sleep, and live fighting." [ Passing through the streets, Ethan and Ada get lots of curious and sometimes fearful stares. ] ( Fearful? Of humans? ) * Nebrinel sees the stares, then rubs her forehead. "Foolish of me." * Sei tries to look harmless! It's easy. [ Sei succeeds his 'look harmless' roll. ] (I'd have to critfail. <_<) * Ethan eyes the people curiously, idly twirling his glaive. * Ada glances at them oddly. She frowns a little. * Ethan whispers to the others. "Since when are humans scary to elves?" We're not. So why're they looking at us like we have sharp teeth and big nasty claws? Odd... * Nebrinel smirks _nastily_, not that they can see it. "Not everyone's a warrior, Ethan. How best to get a people to fight than to convince them their enemies are brutish, like uncaged animals? Would you expect the lower class humans to be unfrightened of bears or wolves?" ... but I thought elves thought of humans as slaves, and beneath them. s'not like the humans ever invaded the elven lands. Except for a few completely disasterous counterattacks. [ You're further up the city now. The glares are getting more contemptuous as you climb upwards, but they're still worried. ] * Nebrinel looks back, and quirks an eyebrow. "Why would an elf that lives on sustinance think of anyone as a slave?" She turns back forward. * Sei sighs. "This kind of thing really depresses me. * Nebrinel babbles on. "Very few people see both sides of the Ironwall, Ethan. In a way, that is something one could thank Xivilai for." * Ethan shrugs. "Okay, now they're looking at me like I'm scary pondscum. Much better. I think. Wait, no." * Ada gives up and just glares back. * Ethan shrugs and keeps on walking, twirling his glaive and looking unconcerned. Better scared than angry and attacking, I suppose. [ A large and official-looking elf approaches the lot of you as you walk. They wear the gold cloaks indicative of the Imperial Guard. ] Give them time. We have not reached the guards yet... * Nebrinel suddenly holds her tongue. Apparently, she is also a seer. * Ada glances at the guard, then averts her eyes. * Ethan sizes up the guards, but stops twirling his glaive and attempts to appean non-hostile. [ He also looks worried, as well as angry at something. "Humans. And the way you're twirling that pole-arm, you're looking for a fight, too?" ] * Nebrinel looks at the guards and says quickly, "He simply likes to twirl it. The way it flashes in the light amuses him." * Sei nods politely to the guards and looks non-threatening. * Ethan nods, and remains silent, remembering his promise to shut up once they got to people. =P [ "And the way you talk amuses me. But you're humans, and in this town humans get trouble. The local Lord hates humans with a passion, and he'll probably come to 'greet' you the second he knows you're here." ] * Ada stays quiet and doesn't look at the guy. Maybe she's flexing her fingers under that cape. It's hard to tell. * Nebrinel stares at the guards for a second, then says, "Thank you for the warning." [ "I'm responsible for keeping the peace here, such as it is, so I'd like to ask you all to turn back. More people than just you will die if the Baron comes to kill you." ] A laudable sentiment. Perhaps we will. [ He looks at Nebrinel for a moment, then sighs. "You're not turning back, are you?" ] * Nebrinel eyes the guard up and down. "Of course not. However, since our task is to see the baron, perhaps you could help maintain the peace in a different way." (o/~ We're off to see the baron o/~) [ "What, do you expect me to make the Baron not kill you? That is far beyond my capabilities, I assure you." ] * Nebrinel smiles pleasantly. "Oh, of course not. But if we were to reach his castle quickly, and without being detected or further gossiped about, then the peace, as it were, would be maximized." (Ah. *Diplomacy.* ^_^) (My diplomacy is the best diplomacy.) [ "Yes, it would. His home is resistant to destructive spells. How can I help you in doing this, however?" ] * Nebrinel looks around. "Well, we can first get out of the main streets. Perhaps you could guide us there by a less direct route?" [ He frowns. "Perhaps. If you could disguise yourselves, that would be even better." ] * Ada twitches, and a faint look of frustration crosses her face. * Ethan sheathes his glaive, and pulls the hood of his travel cloak over his head. * Nebrinel reaches behind her, into her pack, and retrieves simply on touch, an extremely large black cloak, twirling it around a bit as she does so, then turns to Ada and eyes her. "I assume black is a suitable color?" ( CLOAKS HIDE ALL! WE ARE JUST SHORT ELVES! NOTHING TO SEE HERE! ) (Oh, wait until you see what Nebrinel's explanation will be.) (Just wait.) ( We're gonna pretend to be your kids? ) [ "I suppose that will do for now. You look conspicuous, but less conspicuous than an obvious human in this city. This way." And he leads off down an alley! ] * Sei follows! * Ethan is led. Yay. [ He stops and turns, looking to see if Ada's put the proffered cloak on, yet. ] * Ethan also has his head down, to hide his obvious facial hair/non elven face. * Ada sighs, then takes it and puts it on, throwing the hood over her head. It's... incredibly huge on her. "All right." * Nebrinel smiles faintly. "Do not worry, 'child', you will grow into it. Now, come on before we and the rock before us are blown to pieces." She begeins to follow the guard. [ The guard resumes leading! ] * Ethan resumes being led. * Ada speaks quietly, with a much more child-like voice not entirely like hers, "Yes, Aunt." She follows along. [ He leads you through alleys and little-used streets. The stench is now noticably lessened. ] * Ethan eyes the path, just in case they need to beat a hasty withdrawl. [ After a while, the houses grow larger, and alleys become less and less common. ] * Ada keeps up, looking around from within her horrendously oversized hood. [ He stops here, and points down the long, wide open road ahead of you. There is a large palace at the end of the road. "There is the residence of Baron Tree-By-The-Sea." ] * Nebrinel nods once, then smiles a little rogueishly and turns to the guard. "In the interests of further peace, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the residence you might be willing to share?" * Nebrinel brushes away her own cloak with her left hand, revealing the whip and a purse. [ "Yes. Death awaits you within. I'll be pleasantly surprised if you survive the encounter." ] * Nebrinel laughs a little. "Care to make a wager on it?" [ "If you kill him, it will be the best news I've ever had. And I'm a guard, not a gambler." ] * Sei smiles slightly. ( If you survive, I shall make sweet love to you all night long! ... hey, that's my line! *takes notes* *eyes Ethan* *WHAP* ) [ "Good luck. Please keep any fighting confined to the interior of the palace." ] * Nebrinel looks him square in the eyes. "Tell me a good way to sneak in, and I will see about bringing you the good news." (Ha! Ha ha.) [ The guard shrugs. "I don't know a good way to sneak in. The closest thing to that would be the servant entrances or the door that faces the tree. Not sneaky, but you won't have a doorman announcing your presence." ] [ "Now. Good luck, all of you. I look forward to seeing you alive, but I've grown to doubt the liklihood of such things happening." ] * Sei nods respectfully to the guard. "Thank you very much for your help." * Nebrinel looks off at the residence. "Yes, thank you. You should have more faith." * Ada nods. * Ethan nods as well. [ The guard shrugs. ] * Nebrinel mms faintly, and continues looking. [ The house is large. From where you stand, you can see the large front foor, lead up to by dual staircases that elegantly curve their way up a floor. You think you see an entryway on the left side, as well. ] [ You still see no tree. Maybe the large palace is blocking your view of the tree. That'd be a shame, really. It might be a nice tree. ] [ That is all you can see from here. Honest. ] * Nebrinel mms faintly, and starts walking. * Sei follows Nebby! * Ethan follows. "Which way we headed?" Around, briefly, to see if we can see this tree by the sea. * Ada giggles. Yes, giggles. And tags along. [ You walk! And walk. You're underdressed for this part of the city, but the people around you evidently think you're servants; other servants wave friendly-like and nobles ignore you completely. ] * Ethan desperately wants to comment on Nebby's rhyming prowess, but thankfully resists the urge, given current circumstances. [ Eventually you come around to the side, and from there you can see part of the tree. It's large, but still not as large as the palace. It's well- trimmed, but seems to be in poor health. ] * Ada eyes the tree, then deadpans with her young voice, "Yay." * Ethan is disappointed in the tree. ;_; Hmm, that's unpleasant. * Nebrinel glances back at Ada, then tries to see this 'door'. [ As you round the corner, you spot it. There's a single set of stairs leading straight up to a door on the second floor. ] * Nebrinel eyes the door. "Probably magically watched in the extreme, but it avoids one set of complications." * Sei nods. * Ada looks up at Nebrinel with wide, dark eyes. "We goin' in that one?" * Nebrinel looks at Ada a little oddly, then says, "Yes, I think so." * Ada grins. "Then go!" * Nebrinel will go! * Sei follows. "So much for diplomacy." * Ada snickers and goes along. At least it's not a giggle this time. [ And so they went to confront the evil nast mage! Who killed them all. Session End! ]