The Evil of Ravenholm - Chapter 1: The Dark City

[Arc Vembris]

Hars lets his drow facade slip and is again a changeling male. "So we are to find, what, mountain monsters of some sort?" He has returnes his needles and yarn back to his pack and is now tending to his fingernails with a dagger. He has no need for this, as he can adjust his nails at will, he simply does it to look creepy and fit in with the environment.  

[Vorastrix]

"Can you elaborate on the tome that we are to search for?" Pelloth inquired before adding, "and more importantly, how are we to be reimbursed for this endeavor?"  

[NayrVentess]

Daelos leans forward to answer your questions, "To be honest I'm not completely sure what it is myself, needless to say it will seem important to the Bloodstone Stalkers and it will be obvious if we see it, that it is what we came for. Hmm, Changeling, I think there will be monsters yes, but nothing that we can't handle I don't think." Daelos shouted up to Murder for another frenzywater, which was brought over in due time by his necrophiliac daughter, who gave Gerash another sexual look, before returning to her duties. The elf Stalker thanked her and downed the shot in one, again having to grunt because of its srength.

"As for your reward, it will be up to you to decide really. You five will get free pickings of the loot in the ruins, as I have no need for gold and trinkets, although the tome is to only be handled by me. And when we return successful, you could either chose gold, or some other form of reward, that will be handled at a later date. Although I think just the opportunity to work with the Bloodstone Stalkers is a reward in and of itself."  

[iDragow]

Grashuk was lifting his drink to his mouth when he heard Daelos' comment about their reward. He snorted, before swallowing the rest of his laugh along with a mouthful of the alcohol. How many times has he heard that? Seemed like everyone was trying to guilt a lackey into working for free, these days.

"And where is this ruin in relation to the village of Kerulan?" he asked, trying to sound merely curious. The Bugbear placed his mug on the table but did not release the handle. He had had his drinks swiped one too many times for him to be lax in his defense in this bar.  

[joe-dude667]

"And you sir look like a quite edible snack." Cain replied to the Wizard in an exact copy of his voice, only slightly more pompous. After listening to Daelos speak, Cain decided not to beat around the bush.

"What is this tome you seek?" He asked poignantly.  

[NayrVentess]

Daelos looks astounded and frowns at the Kenku's question. "I would ask if you were an idiot Cain, but you must be to pull a stunt like you did with the high priest. I have already said, I don't know what the tome is exactly, but we will know it is what we seek if we set eyes on it." Daelos takes his glaring eyes off the avenger to answer Grashuk's question, "Kerulan? Strange question, umm it is about two days travel north of the ruins I believe, they are fairly close together. Kerulan is after all, a state of Valleta and was the closest settlement to the Castle when it was under Valletan control."

The elf then stretches and declares, "I will meet you outside The Gate at around midday tomorrow, come prepared." He then gets up to leave but looks back at the table expectantly, as if to say, 'any more questions?'  

[Vorastrix]

Pelloth's only comment to the elf was to say, "Please pardon the Kenku, he isn't an idiot he's just loonier then a" then the pun occurred to him so he chuckled "well, a loon."  

[iDragow]

Because Daelos hadn't left yet, Grashuk turned back to his allies. Looking as if he were bored, he began to make several little motions with his hands. At first glance, it looked like he was making shadow puppets to amuse himself. If he was lucky, the elf would just see another stupid Bugbear who wasn't able to hold his concentration on one thing for too long.

In actuality, he was passing his ideas along to his teammates. With any luck, they would pick up on how he felt. After making a bear and a rabbit, he then made a bird, flapping its wings. Then he progressed to a dog, and then the bird again. After which, he stopped with the shadow puppets, and instead leaned over to pick up a small pebble that had been brought in on the tread of someone's boot. He tossed this a few times in the air, before dropping it back to the ground.

Hopefully, they would understand the meaning. However, he wasn't sure it would pass over as cleverly as he had hoped, since the group hadn't been together THAT long.  

[NayrVentess]

Daelos narrows his eyes at Grashuk, you get the sense that the Stalkers don't like people keeping secrets from them. But he then turns and leaves the pub.

'AND SHE'S SUMMONING, A STAIRWAY, TO THANATOS!'

The last chord rings out and some members of the bar cheer half heartedly and then down their drinks. You paid for a few nights in the pub the other day, so you do not have to pay again to sleep here tonight.  

[SporkMaster5000]

"I say we do his job, then go to Kerulan when we're done, if Daelos can't make his way back alone then he can come with us and like it," Gerash says calmly, having watched Daelos silently as the group had their discussion and the elf made his way out. "And what in the nine hells was that?" he turns to Grashuk a bit incredulously, "If I thought the kenku looked stupid it's only because you weren't making hand puppets."  

[iDragow]

"And you were the only one I wasn't concerned of understanding," the Bugbear sighed. Obviously, they needed to work on their subtle languages as a group.

"I was saying that we could kill two birds," he made the bird sign again for emphasis. "With one stone." He nodded toward the pebble, and then just looked sullen.

And he thought he was being so clever...  

[SporkMaster5000]

"Oh, I thought you were just bored," Gerash says, a bit taken aback. He respected Grashuk's tactical capabilities, but he was still a bugbear. "So what was the rabbit for?" he asks after a pause, a bit confused about the details of the bugbear's puppet show.  

[iDragow]

"To make sure that Daelos would be kept in the dark. If it had been too easy to crack, he would have known that we had made plans with someone else as well. I don't know much about the Stalkers, but it's possible that they would want their hired goons working for them and them alone."

Grashuk shrugged, and then took another large swallow from his mug. "I was trying to throw him off the trail of the hint, would be the short answer."  

[SporkMaster5000]

"Hmph. If that were a problem I'd just as soon cut them loose as suffer such bothersome employ. I see no point in trying to keep it a secret that I have my own agenda. The stalkers can interfere with it at their peril." Gerash sounded quite serious. He knew the Stalkers' reputation, apparently he really thought he was better than they.  

[iDragow]

"You may feel that way personally," Grashuk said, his brow furrowing a bit. "But, as far as I can deduce, the rest of our group has decided it would be the most beneficial to play both sides of the field. At least for now."

He was tempted to make a joke about how he knew that bones were easy to break, and that the Stalkers were probably even more effecient at it then he was, but held his tongue.