Game Thread

[Riftwalker]

"Oh they're staying here at the inn! Two of them--twin brothers I think. I've left them alone, and so far they haven't tried anything, but I'm keeping my eye on them. I just don't trust them. Why -- are you looking for them? Did they do something?"

[Fuzzy alchemist]

He suppresses a laugh and says, "Sorry. I did not make myself clear. I meant room locations. And I was simply offering my assistance to keep an eye on them. I do not currently know of any misdeeds on their part. But now that I know who I am looking for I will be glad to make note of anything I see and possibly embed myself into their conversations so that I can learn more." He kept his tone hushed so that it was not easily overheard, but also not quite hushed enough to draw the attention that whispering would.

[Riftwalker]

She pauses, thinking. "Hmm. I suppose that couldn't hurt. How about I show you which rooms are theirs while I show you to yours. That is, if you're still interested in booking a room?"

[Fuzzy alchemist]

He smiled and said, "Oh, of course. This should pay for the two nights. If things do not go as planned I will pay for more while I make my preparations to move on." He sets down the gold pieces and puts away his bag of money and marbles. He wait till after this concern was out of the way before he tried to bring the conversation back to his concerns. He was not even completely sure the person he was looking for was here. He would keep an eye out for the man in white though.

[Riftwalker]

The plump woman takes the gold pieces and puts them into a pouch under the counter. She then counts three of the wooden "meal cards" and turns to walk out from behind the counter to show you your room when she stops. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She reaches down behind the counter and produces a medium-sized book, vial of ink, and pen. "I need you to sign the guest book, Mr., um? I don't believe I caught your name..."

[Fuzzy alchemist]

((OOC: medium size for a book or a book in the medium size category? I figure it is medium for a book, but just want to make sure. Also, with pen I assume we are talking the gnomish equivalent of the fountain pen. Or are we refering to a quill? The post assumes the former, but can be edited to be suited to the latter.))

He smiles and says, "Takuzei". He picked up the pen with his left hand, lightly dipping it in the ink and filling the bladder inside. He then penned the name down with light deliberate strokes giving everything an angular look instead of the more fluid strokes of most script. The ink would be come heavy around curves where it paused for a moment as he changed directions. Even the curves looked more like boxes than circles. He even managed to avoid the thinning and widening the the script that normally came with using such pens as he never made curves but instead quick stable turns that had a momentary stop. It had come from originally doing his writing on walls where it was hard to carve curves. He quickly set the pen back at the spot and position it had been when he had taken it up and waited for whatever was next.

[Riftwalker]

DM Note: "Medium sized" for the book just meant it wasn't overly large (like a tome) or small (like a handbook). The pen was a quill pen. (It doesn't really matter as far as I'm concerned.)

"Terrific, Takuzei. Nice to meet you. I'm Vera, one of the proprietors of this inn. Let me show you to your room." She steps out from behind the counter and motions to the common area (see the floor plan below). It looks cozy and comfortable, with arrangements of sofas, chairs, tables that look like comfortable spots to read or hold a small conversation between a few people. The decor is not overly posh, but it's clearly well-maintained and not of lower-quality. Plants and assorted knickknacks decorate the room, and one in particular catches your eye: a miniature ship resting on a table. Near the center of the room is a large four-sided fireplace that looks like it would keep the room comfortable during the colder months.
"This is our common area. You'll notice that now you can hear me." She takes a step into the room, turns around, and looks back at you. Her eyebrows raise and her lips mouth the words "and now you cannot" slowly and clearly enough for you to read her lips without any trouble. She steps back towards you.
"We have some enchantments in place around the inn to help keep the place quiet so as to not disturb our guests unnecessarily. The common room is surrounded by such a screen, as are the walls of all the guests' rooms upstairs, as you'll see momentarily."
She leads you upstairs (via the staircase nearest the entrance.) At the top of the stairs, she lowers her voice (which you think is amusing since she just explained how the rooms were sound-proof.) "These two rooms are the tieflings'" she whispers, pointing at both simultaneously with her index and middle finger. She then turns left and right until she arrives at your room. She inserts a key into the keyhole and pushes the door open.
"We've found that a two-door system is best when it comes to the privacy of our guests. The door I just opened into this small area is outside the sound enchantment screen of the room. You leave your meal cards in this slot here." She shows you the small card-shaped slot where a meal card can be placed. "Then, then our cook, Sann, will leave meals here on this small tray during meal times and take the card. Now if the second door is opened, he will politely reach threw it (and the enchantment) to knock on the opened door to alert you to the fact that your food has arrived. If your door is closed, he won't do anything, and you'll just have to remember to check at meal times. That way, you're not disturbed should you wish not to be." She inserts the key into the second door and pushes it open, holding it open for you so you can enter the room.
The room is decorated similarly to the common area downstairs. In the far corner of the room is a fireplace without a bottom. You correctly assume that it is the same fireplace as the one downstairs. There is a mechanism to close the fireplace (to prevent its heat and light from entering the room) and another lever next to it. Vera notices you looking at it. "That controls whether the heat/cold from the fireplace heats or cools the floor in the room. Pushing it to the left vents air from the fireplace underneath the floorboards, and pushing it to the left closes the vent. Since it's fairly warm outside now, we have cool air coming into the system from below ground to help keep the inn comfortably cool."
She hands you the key. "Alright, there you are! Have a terrific evening! I'll be downstairs for another hour or so balancing the books if you need anything." You hear her steps until she reaches the inner door, and nothing after she passes through the invisible wall of silence.

First floor:



Second floor:

[Fuzzy alchemist]

He sets his sacks down next to the bed considering whether it would be better to sleep now and start his day good and early, or to keep to the night. He decided that since it was easier to conduct business during the day he would work on their schedule. Knowing he might not wake up in time to do so in the morning he places his meal card in the appropriate slot now. He quickly disrobed and got into his bed. Feeling the fabrics of the higher quality inns was nice after spending so long living in a cave and then camping in the wild while he traveled. He focused on the questions of the day hoping that his mind would create answers while he slept. One thing he was definitely going to miss about the cave was the natural hot water spring that he bathed in. It not only kept him smelling better than the average person, but was quite relaxing.

[Riftwalker]

DM Note: It's just a little past 10:00 PM now. The morning meal should arrive in about 8 hours, and you can prepare spells for an hour and eat at the same time, being ready for the day with all spells at 7:00 AM.

You fall asleep fairly quickly, the events of the day running through your mind. Just before you slip completely into slumber, your mother cyst lurches inside of you, reminding you of its presence and briefly disrupting your descent into unconsciousness.

You wake up to a light knocking on your opened inner door from one you assume to be Sann the cook. He bids you good morning and leaves a platter on the table just outside the inner door. On it you find a generous bunch of grapes, two pastries, and a cup of tea. The tea gives off an herbal and spicy complex aroma that you have never experienced before.

[Fuzzy alchemist]

He gives Sann a nod and once he leaves gets up to get his food, pulling his spellbook out of his bag. He brings the food to the desk sipping the tea as he walks. He breathes in the fumes making sure to enjoy the scent. He eats the food as he works on clearing it of all other thoughts. Not only did this help him ready his mind for the spells, but it also allowed him to enjoy the food more as it was the only stimulus he was getting. Because of his plans for the day he knew what kind of spells he was going to prepare. He wiped his mind clean of the used magical energies and the spells that were not going to carry over to his new list of prepared spells. He too another sip of his tea before he began preparing the energies. He continued eating as he completed each spell so as to avoid distracting himself. By the time he was finish he only had about half a cup of tea left. He took up his bags and and dressed. Then set the tray down where he picked it up. He finished the tea and set it down as well. Then he went out making sure to walk past the Tieflings' rooms and checked to see if there was any evidence that they were out yet. He would also look around for the man in white when he got the chance.

((spells for the day Acid splash (6), spirit worm, deaths call (2), necrotic cyst))

[Riftwalker]

As you walk past the tieflings' rooms you see nothing to indicate that they are either there or not. Both doors are closed and you can hear nothing (though you wouldn't be able to anyway you remind yourself, due to the silence barriers.) You walk down the northeast set of stairs to walk through the common area on your way out the door. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, you glance into the common area to see it unoccupied save for someone sitting on a couch (at N9) facing the fireplace, though you can only see the back of the person's head. Their hair color is striking golden/platinum color you have never seen before. You hear a page turn from that direction and conclude that they must be reading something.

[Fuzzy alchemist]

Remembering that the man in white's hair was supposed to be of a golden color but not wanting to interrupt him without need Takuzei looked for Vera. He wanted to allay some of her concerns and see if she could give him information on the man in the common room. Since he had already formed a report with her it seemed he was more likely to get information out of her.

[Riftwalker]

Instead of Vera, an older man sits at the desk near the entrance. Once you pass the invisible barrier between the common area and the lobby, he hears your footsteps and looks up at you smiling. "Good morning!" he greets you. "I trust you slept well. Takuzei, I take it? Vera mentioned we had a late arrival last night. I haven't seen your face around here and so I can only conclude that you are our newest guest. I'm Babbage, Vera's husband."

[Fuzzy alchemist]

((OOC: a wizard is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to. Sorry, just had to say it. Oh, also on a completely unrelated note. You had previously mentioned me rolling my own skills, but I think you should be in charge of things like sense motive because it give away the fact that their might be something suspicious if you call for them from me. I would avoid having my character act on such information, but still it kind of spoils things for me if I know when I might be being lied to.))

He nods and says, "Good morning. Yes, I am the late arrival. But your wife did a lovely job of getting me set up with a room. You are quite fortunate to have someone who deals so well with customers and puts off such a wonderful aura with you." Flattery was always handy when dealing with people. He continued, "I am sorry to bother you but what do you know of the man in the common room? I think we might be going out for the same job and I would love a chance to speak with the others so that I can see judge the competition." He kept a polite smile on his face as he asked and made sure to tone it so that it seemed nothing more than a moderate interest.

[Riftwalker]

DM Note: LOL. By "late" I meant arriving at a late hour, not tardy. Regarding rolling on things, we can do that. I'll also roll passive spot, listen, search checks, etc. Also - what provides your +3 to Bluff on your character sheet?

"Oh thanks," Babbage says and smiles. You almost detect a blush as he averts his gaze. "She's something, she sure is."
Babbage looks around the corner and into the common area. "That's Auril. He's been here at the Spell and Slumber for a couple of weeks now. From Kingsmarch--said he came to Ebernath to study as a wizard, since there's not a lot of arcane magic where he comes from in the west, there's no one to teach him out there. I don't think he's employed or studying with anyone in particular yet, so he may be going after whatever job you are, but I wouldn't really know. He seems nice enough--very polite, though quiet. Most of our guests keep to themselves, and we don't try to pry."
He scratches his head. "I'm actually hoping he either leaves or returns to his room shortly..." He leans forward. "His people and Valhedar have long been at war with each other...if Auril realizes that we have two tieflings also staying at the inn, then we might lose a paying customer or--worse--have a fight on our hands. So far, I don't think they've run into each other, but with him in the common area, there's a chance--well... let's just say I'd feel more comfortable if he weren't over there. Here in Ebernath, people from all over visit and most can keep themselves under control in situations like this, but I'd still hate it if something were to happen."