D&D: The Qadesh Conspiracy (Group Two.)

[WarTraveller]

"Yes, but after a while you notice what your homeland missed. Stars, sunlight...houses...people..."

The screams and the crackling of the intense fires still raged in Mujha's head, but she shook them out with a pained sneer. She took another bite of the meat on her plate, a lush and somewhat savoury taste rolling down her throat as she swallowed it, then turned back to Caleb;

"Apologies. My...past can sometimes catch up to me. Regardless, if we are now going about this together it may be wise to get to know each other a little better. So, Caleb. Where do you hail from? And what brings you to Qadesh, this item you're looking for?"

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb took note of her pained expression, but assumed it was too uncomfortable to talk about, and thus avoided that topic. 

"Well, nowadays at least, I'm more of a traveler. Not just for this...item of mine...but in general. I'm a traveling performer. I set out on this journey after a visit home. And yes, at least I hope it's there."

[WarTraveller]

"Heh, I knew there was this joking attitude about you..." Mujha flashed a small smile, before she sighed again and drank some of her slowly-cooling water, "Still, you sound like a very interesting man, Mr Caleb. Me? I'm a traveller too. A travelling merchant, you could say. For years I've tried to fit in with whatever floated my proverbial boat; heck, I even tried to join my local Paladin guild! That, uh...didn't go well. After that I decided to just leave my hometown and become a merchant."

Mujha pointed towards her carrige of random stuff, most of it her's but a good deal of it in crates marked "TO SELL". Caleb couldn't tell exactly what was in those crates, but it must have been stuff from elsewhere in their world. Mujha continued speaking;

"I enjoy it, actually. Always on the go, always seeing the sights, getting into the local customs. And it makes it easier to get stuff from one end of the world and sell it elsewhere for a decent profit. That is my ultimate goal, really, why I'm here; to make something of myself. Specifically my fortune. I have a lot of stuff from all over the world, even from the cold, cold poles from where my ancestors were spawned. They cannot resist if they tried...uh, hey," Mujha's pained expression returned, "I see you have a good deal of magic. Do, uh, you have any healing magic? These wounds are getting a bit painful now."

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb raised an eyebrow upon looking at the crates of items that were marked to sell. He was curious what they were, but it's not important.

"I can see what you mean. I love traveling too, because-" He paused and listened upon noticing her pained expression. "No magic at the moment for this. But, I did see some white flowers down the road, that if boiled, will make an excellent treatment."

[WarTraveller]

"Well..." Mujha sounded quite impressed, "Your survival skills are certainly...admirable. Where are you from? Lot's of different places?"

[TheRedStranger]

[Mujha will have to doff her chain mail as Caleb gets the flowers. Caleb rolled a 16 + 4. Caleb will gain one Herbal Kit for his efforts. This can heal Mujha.]

[ILOVEVHS]

He smiled with a bit of pride and shrugged, "You have to be prepared for anything out here." Standing up, he stretched and walked towards the road, "I'll grab the flowers really quick, alright?"

[WarTraveller]

"Heh, yeah..." Mujha sighed, "Be careful, alright? I don't exactly want to lose my latest companion right away..."

As Caleb turned to get the flowers, Mujha groaned with the pain. Her chain-mail armour clinked and clanked in tune with the wind, and by this point had become quite hot and incredibly heavy. Heaving with the weight of it, she removed the armour and gathered it into a pile by her bedroll, leaving her in her normal clothes; a long black tunic dress that reached to her ankles and was outfitted in a number of golden inlets and accessories. She pulled down the hood over her head, fully showing her scales and golden eyes, then lay in her bedroll once more, her breathing moving in-time with that of the pack mule, once more letting the crackling of the fire help her sleep.

[ILOVEVHS]

After easily securing the white flowers, Caleb returned to the fire, seeing that Mujha appears to know what to do for this situation. Using the same container the water was boiled in, Caleb dropped in the flowers and set it over the fire.

[WarTraveller]

Hours passed as Caleb continued to stare into the fire, watching the flowers ever so slowly boil in the container. The fire's crackling and snapping was beginning to fade as the fire slowly went out, but the heat remained nonetheless. The shifting sands that surrounded them slowly regained their rich amber colours as the sun shifted back into the sky, blanketing the lands in a powerful light. Before long it was morning, the sun shining brightly down on the pair, as the flames slowly gave up their last and went out. Thankfully, the waters within had boiled the flowers more than enough, and a rather unusual smell was emitting from the container.

Mujha, who had been seemingly sleeping peacefully throughout the entire night, was now slowly stirring herself awake. She finally got onto her arms, groaning loudly, seemingly in great pain.

"Ooow...gah, this hurts..." she turned to look at Caleb, "Morning, Caleb. How're...urgh, how're you?"

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb had been watching the pot closely for a hour or so before his need for sleep overcame him, and he had to curl up sleep in front of the fire. He woke shortly after Mujha did, smelling the strange sent. Turning to see Mujha sturggling to get up. "Morning. I'm fine, but you need attention now." He took the pot full of newly created salve, and approached Muhja. "Stay still." Soon, he began carefully applying it to the visible wounds on her.

[WarTraveller]

"Urgh..." Mujha winced at the stinging pain of the salve on the pecking wounds, "Still a bit hot, I see. But this WILL help, right?"

[TheRedStranger]

[Caleb's roll was sufficient. After eating, resting, and this treatment Mujha is safe from infection, bleeding, and regains all her HP! These wounds will however be tender. House rule: Any damage to the specific areas involving piercing attacks until another rest will be rolled with advantage. Any mistreatment or needless exposure can lead to a need for constitution saves for further complications.]

[ILOVEVHS]

"Of course! You'll feel just as new when I'm done." He finished quite quickly, smiling with a bit of pride as he sees how well he did healing her.

[WarTraveller]

Mujha looked at the salve applied to her wounds - they had stopped bleeding and now looked a lot better, and what pain there was began to subside with time. The fight with the bird creature had left a few wounds, and perhaps that would inconvenience her further down the line (as it tended to do), but for now she was rested, repaired and ready for action.

"...Thank you, kind stranger," Mujha said, gracefully getting out of her bedroll and quickly rolling it up, "I would never have imagined I would meet someone as...mysterious and kind as you in the middle of this wilderland. Now, I suggest you prepare what you have with you..." she paused to place the bedroll in the carriage, then began to slip back into her chainmail armour and find a place for her Explorer's Pack, "We must continue on my selected route as soon as possible. Yesterday was supposed to be the day I would reach this supposedly...eerie city. And I wish to make up for lost time. With luck we might be able to make it by...uh, about lunchtime. Let's go."

With the pack in the carriage and the armour on her person, she quickly jumped over the sands to awaken her pack mule.

[TheRedStranger]

 The mule bucked slightly and shook it's blonde mane at her touch. Stubbornly, it twitched its red furred snot about and closed its green eyes once more with a dismissive snort. She did not have time to waste, for her own coin purse's sake! Like the flood-rains to the wadi's of this strange land, The Festival of The Jubilees would soon swell the usually scant streets of Beth-Galea thick with excited pilgrims, ones whose debts and bonds of servitude were about be paid in full by religious rite. To Mujha it was the perfect time and place to set up market.  Hungry bellies, travel-weary feet, and thirsty tongues were the easiest things in the world to haggle. And with no fear of tax or tariff she too would be free to reap her profits in full, but only if she made it there in time! Why with the stock she had for the festival she could pay her guild-dues and easily prepare for her more personal adventure to neighboring Qadesh. Her best course of action was to push hard and fast pace early morning, driving a good head start against the coming heat of the fiery noon sun. By this evening she could hopefully reach the town and set up shop, and perhaps commune with some of her fellow guild members in the town to get a better layout of the streets, where  to sell, what to trade, and what to watch out for when it came to both risk and reward.

[Make a 1d20 wisdom check  (animal handling bonus if you have it).]

 

[WarTraveller]

10 hours ago, TheRedStranger said:

[Make a 1d20 wisdom check  (animal handling bonus if you have it).]

[1d20 Roll = 20 w/ +1 for Wisdom Bonus]

[Animal Handling Bonus = +1]

[Total Roll = 22]

[Wisdom Base = 13 / Check Success]

[ILOVEVHS]

"You're welcome." He smiled kindly before following her advice, gathering the few items he left out on the campsite for cooking or other uses. Upon getting ready, he approached her again, looking a bit skeptical at how this mule could transport us there that fast.

[TheRedStranger]

[Natural 20! Automatic success. The mule does not just stop being obnoxious it waltzes to the carriage and turns around even offers a ride to Caleb. Write this how you will for such a good rule. :)]

[WarTraveller]

"Come on, beast. Come on!" Mujha shouted with determination as she rushed around the beast, getting it upright and on its four feet in seconds. The beast tried to defy its master, snorting and braying as she pulled it up, trying to keep itself on the floor. But Mujha was having none of it. She was hoping to get to Qadesh as fast as possible, and no mere mule was going to get in the way of that.  

Mujha, in a sense, had good skill with animals. In her old home she had trained with them many times, partly in preparation for her time as a merchant or merely as a pastime, managing to get them on their feet no matter what. Mujha grunted and growled, almost as if she was trying to speak the language of the mule (...whatever that may be) and waving her arms around in an attempt to calm the creature. The mule continued to relent, but eventually (and slowly) stopped. It stopped trying to sit down and instead calmed, standing up right and merely staring at the dragonborne.

"Yes, yes, that's it..." Mujha sighed, stroking the mule under its chin, "Good boy. You're a good...BOY. Now, come this way. Come on..."

Mujha led the mule back to the carriage and managed to keep it in place. It snorted and blew hot air from its nose, scattering sand particles across the terrain, as Mujha finished attaching the harness around it. When it was done, she looked at Caleb's confused face, smiling proudly, "Impressed? Let us say I...have a way with animals." 

She tugged on the harness and the mule brayed in response, walking a bit towards Caleb and nudging him with its snout, sitting its lower half down with an invitational manner. Mujha smiled, "Well look at that. Looks like someone wants to give the helpful stranger a ride..."

[ILOVEVHS]

Because of his previous doubt, Caleb was surprised to see how well Mujha was able to tame the stubborn mule. His expression changes to a surprised looking smile. "I'll say. Impressive, Mujha." He's soon caught off guard when the mule nudges him, watching him, lowering his bottom half. "Well...if he's going to so polite." He gently sat on him, having had a bit of experience around equines before.

[WarTraveller]

"Right then!" Mujah cried, tugging on the braying mule's harness once more, "And away we go!"

With a kick, the mule slowly began trekking across the sands, lugging the heavy cart behind it with reasonable speed. Mujah did not ride, either in the carriage or on the mule like Caleb, instead staying behind the mule and moving it along with gentle pokes and jabs into its side to keep it moving. It wasn't long before this mini-convoy had begun moving at full speed, and equally as long before the sun's rays began beating down on them once more. It was soon another day in the middle of this vast wilderness, and the heat from the sun swallowed the two travellers in its intensity. The winds were far less harsh but it still managed to throw particles of sand and dust into their faces and barely-aching bodies, irritating them but nevertheless inviting them to push on. Mujha was back in her chain armour, its plating taking the main brunt of the abrasive wind, while she had pulled her hood up over her head, leaving only her pale white snout sticking out of the front. The sand shifted beneath her feet with a worrying intensity, but it managed to hold her weight all the same.

Mujha's face remained stoic; the water and meal of the past night had strengthened her quite a bit, and her ice powers were now stronger than ever. Even now the coldness spread through her veins as quickly and as efficiently as her blood, keeping her cool in the vicious heat and allowing her to blow gentle breaths of a chilly fog over the mule to keep it cool and keep it going. The fabled city of Qadesh was near now, she could feel it in her supercooled bones, and any hour now they would be privy to its supposed charms.

Finally, after a few hours of this walking, drinking water and sharing stories from her homeland and culture, Mujha noticed it. A shimmering tower from over the hill, one rich and dense and covered in gold and bronze. One tower gave way to two, then three, then finally a whole bunch of them, surrounded by sandstone walls and even a few rather out of place trees encircling them.

"This...isn't Qadesh," Mujha sighed, "We're still a continent over. Still, this will be a good place to stock up on supplies before we move out again. We're almost there, I can feel it."

 

Edited September 7, 2016 by WarTraveller
Changed some details owing to information supplied by the dungeon master

[ILOVEVHS]

Over the long mule ride, Caleb was mainly silent, observing the surroundings of a place he's never been, at one point, he rested on top of the mule, getting back a bit of sleep he lost while watching the flowers boil. He woke again by the time they reached the towers, hoping he didn't miss anything important from her stories. Seeing the towers up ahead, he listened to her speak.

"Well, better closer there than farther. Let's see what we can find around here."

[WarTraveller]

"Heh, yeah let's go."

Mujha gave the mule another quick poke and it moved forward, tumbling into the town like it was nothing. The town itself was rather unusual, holding a rather gothic theme in all of its buildings as well as its layout. The way in was marked with what looked like round orbs with a certain amount of magic circling around inside of it, lighting the orb up and acting as a powerful pseudo-torch of some kind. The harsh sands surrounding them slowly gave way to colder cobblestone, albeit still gritty by way of errant particles of sand blown onto it by passing storms. The road led into a strange alleyway, lined on either side with tall buildings and stalls and people putting their freshly-washed clothes out to dry on lines. It all looked incredibly busy, and this was merely the first road into the whole place. Mujha got a small excited look on her face.

"All these shopowners. All busy, all buying and selling and trying to get rich. Hmm..." Mujha quickly dashed ahead of the mule and approached a random pedestrian, "Excuse me, are you a local of this village? If so, I have a few questions to ask you."

[TheRedStranger]

[Roll Charisma with disadvantage.]

[WarTraveller]

26 minutes ago, TheRedStranger said:

[Roll Charisma with disadvantage.]

[1d20 Rolls = 6/1]

[Disadvantage Rules = 1]

[Charisma Bonus = +2]

[Total Roll = 3]

[Base Charisma = 14 - Check Fail]

[TheRedStranger]

[Critical Fail!]

The bearded man she approached answered with a shrill scream. His sandled foot caught his long linen tunic. Green and beige striped cloth flew upwards as the portly fellow crashed to his backside with a pained grown. His tightly wound turban disheveled, he stared up, gaping and stuttering in foreign language until his mouth managed to fumble forth some quivering Common.

"M-monster! G-guards tu me, please! Gaurds? Gaurds!" 

 It was a foolish decision, one Mujha did not even realized she had made before it was too late. Caleb watched with wide eyes as Mujha's zeal proceeded her reason. The heated wind caught her hood, blowing it to her broad shoulders, exposing her gilded eyes and grinning fangs. This was a world not use to seeing Dragonborne and she just stormed in with the subtly and grace of a flock of Gas-spores drifting in a volcano. 

[White or black.] 

[WarTraveller]

Mujha gulped, the look of shock and just a touch of fear in her eyes, "Okay. Good talk..."

[White]

[TheRedStranger]

 "Jaydo!" A women shouted from behind Mujha, young and wavering. 

[Make a dexterity or strength (athletics) check Mujha (your choice)]

[White or black Caleb.]

[WarTraveller]

1 hour ago, TheRedStranger said:

[Make a dexterity or strength (athletics) check Mujha (your choice)]

[I pick Dexterity - better chance of meeting requirements]

[1d20 roll = 13]

[Dexterity Bonus = 0]

[Total Roll = 13]

[Dexterity Base = 10 - Check Success]

[TheRedStranger]

[Lady rolls a 20...actually an automatic success in a contest.]

  Before Mujha could apologize or explain herself, she felt a shoulder and hand shiver her aside. So quick and sudden was the blow that she was caught in mid-step and even though the person doing so felt so much smaller than herself, the blow was perfectly timed when she was most off balanced. She tumbled on her side Against the cobble stone,  her muscled forearm and taking the brunt of fall. She looked up to see the women in an dark red head-dress and black and scarlet robes decorated with metal beads. 

Caleb watched as a younger swarthy skinned and bearded man fumbled off a heavy-packed camel. The man dug his dusty hands passed his gray, threadbare robes and into a scarlet and violet shash about his waist. The half-elf could see the flash of a curved silver sheath bundled into the fabric. "Aesha! Stand back girl, now!" The man shouted as a crowd of passerbys stopped in their tacks, whispering amongst themselves. Still no guards came, yet they were garnering some harsh looks and undue attention... One middle aged man, portly with a thick and oiled mustached, in particular amongst the crowd, began to eye Caleb with suspicion. 

 

[WarTraveller]

Mujha groaned, holding her aching arm with her other hand, "And pray tell, what was that for? That hurt, you know!"

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb observed the situation and sighed to himself, quite upset by the siitation and the treatment. Before he could step in, he noticed the mustached man observing him. Seeking to end this without cinflict, he approached, within a perfectly long enough distance to still talk and asked. "I'm sorry sir, is there a problem?"

[TheRedStranger]

"Ghyrkitqua..." The man mumbled under his breath to others in the crowd. Two women aside the squat man dressed in beige, green bead-studded robes and black headdresses whispered nervously to each other. Caleb caught one of the women eyeing his ears with a shocked look over a dark veil, a look of anxious acknowledgment over that ominous foreign word. 

The bearded man speaking Common all the while raced between Mujha and the woman named Aesha, gaurding her and the fallen elder.  With a flash he drew a curved dagger from his scarlet sash with a flash of silver. "In the name of Razule-khan, stay back from them both, creature..." 

 

 

 

 

[WarTraveller]

"So, is this your greeting around here?" Mujha asked with an increasingly-irate sneer, "A single minute in your city and you knock me flat on my backside and hold a dagger to me?" She got to her feet in a white flash, streams of enraged mist blowing out of her flaring nostrils, "Never seen a Dragonborne or a Half-Elf before, huh?"

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb recognized the offensive word, regarding his ears. He sighed and rolled his eyes, very annoyed by the treatment he's now attracting. He pulled up his hood, seemingly in embarassment, but in actually making a little disguising illusion. He hoped that the illusion would work properly, if it did, everyone would see his ears as normal.

[WarTraveller]

There was still no real response from the attackers, so Mujha approached them further, "Nothing to say? I demand to know what is going on here!"

[TheRedStranger]

The bearded man himself took one defiant step towards Mujha, blade tightly gripped. His voice was clear, resolute, one of man tempered by conflicts past. He began to shift his footing and tilt him broach from her left side, as if to circle her counter-clockwise.  "You stalk our caravans  and pillage the roadsides at night? Feed off the sheep of starving shepherds?  Now you strike my father, and have the audacity to come this close to civilization with such demands?" 

"Tijar! Do not provoke the beast...I beg of you..." She picked the old man up from under his shoulder. The old man groaned, rubbing his back in pain. 

"Quiet yourself, Aesha." The bearded tradesman demanded. "Take grandfather and nurse what wounds he may have. He is ill enough already..." 

 She gave Tijar a slight reluctant bow of her head. "Yes, Tijar...just be careful." She carefully went out of her way to avoid both Mujha, staying close instead to Caleb's side of the road. Breathless and grip slipping, Aesha was too transfixed on Mujha to notice a stray rock in her path. She stumbled, almost loosing her grip on her grandfather. Some of the crowd neared closer as if the desire to help was outweighing their hesitance to get involved. 

[WarTraveller]

"Stalking caravans? Eating sheep? Attacking old people?" Mujha sounded almost offended, but attempted to calm herself and speak more rationally, "My clan does not do that. Heck, my species doesn't do do those things, at least not to my knowledge. A few rogue ones, perhaps, but not my people. Because my people...they're..."

Mujha stopped, the flash of the fires in her head once more. She shook her head to clear the thoughts and cleared her throat as well, "I and my companion mean no harm. We are mere tradespeople, merchants, looking for supplies for a safe journey to the land of Qadesh. We are not here to eat your livestock or strike down your elderly. We JUST...want to pass through without getting a dagger in the sternum. Is that possible here? Can you look at a Dragonborne without the urge to kill it?"

[TheRedStranger]

[Make a Charisma (persuasion) check if you have the skill. Charisma if not.]