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

[WarTraveller]

7 hours ago, TheRedStranger said:

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

[1d20 Roll = 10]

[Persuasion Bonus  = +4]

[Charisma Bonus = +2]

[Total Roll = 16]

[Charisma Base = 14 - Check Success]

[TheRedStranger]

Tijar leered at the Dragonborne and then to Caleb, lowering his blade and side-stepping to Aesha as if to help her. "To be half-Elven your ears are rather round." He pointed to them. "You must be one of The Nhandam...Is she with you? Are you on pilgrimage?"

[ILOVEVHS]

[I'd like to roll a history check for that word please.]

[TheRedStranger]

[Rolled a 5...You know nada.]

 

 

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb was surprised that he saw through the illusion....then again, people had seen him already by then. He didn't really think it through that well. At the same time, the Nhandam he spoke of eluded him. "Yes, she's with me. And I'm afraid I can't be one of the...Nha...one of them, because I've never heard of them."

[TheRedStranger]

 The man that mumbled "Ghyrkitqua..." under his breath to others in the crowd grew increasing flustered, confused by Caleb's change of ears. The two women aside the portly dessert dweller scurried about as he pushed up his sleeve and forced himself out of the crowd. Others still nervously whispered even more frantically to each other. 

"Musharick!" The portly man accused the younger dessert dweller aside Mujha. "You would show these beguilers mercy when they struck your elder father! How dare you all... Wait until the Clerics hear of your dishonor!"  The man twice his age and half his sized wagged a finger flicking distance to the younger's nose. "Wait indeed... You might as well saddle with them like kin... And ride straight into Destruction."

 [You all feel this might be a threat...]

[WarTraveller]

Mujha grew desperate from this threat, waving her arms to try and explain, "But I DIDN'T strike down your father! I merely asked him where the Merchant's Guild is! He just reacted poorly Will you not listen to me? Do your beliefs blind you from brutal honesty? Please, I do not wish to make this sort of scene!"

[Mike Arcade]

[Here comes a new Challenger! XD]
[Yeah I'm apart of this group now too, nice to be involved an please welcome Azrael!]

With the man flustered and unawares, a large man silhouette skulked through the crowd in a quiet catwalk....

"You'll know our faith soon enough..." The man groused through grinding teeth. "You very well might get to meet our Maker..."

At the flash of unsheathed steal, the shadow barreled out of the crowd in a sprint. Noticing the rattle of chain-mail, the man's hesitated. He turned his head briefly to see A giant of a man towered above the would be assassin, though he looked like a native of Quadesh the man wore chain mail and clothing foreign to the land, he had hair akin to the color of flames and eyes to match the depths of the ocean. Despite his height he had rather somewhat soft features despite the stubble on his face.

The attacker struggled as the armored giant of a man snatched his left arm and as swirled around to jab his the knife towards the apparent solider. Caleb and Mujha  winced instinctively as the armored giant  of a fellow twisted the portly man's arm with a sharp, palpable crack. The gruesome sound was followed by an unmanly squawk. The curved, rusty knife clattered against sandy cobblestone, useless against the new assailant.

"I wouldn't advice doing whatever it is your planning, leave now or face the consequences"

[TheRedStranger]

The man collapses to the side of the road along side his blade, howling and murmuring foreign curses words in pain. His arm is distended at awkward twisted angle.  [Azreal's reaction.]

 Tajir sneers at the man and spits on the man's face. "And you question my piety with such a blasphemous tongue, fowl dog..." He turned to make sure to distance himself between Mujha and the Paladin, walking backwards to Aesha and his father. At a reasonable distance he turned around and offers his father his shoulder to help him on his camel. 

Just as Tajir supported his father and offered his back, however, the portly man scowled in rage and pain on the ground. He pulled himself half-way up and dived for his blade with his unmarked arm, face beat red, neck muscles bulging as he reached out to its weathered hilt. Mujha spied the man and see his intent instantly. 

[Attack of opportunity for Mujha.]

[Mike Arcade]

[Azrael's Reaction]

Azrael looks on to the man in pain with silent judgement at his folly, he looks upon the two natives of Quadesh involved in this squabble, rather then say anything immediately Azrael thinks that it would be best to stay here and prepare to move if the portly man decides to once more do something foolish. 

[WarTraveller]

5 hours ago, TheRedStranger said:

[Attack of opportunity for Mujha.]

Mujha saw the injured, portly attacker reaching for his weapon, grasping it in his mangled hands and reacted with all the speed her heritage could provide. In a flash, she breathed a slew of misty fog from her snout, slamming into the ground between the attacker's hand and his blade, creating a small wall of spiked ice that blocked any access to the weapon. Mujha picked it up, placing it in her survival pack, before threateningly gripping the handle to her longsword.

"Had enough? Or shall we continue to...negotiate?"

[Request a...uh, what kind of stat check would see if the attacker was affected by that ice wall and will stand down? I'm guessing Charisma]

[TheRedStranger]

[I will give advantage on those rolls if Caleb "helps" with the negotiating. ;)]

[ILOVEVHS]

Observing the newcomer's arrival and the scene, Caleb steps in, deciding to act, he appears beside Mujha and this mustached man. "She's right. I'm sure we can both leave on peaceful terms..." He starts patting the man's back, only for him to suddenly feel something rather shocking stinging him.

[TheRedStranger]

The mustached man seized and shaked in pain, almost bouncing on his rotund belly. He cussed and hissed in his foreign tongue. "I am disarmed you fool!  Must you torture me now? The guards would shackle us all for this. Just let me go. Unhand me from your filthy sorcery!"

 Tajir winced at hearing this and spat once more."You think yourself greater than the beasts and infidels that steal our livelihoods on the road? Your violence and vile tongue is one belonging to a crooked path."

  The young dessert-dweller bowed his head at the Paladin, Mujha, and then to Caleb. "You have my thanks, may your Path be guided. We apologize for this misunderstanding." He gestured a hand to his elderly father and the women named Aesha now tending to him, offering him water as he sat at the feet and shade of his patient pack-camel.  "My father is sickly and nurses a fouling wound. It is not our custom to visit Beth-Galea during these days; it is not our custom to associate with those close-minded to the Thawhshada. The Bachari have rarities during their season of giving. With such comes healing without usury. We have little, what we have is needed to continue our trade as merchants. "

The portly man pulled his hand free from the ground, the ice slowly melting in the desert heat. He clutched his hand protectively to his chest and rolled on his back. "Seeking healing from the unfaithful. You have no right to balance me in your uneven scales, Maltumassar!"

Tajir gave the man a stomp in the ribs for his trouble. "Quiet, Reviler... If the Clerics you speak so found of heard you, the tip of your tongue would meet a blade!"

 The portly man rocked in pain, groaning at Caleb. He grasped his shoulder and squeezed in desperation with his frost-bitten hand. "Let me go, Mage... You have my word as a faithful man, I shall leave you be..."

[High-roll. The Paladin suspects something...]

[Mike Arcade]

"Excuse me..."

Everyone turned their gaze on the Paladin.

"I'm here to investigate a recent theft from the coffers of a local monastery"

He hovered over the portly man, still searching his features with narrowed eyes. From the corner of his eye he kept note of the women that had been close on  his heels this whole time. 

"Sir," he said softly almost in a whisper, "despite your poor choices today, you can start doing right by honestly answering a few questions..."

[TheRedStranger]

 The man rolled his eyes, rocking on his back and clutching his distended arm, which was swelling at the wrist and already mottled with blossoming bruises. "Or what," he wheezed, "break my legs next? Truly you are a Holy man, Paladin... " He closed his eyes and grimaced in pain, beads of sweat dripping off his forehead. "I have done nothing wrong! I am an innocent man, provoked by revilers and troublemakers! Let me and my two poor wives be; you have done enough harm by injuring their only protector on the road ahead... I will go my path, you all may go your own."

[The thought of polygamy could disgust Caleb and Mujha to some degree; they come from cultures that find such unethical.]

 

[WarTraveller]

Mujha flashed a twisted sneer of a face, "W-Wait, TWO wives? Is...is one not enough for you?"

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb shared Mujha's face of disdain, accustomed to the idea of a single wife. Regardless, he sighed. trying to ignore it and pay attention.

[TheRedStranger]

"And just what might be wrong with that?" The man returned their mutual disdain with a wrinkled, defiant sneer. He struggled up in sitting position, holding his injured arm close to his chest. His muscles twitched, betraying signs of pain. Yet still he stayed stubborn. "Do your races not have any real men, those who can actually provide for more than one wife?" He scoffed, as if the obvious answer was a resounding no. He then shook his head as if this whole  debacle was a foolish joke. "Just, leave me be..."

[Mike Arcade]

[Perception 16 +1]

Azrael ignores the reactions of this man's Polygamous beliefs, as wrong as they are to him, and rather turns a look to his wives, and not for any form of admiration . He noticed how one of these wives have rather...saggy breasts would be the only way to describe them, they don't seem to have any recognizable feminine form at all. Something was very odd about them...

He walks over to the Dragonborn nearby and whispers "I don't think these are his wives, or women for that matter, I need you to follow my lead, can you do that?"

[WarTraveller]

"Anything to get away from this ghoulish circus," Mujha sighed, placing her longsword back into its scabbard, "All I wanted was directions. Perhaps now we can move out of this scenario and get into the town proper. I need supplies, a map...I suppose a drink or two wouldn't hurt. Caleb, it would be wise to make our move," she quickly turned to the Paladin, "After you, Paladin."

[Mike Arcade]

Azreal sauntered over to the man's "wives." Both glanced worryingly at each other through their veils as the paladin approached them. He read their telling eyes with suspicion. 

If his aspersions were correct, he could catch these thieves with not only their guard down but have them quickly arrested with witnesses and authorities in tow.  He calmly paced around, probing their nerve with predatory keenness. Swiftly the paladin sniffed out the more nervous of the two and pressed with a question: 

"Miss are you aware of an assassination attempt and thievery last night? Have you happened to seen anything else suspicious around lately?"

 He stops his pace and stared at this wife straight in her eyes, observing their shape and expression . "A few thieves have stolen at a monastery of all places, to many a rather holy place for those who believe. Not only this, but one of thieves made a considerable effort on a presbyter's life. One that was surely enacted with malice of forethought. Such an act is, by the law of this land and words of its faith, punishable not only in this city, but far, far after death as well..."

Azrael's tone twisted into a strange growl "Any of what I've told you sound familiar?"

[TheRedStranger]

 Everybody watched the Paladin in ashen silence, all except Aesha who was far too preoccupied with her sickly grandfather. "Don't worry..." She drained a water skin about her waist on the end of her crimson sash then dabbed the damp cloth on the old fellow's forehead. "It's just a fever. We are close now, just rest..."

 The elderly man croaked a shallow breath. "Child...The beasts abroad the roadside have grown in strength, in number. We do not merely contend with the occasional jackle as it was during the time of my youth. Truly, it seems... it seems... as I g-grow older the world grows more treacherous. As it waxes, I doth wane..."

 Mujha's long white ear twitched at the sound of his dry, wheezing coughs. Caleb winced in a reflex of sympathy. The old one's lips were chapped, cracked, and dry as chalk; yet his forehead was dripping like a raincloud with sweat. She could not help but feel a small pang of pity grow inside her at the sight. It was as if his body was breaking to the whims of this land neighboring Qadesh, an amalgam of both downpour and dessert unevenly patched through its rough countenance. 

As she wet his lips and wiped away the salty sweat from his brow, his gnarled and spotted hand gripped her young slender wrist. "Tajir must settle for your sake...if I...if I pass...This is not the byways of my youth, they wind and twist like bramble-bushes, their safety has grown as tenuous as my bones." 

She dabbed more and more, frantically treating him. "Do not speak that! Do not tempt such spirits of sorrow, lest they truly come. Keep your tongue still, please!" She lifted the water-skin to his wrinkled lips, yet little water was there for him to sip.

"How...how dare you!" Abruptly hissed the portly man at Mujha's knees. He shot up to feet with a pained shout. His shoulder was trembling up and down as he held to his bruised and bloated arm. "Harassing my wives! Is this what the oh so holy Bachari send to protect their monastery? An overgrown boy that berates women? Leave them alone and myself for that matter!"

The man spun around and sneered at Tajir, apparently eager to counter with a new flurry of insults. "See what you associate with? No wonder your father is sickly - the Prophet's favor has left you! It's punishment for your sin... Now leave us be!"

Tears began to well in Aesha's eyes. Now was her turn to shoot straight up with a stomp of her sandled foot. "Be quite you old crow! Leave then! Leave us be rather! May the beasts abroad the road take you then!"

"Aesha, ignore the reviling fool..." Tajir rose his hand and spoke with calm, constrained command. "If any favor has left one on this road, it's the fool before me with the broken wrist..." The young tradesman dug his finger into the fat man gut like a dagger through a overstuffed pillow. "Go then, leave us be if you so choose. And mercy be upon your wives for dealing such a choleric husband..."

 The portly man turned his long thin nose up in spiteful retort. "Hummm... I will happily do so then..."

He beckoned to his wives with his still frost-bitten fingers of his other hand.  "Come, come! We leave..." 

[Mujha and Caleb roll a wisdom check]

 

[WarTraveller]

14 minutes ago, TheRedStranger said:

[Mujha and Caleb roll a wisdom check]

[1d20 Roll = 14]

[Wisdom Bonus = +1]

[Total Roll = 15]

[Base Wisdom = 13 - Check Success]

[TheRedStranger]

3 hours ago, WarTraveller said:

[1d20 Roll = 14]

[Wisdom Bonus = +1]

[Total Roll = 15]

[Base Wisdom = 13 - Check Success]

[You feel this guy is rushing things... Why so quick to run off, eh? Especially with a most likely now broken wrist.]

[WarTraveller]

17 minutes ago, TheRedStranger said:

[You feel this guy is rushing things... Why so quick to run off, eh? Especially with a most likely now broken wrist.]

The frostbitten man turned to leave ever so suddenly, still gesturing to his wives as he went. Mujha stared at him for a second, a thousand thoughts rushing through her head. This was all getting confusing, and it appeared that her less than thoughtful intrusion had revealed a lot more about the two of them than Mujha was comfortable with. Just as she had hoped to escape this situation, she instead got deeper and deeper into it. She reached out and grabbed the man's shoulder, seeing him wince from the coldness of her skin as she turned him around.

"Hmm...why so quick to run off? Got something important? Are you...hiding something, perchance?"

[ILOVEVHS]

It seemed odd to Caleb that this man would want to just leave so soon. He stepped in front of him as Mujha grabbed his shoulder. "Yeah, seems odd that you'd run off like this so soon...what's on your mind, exactly that would hurry you from this?" His eyes slimmed.

[TheRedStranger]

"To...to leave you all be..." Despite years of sun, the color drained out of the man's mustached face. "Truly... this what you want, yes?" He swallowed, the lump in his throat bobbing nervously. With his pallid fingers he stroked his mustache as he began to meekly pull from their grip. He tried to still his nerves with a defiant glower. Once again he protested, his face kinking up into a sneer. "Remember...the guards will not be naive when it comes to you outlanders. I am injured and one, you are three and fit. I doubt the guards would favor your side of this tale if they catch you manhandling me before you had to recount your actions... All I have to do is cry out to them, you know."

[WarTraveller]

Mujha sneered at the detestable smugness of the man in front of her, but kept her cool and growled, "Oh yes? And what about you? Would the guards have any problem with anything YOU have done?"

[ILOVEVHS]

"You're at fault too, old man, don't think that you're completely safe." Caleb backed up Mujah's piercing question.

[Mike Arcade]

[Charisma 18+2]

"Yes, my new found friends here have a point" Azrael looks upon the local's sneer towards himself "You've done a lot of talking yourself, which is much more then I can say for your wives here, tell me why don't they give us their story of why you ran around with a dagger in hand." Azrael turns toward his supposed wives, marching towards them "Why would an upcoming assassin bring his own wives to see him kill a man? What would be the point of that, unless they too were up to something as well..."

The paladin face to face with the supposed women he gave them both a chilling gaze, he will get the truth here and now "So I'm only going to say this one, come quietly and no harm shall come between you two...gentlemen."

[TheRedStranger]

On 10/13/2016 at 6:51 PM, Mike Arcade said:

[Charisma 18+2]

"Yes, my new found friends here have a point" Azrael looks upon the local's sneer towards himself "You've done a lot of talking yourself, which is much more then I can say for your wives here, tell me why don't they give us their story of why you ran around with a dagger in hand." Azrael turns toward his supposed wives, marching towards them "Why would an upcoming assassin bring his own wives to see him kill a man? What would be the point of that, unless they too were up to something as well..."

The paladin face to face with the supposed women he gave them both a chilling gaze, he will get the truth here and now "So I'm only going to say this one, come quietly and no harm shall come between you two...gentlemen."

 "Gentle...men?" Tajir took a step forward and squinted, hand blocking out the sun to better see the two draped women rather indistinct in the spectating crowd. He, like the Paladin distinguished them by their matching green sashes. "My dear guardsmen, I do believe you might be mis-"

 There was sudden searing flash, a loud thwoom, and the stark stink of acrid smoke. Caleb's sight washed over in a seering white light. He clasped his sensitive ears as his hearing rang aloud, muffling all the cries and shouts of the crowd ahead of him. He tugged low on his hood, opening his eyes only to see a thick veil of burning pale light and stinging smoke assaulting into his eyes. He blinked rapidly and stumbled, blind and deafened, only to feel a sharp kick in his stomach. Mujha all the while had winced reflexively, catching a glance in the corner of her eye of the portly man slipping something from his sleeve and tossing it to the ground. Her secondary eyelid instinctively closed to block out the smoke as she lept black from the flash, sparing her from the noxious fumes. Looking through that protective lens she only had to blink once to have her vision return to her. Quickly she summarized the situation. Injured arm gingerly tucked close to his chest, the man shoved his heel into her elven friend's chest. He stumbled back only to be caught by Tajir, his own eyes tearing but still able to see. As the man dashed and barreled through the crowd, Mujha noticed the portly man's mustache flying in a gust over his shoulder, an obvious fake. Suddenly Tajir shouted over the slight ringing in Mujha's own ears:

 "Go! Go! There is no doubt they're criminals now. I will help your friend, and I must tend to my father. The knight needs you!"

    

 

[WarTraveller]

"Argh, by the gods!" Mujha growled, "I am not spending my nights in a jail cell! Paladin, it would be wise to keep chase on that man! I will tend to our friend!" She turned to take care of the kneeling Caleb, holding a hand covered in cold mist to the impact area, "Caleb, are you okay?!"

[ILOVEVHS]

Caleb is coughing from the smoke around him whenever he is not groaning in pain. The ringing has impaired his hearing too much. "They won't stop ringing! I-I can't hear! I can't-*cough cough*-I can't SEE!" He is acting quite panicked now.

[TheRedStranger]

 [Azreal rolled an 18+1. Dex Save Passes! Attack roll 6 - fail.]

[The Chase Begins!]

  The Paladin glanced around briefly to notice the portly, once mustached man bolting and trying to strafe passed his broad-shouldered frame. Simultaneously the two accused pulled and fidgeted their hands surreptitiously under their sleeves. Azreal readied himself for a stumbling blow and a halting grasp of the chubby criminal, only to hear a deep, throaty voice growl from under the headdress of one of the alleged wives, a voice certainly unbecoming of a lady. "Taste death, Khufar!" 

 With a quick flick of a hairy wrist, the charlatan rolled back their long, flowing sleeve, revealing a mechanism strapped atop their wrist, loaded with a gleaming crossbow-bolt the size of a dart. With a high-pitched twang it released. Despite his armor, Azreal weaved passed the bolt with feline grace. He shuffled aside only to have the buzzing bolt ricochet off one of his thick steel pauldrons in futility. as useless as a wasp stinging a stone. Yet still this proved to be a adequate ruse for the portly man to doge passed the paladin's grasp wtih a quick duck. Still gripping his twisted arm, he cursed foul blasphemies under his breath as he gained ground, pushing onlookers aside with a butting shoulder.  "Out of my way, you miserable son's of whores and jackals. Out of my way I say!" 

 The Paladin took chase, sprinting forward. The second "wife" countered with toss of a corked vile filled from under her own sleeve. The discrete glass vile was filled to the brim with a vicious, bubbling and brackish liquid and cartwheeled forwards like a throwing knife straight for his face. With a twist of his shoulders the vile tumbled passed him only to crash against the cobblestones and explode in a hissing, boiling mass, wafting up a noxious stink-cloud, fetid concoction smelling of sewage and swamp-gas. Again the three accused pushed and waded through the shocked crowd, seizing full advantage of their ruse. The two supposed women produced shivs from their sashes and thrusted at the narrow space between them and passersby, keeping them at bay lest they aspire to any naive notions of hindering their escape. The rushed for the open city gates and Azreal instantly understood their plan. They would cower and hide in the city, each a grain a disguised grain of sand amidst a whole dune. He could not allow this, now was his opportunity to prove himself and finally capture these fiends. They were his main and only lead for the crime against the monastery, a filthy deed he could not allow to go unpunished. 

 

[WarTraveller]

"Damn them! They are going to get away!" Mujha yelled as she still checked over Caleb's form, clearing the smoke around them with her ice breath, "If only I could just stop them! I...wait..."

She paused, checking to see if Caleb was now okay. He seemed to be, so she quickly apologised and gave chase too, weaving her way through the crowd with graceful efficiency, albeit still barrelling through those who tried to get in her way.  She side-stepped the puddle of burning goo, shoulder-charging her way into the courtyard where even now the three accused were making a mad dash for the city games. She rushed to the side of the Paladin, matching his pace and sprinting by his side, "It is okay! I have an idea! But, uh, I have no clue if it will work. I need to get closer to them so my ice breath can freeze them? Do you have any ideas to get us closer?!"

[ILOVEVHS]

He tried to get a hold of himself, struggling to move away from the smoke and rest his eyes, going as fast as he could until he could breath normal air again. Caleb's vision was still impaired, but he needed to think straight to recover.

[TheRedStranger]

[Make a constitution saving throw - Caleb.]

[If anyone needs hints then feel free to make an Intellegence Check.]

[WarTraveller]

[Intelligence Check Successful - Mujha knows what to do]

Mujha stopped, skidding her boots on the pebble-laden tiles as she panted. She couldn't keep up with the Paladin and those who would try to escape her grasp. She just wasn't fast enough. She had to admit - she had no idea what she could possibly do in such an environment. The long, torturous trek across the sands from the previous week had not done much for her physique, tiring her body and snuffing her icey flame. If that even made any sense. She just wasn't in the sort of condition to chase after them. But she knew who would...

With a revived spirit - and a candle lighting in her head - she turned backwards and rushed back through the crowds where she had foolishly left Caleb. Here, he was still lying on the tiles, rubbing at whatever was stuffed in his eyes. Mujha said little, instead quickly grabbing the nearest water bucket she could see. It was empty, to her annoyance. Still, wasn't going to stop her. She inhaled a lungful of air and exhaled white mist into the bucket, leaving a small amount of residue in the bottom of the bucket. 

"Caleb!" she said quickly, grabbing the water bucket tightly, "Stay still and tilt your head back."

He did as he was told, and Mujha slowly and carefully poured water into his eyes. Whatever was within them seemed to wash out and Caleb's eyes were restored to working (if incredibly red) order. He shook his head and blinked multiple times, getting the water out of them and regaining his vision. Mujha smiled again.

"Great! Are you okay? We need your help!"

[ILOVEVHS]

[Got an 11 on the D20.]