Alright, welcome to this little game of D&D 4e, for the Adventure titled Barrow of the Ogre King. Let's get started, shall we?

Players:

1. daganev - Ralzik - Warlock (Infernal)
2. Isuka - Tsuujin - Fighter
3. Gaetele - Kuro - Warlord
4. Bali - Zorga - Rogue
5. Ytraelux - Aesamar - Wizard

--


Fate has brought you all to the town of Loudwater, a well-defended rest stop for caravans and riverboats that has definitely seen better times. It is a stalwart and vigorous settlement, surviving when its neighbors have fallen, though it's population has dwindled to a steady 2,000 inhabitants, made up mostly of humans and half-elves. Most of the residents are too young to remember the city's glory days, but they still hold a bit of pride in the fact that it is still standing at all after the ravages of the Spellplague.

To the north stand the dark trees of the High Forest, while to the south lies the High Moor, infamous for its monsters that lurk within the mists, waiting eagerly to feed on unwary travelers or townsfolk.

And on this day, which is far from pleasant with it's brooding storm clouds and distant peals of thunder, you all find yourselves in the southern square of Loudwater, having been brought here for different reasons, planning to stay for different lengths of time. Carts and tents surround a large communal well in the center of the plaza, acting as a small market for the citizens of Loudwater who bustle about the area, shopping for food, clothing and crafts.



At the northeast corner of the square sits a small shop with a sign that bears the image of a unicorn horn, and hourglass, and the words "Garwan's Curiosities." Windows provide a view of bizarre items, including a shrunken head, candy wrapped in colorful leaves, playing cards, smoking accessories, fancifully decorated tankards, and more.

The southeast is guarded by a vicious little shop nestled against the city's wall. This dimly lit establishment smells of oil and steel, a sign reading "Starra's Knives" being hung above the door, and through it you can see a large display containing hundreds of different types of blades and daggers.

Lastly, set along the northwest perimeter of the square is an additional source of coming and going. A sign with a green-painted tankard of ale proclaims the nature of this establishment--the Green Tankard Tavern. The bar's large common room holds a mixed group that includes townspeople, riverboat folk, merchants, farmers, and one or two individuals wearing the badges of the Loudwater Patrol.

And, for now, here you are among it all, seeing to your own errands and goals. There is a saying, however, that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans...

Hello fellow travelers from near and far.

I'll make my way towards the Curiosity Shop. Unless you'd rather we stayed together as a group. In which case, the inn sounds good to me.

Do we have any gold to start off with?

I'm going to go mingle with the locals, see whats going on the down-low, etc. Maybe case out Starra's Knives. Whoever wants to come along is welcome. Just dont get in my way.

((I guess I should keep OOC stuff in parenthesis, or spoiler tags, just so there's no confusion. As for that, you can have whatever reasons you want for your character being in the southern square. Curiosity Shop works. Just waiting for everyone to get their posts before I further the main plot.

Aaand you start off with 100 gold, minus the cost of your equipment.))

As Aesamar approaches the Curiosity shop, he takes notice of a mean looking dwarf in black leather fidgeting around outside, a set of particularly unpleasant daggers tucked into his belt. Looking further, however, he can see a much more elderly dwarf with a long white beard puffing happily away on an old pipe.

((Is it already assumed we are apart of a group? Do we know each other already?))

((You can make a street-wise check if you're looking for actual information on anything important or specific))

Zorga makes his way towards the knife shop where a small group of townsfolk are gathered, talking happily about local gossip. When they see the dragonborn approaching, however, they seem to grow a bit nervous, their conversation quickly dropping off as their glances begin to border on stares.

((The idea was no, you don't know eachother, and at the moment you all have your own reasons for being in Loudwater and in the South Square. You'll get your purpose soon enough though, I promise!))

((Zorga = Female - and yeah, I thats what I thought would happen, a streetwise check, but I wasnt looking for anything specific.))

What're you looking at you disgusting excuses for townsfolk? You got a problem? WELL DO YOU!?!

((What's the website again for doing the dice rolls?)) I'm going to do a history check to learn more about the spellplague.

((invisible castle, but you don't need to do a history check for the spellplague, that's more than common knowledge.

"In the Year of Blue Fire (1385 DR), a magical disaster
called the Spellplague changed the face of Toril, its
lost sibling Abeir, and even the planes themselves.
Flesh, stone, magic, space, and perhaps even the flow
of time were infected and changed.

Most scholars believe that the Spellplague was
the direct result of the murder of the goddess Mystra
at the hands of Cyric, which Shar engineered. This
popular theory holds that magic was bound so long in
Mystra’s Weave that, when the goddess died, it spon-
taneously and ruinously burst its bonds. Areas of wild
magic, already outside the constraints of the Weave,
touched off first, but the plague raged on and on in
ever-widening spirals, devastating some places and
leaving others untouched. It even tore through the
realms of demons, gods, and lost souls before the end.

Ancient realms that had passed beyond easy reach
of the world were pulled back, such as the Feywild
(called Faerie in ancient days). The Abyss, home of
demons, fell through the planes, unleashing swarm-
ing evil before finding its new home at the bottom of
the Elemental Chaos. Even the long-forgotten sibling
world Abeir burned in the plague of magic, despite
having been cut off from Toril for tens of millen-
nia. Portions of Abeir’s landscape were transposed
with areas of Toril in the disaster. Such landscapes
included their living populations, bringing realms
such as Akanûl and Tymanther to Faerûn’s face.
Across the Trackless Sea, an entire continent of the
lost world reappeared.

The Spellplague was a potent agent of change, but
it also set off a whole string of secondary catastrophes. "

That's the basic gist of it, though the specifics aren't actually important to this adventure at all.))

((You roll your own checks in this game, which will speed stuff up. Use invisiblecastle.com))

The small gathering of people back away from the raging female dragonborn, one of them shaking his head.

"Nothing," he says, voice shaky, "no trouble. No trouble."

The entire group hurries off, heading for the tavern where there is usually a member of the local patrol to be found.

I am going to quietly follow the group towards the tavern.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1960360/

Ok, not so quietly. Heh.

((Also, in the notes section, say what the roll is for, so like, if it's a stealth check or something. Aaand use the BBCode text it provides to have the format look like this " 1d20+0=1"))

Ralzik moves to follow the fleeing group, but as he begins to move, one of them looks back and catches sight of him.

"No trouble," the townsperson pleas, twisting about and staggering backwards at the new sight of yet another inhuman creature coming towards him and his friends. "Please," he adds, before his companions pull him roughly into a run towards the tavern doors.

((meh, that requires logging in heh))

"There won't be no trouble if you tell us what all the fuss is about." Ralzik says to the dwarf.

((The dwarf was in front of the curiosity shop, which was Ytraelux, not Bali, so we're just going to go with the group that ran from Bali, I'm guessing))

The half-elf townsperson, halfway through the door, gave the githyanki a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" he cried, feeling a bit safer now that his back was covered by an entire building full of people he knew. "What fuss? Your friend over there," he pointed at Zorga, "is the one throwing the fuss. Ask her what the fuss is. We didn't do anything. We didn't want any trouble."

Turns his full attention to Zorga and shouts out, "What's all the fuss about?"

Kuro, standing in the center of the square, turned her head skyward and noticed the bad weather. She decided it would be in her best interests to seek some shelter. Ignoring the noisy crowd that was gathering to the southeast, she moved towards the tavern.

*Turning his back on the commotion and facing the happy dwarf* "Say there, what can you tell me about Loudwater or her neighbouring areas that might be of interest to a young student of Arcana? Any rumours of unusual going-on or suchlike?"

(Diplomacy check if you want it: 1d20+0=8)

((EDIT: One more question: What exactly is 11 on the town map? It's on there multiple times.))

After shooing off the townsfolk Zorga turns her head to address Ralzik.

What'd you want? Eh, I dont care. Here, come help me case out this joint. I need some new knives. Wait, nevermind - dont. Your creepy Gith' behind will draw too much attention. Just watch outside and yell if anyone official looking is coming.

Zorga enters the shop, hoping to steal some fine goods...

(( I'll embed hyperlinks to checks in my posts from now on))