Phrax

Revenge of the Dragon

Tam narrowed his eyes back at Durwith. Veldir curse this dwarf! Spoiling all my fun! Durwith was far too insightful for his liking.

"Where are you all staying in town?" he asked as Beaduric finished speaking. If going straight to people's houses was off the table, the nobleman's suggestion of getting the lay of the land and keeping their ears to the ground seemed a pretty good option. Whether Lady Sheila had been kidnapped or not he wasn't sure, but tavern-room talk might shed some insight on that too.

Struck by inspiration, he span around to face Saxan and the nervous cleric. "Saxan! You're with the garrison here, right? You must have some kind of 'in' with the commander. Surely he'll know something about these families." He dug his friend in the ribs. "You know how old soldiers gossip!"

"Also," he added out of the side of his mouth in a way that was not very subtle at all and looking pointedly at Kismet, "who's your friend here?"

Revenge of the Dragon

@rush99999 Thanks, sorted it now. Took me a while to get the hang of the formulae! Also Durwith's reply made me laugh - that was exactly what I had planned!

Incidentally, everyone (and this is just out of nosiness): What are your histories with playing D&D?
I got into D&D just under two years ago, but fell for it hard. Before now I've only played physical tabletop games - I'm actually most familiar with Call of Cthuhlu. I usually end up DM-ing too, so am really looking forward to exploring Caitimus' world!

How about you guys? What systems do you use? Are you all old hands at this or new-ish too?

The Night Library

@Inda Suuper late with my reply, sorry! I might throw some other intros up too later if I get inspired, so there's a variety of story hooks. ^^

The Night Library

Margaret Lessing

The summer dusk lay thick along Wild Willow Road. Almost as soon as she rounded the corner Margaret could smell the heady scent of wisteria, honeysuckle and crushed nettle spilling out from the overgrown gardens. She felt her eyes begin to water involuntarily, and swiftly brushed the tears away with her woollen sleeve.

She hadn’t gardened for five years, not properly, since moving to her little bungalow in the centre of town. It was, as her daughter and son-in-law had earnestly reassured her, a lovely little house: no stairs to have to totter up, a clean modern electric kitchen, a paved courtyard behind her bedroom that got a square of sunlight at midday and had a bench for reading.

The smell of Wild Willow Road couldn’t help but remind her of the garden she’d left behind: the turned earth of its vegetable patch, the roses she had coaxed into life around the kitchen window. She’d expected these memories to be more painful, but surprisingly the bedraggled street made her smile.

The library at the end of the street was barely discernible from the other shuttered houses; Margaret made her way towards it guided only by the pin-pricks of light. Strange, she had lived in this town since she had been married but had never heard of the library before yesterday. The square of card in her hand felt like a talisman.

WANTED: ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN. Hours: Sunset-Sunrise, flexible. 28 Wild Willow Road.

She had dug the card out from a binder carried by the kindly, but somewhat condescending, representative of the University of the Third Age who had called at her door. In her late forties, she had looked young to Margaret, and had also looked somewhat put out when Margaret had passed over the fliers for embroidery classes and beginner French to pull out the faded handwritten yellow card.

“I don’t even know how that got there,” the woman insisted, and Margaret was pressured into picking up a leaflet for ‘Crochet Circle’ to induce her to go away. She had held on to the card. Whatever the representative said about there being ‘no library’ on Wild Willow Road, something in the scrap of paper called to her. Now that she was here, the presence of the library felt more like a confirmation than a surprise.

The door was unlocked, and opened into a room that was surprisingly welcoming. The dark wooden furnishings were well oiled, and gleamed in a buttery golden light. The librarian’s desk was empty but a silver hand-bell placed in its centre was accompanied by the slightly ominous note “summon the librarian” Margaret rang it, and the sweet clear tone echoed through the long room.

Revenge of the Dragon

@The Harbinger of Ferocity I agree! Tam has rolled with the idea that they're a party now.

And @Delta44 - staking out the church would be cool too! (I know this doesn't really need saying, but although Tam is opinionated and forceful I'm not!) ^^

Revenge of the Dragon

Tam grinned delightedly as the priestess handed him the note, scanning the message briefly before turning his attention to the mysterious dark stains. Quelling with difficulty his desire to lick the suspicious stains (surely that would let him know whether they were blood, or ink, or jam...) he instead squinted at them carefully, trying to glean what he could.* He wasn't sure that he could make out all that much.

However, he had quite clearly heard the mention of reward from the anxious looking nobleman on the steps. Solving this mystery was not an opportunity he was about to pass up, and even if the note was disappointingly brief there were other ways to find things out. Drawing himself up to his not very impressive height, he addressed the little band that had formed around Beaduric. The sheet of parchment was waved vaguely at anyone who wanted to take it. Now that he had read the thing all his covetous interest had vanished.

"I don't think that it takes a genius to figure out that Lady Sheila didn't write this note," he opined, jumping straight to the first conclusion that popped into his head. "My vote is that we go check out the family manor. Get a sample of her handwriting."

His almond eyes were filled with infectious excitement, and he beamed at his companions as though they were already firm friends.

*

Investigate the note: 10

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Caitimus@Claw2k11@rush99999@Delta44

Revenge of the Dragon

@Delta44 Thanks - can you tell I've never played a tabletop game via play-by-post before...? I've been rolling my literal dice! (And I thought: 'wow, this system is very trusting!')

Revenge of the Dragon

@Delta44 Haha, I keep pressing post instead of preview. -.- Hopefully I'll eventually get my act together!

Revenge of the Dragon

With a slight shrug, Tam gave up on trying to snatch the note. His mouth narrowed petulantly as he stared at the paper. There must be some other way to see what it said. He'd recently learned how to summon an invisible hand - could he just grab it and pull it from her hands? No, that'd look decidedly strange. He stood in thought for a few moments more as the conversation continued around him. Then inspiration struck! Aha! Just ask!

He turned the full force of his almond elven eyes on to the cleric, and injected them with as much concern as he could dredge up.

"It sounds like something pretty fishy's going on here. I happen to be something of an expert in missing persons. Maybe I could take a look at that note?"

Not all of this was strictly true but, Veldir help him, it was for a good cause. His active imagination had already spiraled off into a thousand exciting possibilities for what could have happened to the two lovebirds.

Actions

Persuade the Priestess to let him have a look at the note: 17

Revenge of the Dragon

@Caitimus I think I might have posted just before you. Should I re-post my action?