RC No. America - Reports and Brawls

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Following 8 hours of resting, the party decided it was time to exit this underground stronghold and report their findings to the authorities in Sundabar. Their first stop was to be the burned out cabin where they left the horses. They were not sure if they would still be there, but it was worth a shot. At the cabin, they found their horses long gone. Gringall, the Verbeeg leader that befriended them earlier, was also there. After hearing the tale Knomal told, He would return to his clan and prepare for an assault on the stronghold.

Gringall left the party with two horses and a wagon then departed southward. The party arrived at the gates of Sundabar during the night, having decided to continue in the dark. The gates were closed, but after a little convincing, they were able to secure entrance into the city. Gorin Zachian, the Captain of the Guard was waiting for them, and they returned to his office. After informing Gorin of the situation in Turnstone Pass, the party decided to visit a disreputable bar, the Pauper’s Puppet. Knomal and Gaspar remained while Robidolian, Nimbul, and Iris left to have a bite to eat at a nearby eatery called the Galley, an all night diner. Knomal, feeling more than a bit restless, decided to start a brawl. Being the only two occupants in the bar that were not drunk, Knomal and Gaspar were able to easily trounce all their opponents. The barkeep closed up the tavern following the brawl so Knomal and Gaspar went out seeking another disreputable joint in which to alleviate their need for brawling. Seeing the two emerge from the bar, Nimbul decided to join them in a little fun. Besides, while the two of them were brawling, he could persue more profitable pursuits.

 

After emerging from the devastated tavern, Knomal yawns --
"That's not the way to spend an evening, no. Let's find one more place like that, maybe we could touch them patrons for some profiteering."
Knomal finds another place that looks like a disreputable tavern on the street; He swings the door open, and walks in, displaying stature of a nobleman, who's been in a brawl recently.

"My fellow folk of Sundabar! The city is in trouble! Do you hear that sound? It's a sound of a thousand terrible things headingthis way! A huge army of Verbeeg is on march, destroyng all in it's steps! Should they find us here, they will grind us, fry us and spray our ashes! But we know the way to save ourselves from the greedy brutes! Just five gold from everyone, and we will collect enough money to turn their minds to some other place. With effort, we may sway a whole army of verbeeg to do our bidding. Bring your gold here and save yourselves from impending doom!"

 

Following Knomal into the next tavern, Gaspar watches as Knomal spins his tale.
"What is he doing?" he wonders. Not knowing what else to do, Gaspar just stands behind Knomal cracking his knuckles menancingly.

 

Interesting passtime... I suppose it's a way of letting off some steam. Still, I wish they would choose a less violent way of getting out their frustrations.

Well, Nimbul, what say we take some bets that our enebriated friends win their fights? At least until the guard shows up...

 

As Knomal speaks to the half drunk occupants of the tavern, they pay little attention. Upon the mention of handing over some gold in order to save themselves, one particularly large patron calls over to Knomal to perform a physically impossible task involving several of his own body parts. Another nearby drunkard yells out that if he wants 5 gold from each of them, he will have to come in and take it.

 

Knomal thinks of trying to get money from intelligent people next time; meanwhile, he walks up to the particularly large patron. As he comes to stand in front of the man, Knomal yells out as a drill sargeant --

"Listen to me, pile of dung! Ye'll be the first one to be fed to the giants when they come! In fact, there's enough blubber in ye-oo to feed six giants, you filthy rag of an orc spawn! Ye-oo, yes ye-oo, will feel really really bad when they bite your limbs off, and nobody will try to save yer arse! Have I made myself clear?!"

 

Iris runs to catch up with Knomal and Gasper. Entering to find some rude comments directed to Knomal, she figured it was another crazy thing. She sighs and backs away, having wanting no part of a fight that is probably going to happen.

 

Robidolian waits for Nimbul to draw up some business. The cleric waits to take bets on the winners and the losers of the fights. Nimbul had agreed to suggest to the less rambunctious patrons that the humble-looking cleric might be in the mood for bets.

Seeing the tirade that Knomal gives, Robidolian actually wonders if he really should bet on the "politician" or not. Oh, well, it's only money...

 

Following the remarks from Knomal, a rather large human yelled over the noise, “Shut your yap, we be drinking.” Without another word, Knomal quietly walked toward the door. Along the way, he untied the sack containing the three stirges and dropped it inside. At that, he exited the building and waited just outside for the ensuing commotion, it did not take very long. During the confusion, Nimbul scurried around the tavern, picking pockets. When all was done, Robidolian treated the victims, and Nimbul calmly divided the loot, 10 gold each. Wishing for more fun and frolicking, Gaspar and Knomal decided to head for another tavern, Halabar’s Horn of Spirits, a locale known for the most rowdy bar fights in the city. Robidolian, Iris, and Nimbul followed along.

As they approached, they could see that the brawling was already started, having spilled out into the streets. There were two distinct fights going on, one between three Dwarves and five Gnomes, the other involving five Humans, eight Dwarves, and one large Half-Orc. Gaspar waded into the Dwarf/Gnome fight and began taking out gnomes, while Knomal decided to engage the Half-Orc. Gaspar managed to knock out one Gnome, but Knomal only managed to anger the Half-Orc. As the Half-Orc repeatedly charged Knomal in an attempt the grapple with him, Knomal deftly struck blows while keeping out of the grasp of the large humanoid. Not wanting her companion to come to any ill, Iris used a Mage Hand to grab a nearby tankard and drop it on the head of the Half-Orc. At the same time, Gaspar tossed a gnome toward the brute and the Half-Orc tripped over the body just as the tankard fell on his head, rendering him unconscious. Knomal attempted to kick the brute while he was falling, slipped himself, and ended up underneath the Half-Orc. The remainder of the combatants were now knocked out, so Gaspar and Knomal headed inside the bar to have a drink. Robidolian, Iris, and Nimbul decided that a meal was in order, and the three headed to The Maiden at Midnight for some decent food. While talking with the bartender, Knomal learned that the Half-Orc was a member of a local mercenary group called The Ready Blades, who have a stronghold southwest of the city. The two tied up the hapless thug and left him hidden beneath some trash in a back alley.

In the morning, the party headed to Furjur’s Flying Carpet. Robidolian wanted to see what he could get for the Alchemist’s Fire components and the Jars with the bugs inside. While he was haggling with one of the six ladies that run the shop, Knomal and Gaspar headed out to investigate the stronghold of the Ready Blades. The old fort was located on the top of a hill. Three sides of which were sheer cliffs, and a drawbridge was the only means of approaching from the last side. As they approached the stronghold, they heard a voice from within telling them to halt and state their business. Knomal attempted to bluff his way inside the keep, and even though he was able to convince the gatekeeper of an imminent attack from Orcs and Giants pouring out of Turnstone Pass, he was only able to receive an invitation to join the mercenaries. They would have to meet at the inn called The Firestar Chariot where they would be met by someone who would assess their worthiness to join. The gatekeeper tossed a coin down to Knomal etched with two letters, BB. The coin was his identification for the meeting. Meanwhile, the mercenary troupe was going to prepare to head into the pass to attack the Shrine of the Blue Claw, at Knomal’s suggestion, in hopes of averting the impending attack.

 

Outside the fort, Knomal turns to Gaspar.
"Listen, these people are terribly unhospitable to the common traveller as we are."
He looks up the wall of the fort.
"I think we need ta' buy a good grappler and get in there when the dolts come to meet us in that bloody tavern of theirs. Ha."

 

Gaspar looks up at the castle. "I guess bashing down the door wouldn't really work to well. Shall we head back into town to get that grapple?"

"Oh, and since it's your suggestion, you can pay for it."

 

You can see a map of the Mercenary Guild Stronghold at: http://home.attbi.com/%7Ebaldak/LowResImages/Mercenary_Guild.GIF

 

"Ah then let's head back to the civilized town." Knomal kicks a pebble in a general direction of the civilized town and heads to his horse.

 

"Civilized? What type of civilized town only has three taverns where you can get into a decent bar fight?" Gaspar says as he walks back towards his horse.

 

"Ah, indeed, but what do we know? Mayhap it's civilized because it has some faulty mercenary forts around it. I didn't like the way they treated that orc in the trash pile. Them mercenaries ain't good, I tell you. We should kill them all... Would be safer..."

 

"How can they not care for the fate of one of their own men? I'm not sure I'd want to join them even if we weren't planning on robbing them..."

 

"That's right! They're evilt o the bone, just like any other orc scum, even if not all of them are orc scum. We need to beware of scum like that, they don't like our adventurer kind."

 

"Evil eh? Well if they are evil then they need to be taught a lesson! And we should be the ones to teach it to them. Be it the loss of their lives... or their possesions!"

Gaspar gets up on his horse and heads back to town.

 

Knomal snaps his fingers.
"Indeed! And the lives of evil folk ain't nothing without their possessions, so we should start with possessions. Speaking of which, we'll need to dispose of that orc I tied up. He's got a set of fine rope on him, fine, fine rope."

 

"How do you suggest we dispose of him? Hit him in the head and then untie him?"