The Evil of Ravenholm - Chapter 1: The Dark City

[NayrVentess]

@Pelloth - The humans didn't take much notice of you, but the elf looked up and stared for a second. You know that in Ravenholm, racial grudges don't really mean a thing, but some still hold on to old habits; he seems to not care though, and in elven he says, "Do you know the rules for Bloodstone?" You then pull up a chair, and they teach you how to play. The game seems to use a normal pack of cards, but with four 'Bloodstone' cards thrown it. And then it is like a version of the humans 'poker' game.

Knifey Knife

Skren looks up at Gerash as he stands over him. In common, he seems to mimic your monotone voice, "Then watch and learn." He smiles cheekily, although you get the sense he isn't as 'lovable' as he tries to make out. After finishing wiping the blood off of the dagger, he picks up all six and begins to juggle them, with amazing dexterity. "In Knifey Knife, there are six knives, one is real, the others are fake. Amazing what magical trinkets you can steal in the markets. There are three players, each must bet gold, in this case we say 10gp. The knives are laid out on the table, like so." He places the six knives in a line on the table, and motions for Gerash to sit down. "Then each player picks up a knife at random, and sticks it in their other hand! If they are lucky, and the knife is fake, then their hand is safe and the knifes are shuffled, and another round is played. If they are not so lucky, they have just stuck a real knife into their hand! Hee hee hee! The winner of the pot, is the last man standing...so to speak. Let's see those coins gentlemen."

You are surprised at his now fluent speech, obviously he is a lot more intelligent that he normally makes out to be.  

[SporkMaster5000]

Gerash doesn't bother sitting down, simply staring at the goblin, if he was a cheat he'd clearly done this more than once, "I think I'll pass." Gerash is happy to simply watch the bugbear and the goblins maim themselves, but he keeps a wary eye on both the goblin and his "magical trinkets."

((9 insight to notice anything fishy about the goblins, other than the obvious of them being goblins, 12 arcana to figure out what's up with the knives. kinda doubt either gets me much))  

[NayrVentess]

@Gerash - Unfortunately, you notice nothing unusual about the goblins, and the daggers seem to keep their secrets from you also.

The Bloodstone Tavern

As Grashuk is about to start playing Knifey Knife, the door opens abruptely, and in storms the goblin who was 'cheated' earlier, wearing a look of contempt and wielding a hand crossbow. He walks over to Skren, who barely has time to turn around and look horrified before a crossbow bolt is shot cleanly into his skull. His face falls foward and slams onto the table.

As the bar is silent, including the other goblin Derit, who seems unperturbed by his companions death, you hear Murder from the back, speaking in a tone to suggest that he was bored, "Take the body outside please, I'd rather he wasn't stinking up my bar."

The killer goblin then lets out a laugh, "Never cheat me again you b*****d!" He then picks up Skrens body and begins to take him out the front. After a few seconds of looking, you notice that Derit still hasn't made any reaction, which seems very odd, even in Ravenholm.  

[Arc Vembris]

joe-dude667

Cain looked at the Changeling quizzically.

"Would I be allowed one without being killed?" He asked matter of factly.

"Sure, That just what usually happens."

At Murder's order, Hars quips "I guess he only allows paying customers to stink up the place."  

[joe-dude667]

"In that case I'd be delighted." Cain said as he started throwing the knife into the air and catching it out of boredom. "Though I must say, the smell of blood was preferable than the stink he had alive. I'd have kept in here for a while personally."  

[SporkMaster5000]

"Your friend's dead," Gerash comments to the stoic goblin, ignoring Hars, "Aren't you going to loot his pockets or something?"  

[NayrVentess]

The dazed looking goblin looks up at Gerash with bloodshot eyes. "Naaaaah, he not have mucchhh." His words are very slurred, and he opens his mouth very wide as he speaks. As you sit there, you hear the elf playing cards with Pelloth speak to you. "I wouldn't pay much attention to him, he's doped up on Mez."  

[iDragow]

"You'd think an addict would try to take whatever he thought was worth anything to try to support his habit," the Bugbear stated matter-of-factly. He had watched the murder with raised eyebrows, only showing mild interest as the carcass was dragged out into the street.

He stood from the table, assuming that the game of Knifey Knife was called on account of homicide. Instead, he headed toward the card game, and in particular, the elf.

"And what is the word on this Mez? What does it do? Any side-effects? Is there a market for such things?"

Quote:

Diplomacy check: 17

 

[Vorastrix]

Pelloth learns the rules quite easily. He isn't concerned with the money, and the challenge of the game isn't really much to him. To add a bit of entertainment, he commands his invisible imp companion to 'help' him.  

[NayrVentess]

@Grashuk - The elf takes a sip of his clear drink and places it back on the table. He lays down his hand, a pair of bloodstone's before answering your question. "Mez is a very powerful hallucinogenic, you see all kinds of s**t when your at the top of the high. But the come down is very bad, that goblin is only halfway through the come down, soon he will be drooling uncontrollably and depending on how much he has taken, he will get depressed, suicidal and incredibly violent. So it is a drug of extremes, unlike pipe-weed which is very mild. But recently, a drug called Zem, yes it's Mez backwards, has been formed. And if used together with Mez, Zem counteracts the comedown. So the dealers in the city have the addicts cornered and both drugs are very expensive. I can get you some if you want." He then shrugs, and then folds, as he had been playing all the time he was talking.

@Pelloth - Over the next few hands, you luck changes to your favor, thanks to your invisible 'helper'.  

[Arc Vembris]

In a few hours, Hars has finished a cap for Cain. It started out yellow, but the bulk of it is black, with only a yellow border. He gives it to the kenku.  

[iDragow]

The Bugbear leaned back from the elf, watching the game progress. "No thank you, the information is more than enough."

Grashuk then returned to 'their' table, wondering if Mez and Zem would play a part in anything they would do in the future, or whether it was just a distraction from the task at hand.  

[joe-dude667]

Cain accepts the hat and puts it on hit head, watching his reflection in his dagger as he posed the new article of clothing.

"I like it." He said simply with a smile.  

[NayrVentess]

The Bloodstone Tavern

After a while, the doped up goblin is foaming at the mouth and before long is kicked out by a raging Murder (who is also foaming a bit, but you assume that is due to anger). Pelloth has won 14gp at cards, much to the anger of the elf and humans. Cain and Hars are having a wonderful time talking about knitting patterns. Gerash is just generally intimidating any and all of the patrons that walk into the bar, and Grashuk is probably thinking up new battle strategies.

Quite a few hours later, the bar is almost bursting with all the Ravenholmiens drinking, gambling or arguing in its premises. There is also Col the halfling bard sitting on a stool, which itself is atop a table, singing and strumming his lute. His current song, by popular demand, is 'Stairway to Thanatos...

There's a priest who is sure
All that matters is blood
And she's summoning, a stairway to Thanatos
When she gets there she knows
If the gates are all closed
With a word, she can get what she killed for
Ooh, Ooh, and she's summoning a stairway to Thanatos

And the song goes on...

Anyway, during the song, you don't see him come in due to the crowd, but Daelos pulls up a chair, and sits down at your table. The elf is wearing a black cloak, hood down, and a hand crossbow is slung at his side. His black hair seems surprisingly well groomed and his smile, while evil, is pure white. "So we meet again...Cain." He lingers on the Kenku for while, not giving anything away with his neutral expression. Just when the silence is about to get awkward, he continues, while addressing you all. "I am glad you have agreed to work for us, the Bloodstone Stalkers could use people like you well." He is keeping his voice down. The Bloostone Stalkers weren't exactly a secret organization in the past, but most Ravenholmiens assume they died along with Serrin. "No point in pleasantries, our mission, as you will be accompanying me, is to locate and explore a ruin in the northern part of the Ashen Mountains. In the past, it was a castle under the Valletan flag. But that waste of a city couldn't hold it against the creatures that dwell in the mountains and it soon fell into disrepair. There is a chance that a book of great importance can be found there, we must locate it and bring it back, if it is there. If it isn't then we still loot the ruins for anything valuable to the Stalkers." Daelos then downed the shot of what you think is frenzywater, let out a gasp at its strength, and then relaxed in his chair.  

[SporkMaster5000]

"You look like an idiot," Gerash remarks to Cain, returning to his own seat after being denied the spectacle of goblins playing knifey knife.