Attack on Myth Drannor - Ch. 1: Cultists in Action

[Ilya]

When the Raptoran passes the guard, he hesitates momentarily, and then asks, "You have my word w- I will behave myself as well as the situation permits. As a man of the law, would you happen to know anything more about the crimes they're accused of, that you can tell us, please? If the men had anything in common..." He does not finish his question, and thanks the guard, whether he if given an answer or not.

As they enter the city, the Raptoran moves his wings uneasily, and pulls them tighter to his body, trying not to stand out, with little success.

[puffthemagicdragon]

Ryxikor looks at the St Cuthbert cleric, "Excuse me, but why is it that I always here about clerics like you and Sharky having quiet rendezvous with young boys. Hmm, I think you might even know someting about these young boys disappearances." Ryxikor is starting to get visibly annoyed by the treatment of Padre, and the elf takes a step towards the cleric as if hoping the cleric says more to antagonize him. Poor Ryxikor might need to be held back.

Finally he turns to others, "No, I dont think we have time to stay the night anyway. I'm afraid we're wasting too much time, if we spend too much time here the boys could be killed. If we don't buy time for the women they may be put to death. Time is of the essence."

Turning to Dra'gen, "How will we know if the gossip is true or not. I guess we need to see the authorites, tell them of the evidence. They should be able to direct us to the appropriate families or maybe send out guards to bring those families members to us, so we may be on our way quickly."

Turning to Sirali, Ryx whispers, "I feel your apprehension. Do you want to stay here with us or would you prefer to turn into a panther, return to the sight of the struggle, and see what tracks you can find and where they lead to?"

[achinca]

The guard looks at Kaelith with estranged eyes, not sure what or who the raptoran is. As Kaelith asks his question, the guard replies in a dry voice “If you are interested in the missing men, go ask the guards. I am not giving information to foreigners, especially if Padre is with them. I need this job! . As the group enters the city, the guard’s eyes are fixed on the man’s wings.

When Ryxikor starts antagonizing the St. Cuthbert’s cleric, Padre pulls back the rogue violently. “Listen man, my goal is help Lola and the girls. Not fix Jaspervik problems. If you are going to go and pick up fight with strangers, do it on your own. I am familiar with the goons here, and you are not. So stop reacting to the provocations. If you cannot keep your mouth shut, I would have to ask you to wait outside. Lola and the girls are too important to me to get into trouble. When they are safe, if you want to go beat up some St Cuth’s butts, fine. Now is not the time. And the people missing are men, not boys. Lola has ethics, she does not conduct business with boys.

Dra’gen suggest to get some gossip from the various commercial squares. Ryxikor objects to it and seconds what the guard originally said, which was to go see the authorities.

Sirali looks very nervous and Ryxikor nicely suggests that she would be more comfortable in an animal shape. Padre looks at her with wide eyes “You, you can turn into a panther??

The group follows Padre to the main barracks, which are next to the prison. The same stares and below the breath insults can be heard but luckily, no one is stupid enough to openly defy the group. In front of the barracks, Padre asks the group to wait outside while he tries to get information from the captain. He comes back a few minutes after, a sour look on his face. “The Captain did not want to talk to me. He had instructed his aides to specifically prevent me from talking to him. He said I was trouble and not thinking with my brain but another part of my bodies. The Captain has ordered that no one talks to Lola and the girls or visit them. However, I got the following information regarding the missing men: the farmer son is called Tren, the merchant’s son is Wentas, the handyman is called Jorsh and the chimney sweeper is called Ristim. Sadly I do not know any of them. What should we do next?

[Ilya]

"Perhaps we should not try to stand out any more than we already do due to our appearance." The sorcerer remarks. "Perhaps we can find out more at the city's guilds. The merchants guild, and if we know what Jorsh's father did, his guild, as well. I would start with the merchants, however, as they travel most and should have less trouble with our appearance."

[puffthemagicdragon]

"Sorry Padre." is all Ryx says, feeling a little embarrassed about his outburst.

Hearing Kaelith's idea, "Ahh, excellent idea! And we don't need to find them all, but if we could find out that someone did wear something like this," as he holds the cloth up, "then we know we're on the right track. We cold also find out if anyone knows anything about the arrow, maybe who uses these fletchings. That should be easy enough, if they're from atound here." he says with a shrug.

"Off to the merchant's district." he says looking to Padre.

---

ooc: I edited my other post just a bit, to make it clear that Ryx meant for Sirali to turn to panther form back at the struggle sight and look for prints there.

[She-Elf]

Sirali is clearly uncomfortable in this strange city and she seems to relax a little at the idea of taking on the panther form and looking for more clues. "It would be preferable to remaining here," she says thoughtfully, but looks to the others for their opinions; "Do you think there is more to be learned there or do you think we already got all the clues that were available?"
While she likes the idea of getting out of the city part of her is wary of splitting from the group.

[Talon]

Dra'gen follows the groups lead and keeps quiet as he notes the reactions of the people as they walk past. His face is one of mild bemusement.

[puffthemagicdragon]

As the group heads towards the merchant's guild, Ryxikor takes note of any places he might want or need to visit, such as apothecaries and merchants, that would buy magical weapons and potions and things of that nature.

[achinca]

The group decides to go talk to merchants and got toward the commercial district. The same animosity is present in the City but the level of stares lower as they enter the business side of the City. It seems that gold cut down on open prejudice.

Kaelith sets up a strategy process while advising the rest of the group to keep a low profile.

Sirali would rather be in the open but knows that danger of splitting a party.

Dra’gen is amused by the people reaction and his hands do not glow.

Ryxikor easily identify shops that carry items or services he might be interested in acquiring.

Padre asks a few questions and quickly identifies the shop of Wentas’s father. It is quite a large shop that deals in all kind of house and kitchen wares. The shop is quite busy as housewives are looking at all kind of possible items to make their house and kitchen more welcoming. There a few employees, all wearing the same tunic, helping the customers. A large and short woman, who could be taken for a dwarf if she did not have very human facial features is behind the register.

[Talon]

As they make their way past the merchants Dra'gen says quietly Perhaps we'd be less conspicuous if purchased some cloaks with hoods. We could at least hide our ears and feathers and maybe cut down on the stares. I'm sure we can find a merchant around here that has some and would take our gold just like any other paying customer.

[She-Elf]

Sirali considers approaching the woman and telling her that they're investing Wentas's disappearance but she is cautious as the woman is human and they're not as she worries that she might be suspicious.

---

Sense Motive +3
Trying to work how she feels about us based on the fact we've only just walked in and haven't spoken to her yet.

[Ilya]

The Raptoran pulls up his own cloak's hood. He would pull his wings even closer to his body, but that's just not anatomically feasible.
"We should start by offering our sympathies about the loss." He shows a sense of decorum, and worry about the feelings of those they are about to meet. "If we are touching such a sensitive subject, it is best to approach it with great care, from all perspectives, and don't rush to a factual questioning." He puts a hand into the orb of wind that his familiar is, and wiggles his fingers -his equivalent of petting the elemental- before going into the shop.

The winged man steps into the building, head bent low, quietly clears his throat, and addresses nobody in particular, "Excuse me..."

[puffthemagicdragon]

Ryxikor decides to stay outside the store, he doesn't want to overwhelm the parents with four non-humans walking into the store asking about their son. The elf stands outside the door, watching everything outside, wondering where they need to go next.

[achinca]

Dra’gen suggests the non-human buy cloaks to hide the non-humanness. However, the idea does not pick up any traction (Talon is it 0.5GP if Dra’gen wants one).

Sirali considers approaching the woman but second guess her impulse. She senses that the woman mind is not on her job and she seems a little distraught.

Ryxikor decides to stay outside, trying to avoid creating a charged atmosphere. Padre stays at the entrance of the shop, keeping an eye on everyone, just in case.

Kaelith understands the seriousness and the risk of the situation. He asks to no one in particular about help. The woman behind the counter does not even react. A young male employee goes toward Kaelith. He stops when he sees the wings and the two elves next to him and shakes his head and smiles “Welcome Sir! How can I help you Sir?

[Ilya]

The sorcerer carefully smiles. "Greetings." He says, still quietly. "I understand the owner of this shop has suffered a great loss recently... I wanted to express my sympathy for this tragedy."