Chapter One - The Lotus and the Dragon

[mackaber]

"All the bad men in this city are scared of the nice elf Churtle. They would not dare touch you with a five foot pole as long as you work for him!" Berek states with a smug grin in the direction of the Elf.

OOC

Berek is trying to make a deal here... paying the Kobold good money likely wouldn't be wort it as is he's stacked with poison.

[Trogdor]

"Well," the kobold says, drawing the word out, "if elf can keep Churtle safe ..." She seems unimpressed by the offer, but has little choice at the moment. She gathers up her things and gets ready to follow.

[Vardaen]

Daerith looks at Churtle, "If you stay here eventually the men of the city guard will come and find you and kill you. You best come with us, we will protect you as well as we can. We have a nice house you can stay in for a while, if you are careful and don't go peeking out the windows." He nos to confirm Berek's statements too, "There are plenty of urchins in the pool, under the house you can use to make poisons, or dinner if they are good eating." He turns to Shumba, "Perhaps Shumba will be able to smuggle you out of the city to his tribe in the jungle where the men won't get you." He purposfully avoids mentioning anything about Rowyn to the kobold.

OOC

Great now what the hell do we do with a kobold poison maker! We just started down a slippery slope.

[Eanwulf]

Shumba seems wary of having Churtle join his people. The Rawenki tribe, though tolerant of other races, is the closest thing to a true "family" the half-orc has ever known and the thought of possibly contaminating such a wholesome thing is downright ludicrous. "I can talk to my people mon," Shumba eventually responds to Daerith's comments. "And see if they might possibly know of some neighboring tribe in need of one such as Churtle here." "But other than that," he then goes on to continue, "There is little else more I can think of trying to do."

[Trogdor]

Churtle gathers her few belongings - some clothes, a few knickknacks and a large collection of shells - and wraps them up in her hammock. "Churtle ready to go," she says, slinging the makeshift pack ion her back."

A few moments later finds you all back with Knarra at the bottom of the ladder up to the taxidermy shop. There is only one part of the thieves' hideout left to explore, but to do that safely will require a boat.

OOC

Please post what you want to do next. You can take a little bit of liberty with this if you like. Getting a boat and finding the secret entrance is easily done if that's what you want. Reporting to Lavinia is also possible. Just let me know and I'll advance things.

Also, Max_Powers has agreed to join us as a cleric (or clerik, as he said - German always makes things sound more menacing). No details on his character yet. But I'll keep you posted.

[mackaber]

As the group escortes Churtle into the taxidermacy shop. Berek begins to grow nervous as he throws an eye on the treasure chests. "While I'd love to explore some more I'm feelin like gettin back to mistress Lavina and show er what we found.What does the rest of ye think?"

OOC

I'm for getting back to Lavina. We have far too much cash on our hands currently to dally

[Vardaen]

Daerith helps haul more loot up to the shop on the ground level, and then shows Churtle to one of the bed rooms, warning her to not go into the alchemist shop, and not to show herself for fear of the 'bad men'. Daerith then consults with Berek, "Agreed, we have so much money here, I would hate for any of it go missing. I suggest we send Knarra and Sindu to get a wagon, borrowed from a temple, or from Lavina's stables, and then return. We can load it up and head to the Vanderboren Estate, return her money, sort out the rest, including dealing with that necromantic wand." He looks to Sindu there.

"Eventually we can come back with a boat and check the last chamber."

OOC

Agreed, back to Lavina with the loot.

[arkahm]

"Agreed," Sindu looks to Daerith. "I will return with Knarra to Lady Vanderboren to retrieve a covered wagon and return. Afterward, I will return to the temple to take care of the wand, after the proper donation to Wee Jas is separated. I do plan to see if the temple has anything to trade in the way of healing as well." He turns to the door, "Please insure our new friend is well treated." He exits the door, returning to the Vanderboren Manor to request the use of a covered wagon.

[Eanwulf]

"Just lead the way mon!" comments Shumba, his arms and pack laden with treasure. "The quicker we return with the goods, the quicker we can return if need be!"

OOC

Weren't we supposed to RP some other regions other than Churtle?

[Trogdor]

OOC

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. Between the visit by my brother-in-law and my trip up north, it was a busy week and weekend. Things should be a lot calmer now.

With the underground chambers as fully explored as you can manage, the group turns to the laborious process of hauling the heavy bags of treasure and other ill-gotten gains previously held in the Lotus-Dragon vault up to the taxidermy shop. Churtle heads up early on in the process and heads straight for the room that passes for a kitchen in this former bachelor home. She immediately declares it a mess and starts cleaning it.

An hour or so later, you're all very tired and sore, but the bags of Vanderboren coins and Lotus-Dragon loot are piled in the back room of the shop. Knarra and Sindu then head out to the Vanderboren estate to get a carriage. Lavinia doesn't keep a coach - none of the Vanderboren's have. In a town this size, it's not practical. A few of the major noble families keep one or two carriages. But most just hire them at need.

Thankfully, with all of the business Lavinia has been doing around town, combined with the threat of Lotus-Dragon attacks, she has a carriage hired and is more than willing to lend it to Sindu and Knarra. They return to the taxidermy shop and again you all get to ferry weighty treasure, though thankfully not up a ladder this time.

Another hour later sees you all walking through the main door of the Vanderboren estate into the atrium, Berek and Sindu carrying a chest full of loot, and Daerith and Sindu carrying a chest full of Vanderboren gold. Kora stands holding the door, while Lavinia comes in from the study, her fingers stained with ink.

"I take it you've met with some success," Lady Vanderboren says, one eyebrow raised at the sight of the two large chests. "Sindu said as much when he asked for the carriage. But he gave me few details saying he needed to get back to the rest of you. Let's move those into the library and out of view. We can talk about your day there." She moves and opens the door to the library, just to the left of where you all stand. "Kora, please bring us some refreshments. I imagine this might take a while."

OOC

There were a crocodile that you could have encountered. But now that seems like a waste of time. If Shumba is looking to get an animal companion at level 4, and he wants a croc, then he can adopt it. If not, we can say that you released it into the nearby jungle. There were also one place you can only get by boat, which we were going to wait for.