CMP

"Like I said. Take down Gor." "Now slow down a minute friend. I'm being perfectly cooperative here, aren't I? There's no need to get impatient with me." "Karst...very clever," replied Olmstyr, voice low. "If what he says is true, I don't think he's about to give up on his mission. We can offer him a fair fight with General Gor in exchange for whatever information he's witholding. I can't imagine Gor would shy away from a fight with this sarkuun." "Is there a need for me to be hiding information?" "Possibly. There's still much we don't know concerning this case." "Hm. We didn't take Grishnod. That was one of the others' jobs." "So you're ALL in on this! I KNEW you were working together with the others!!" Alzar fell quiet briefly and leaned back on the destroyed counter he was sitting on. "Deal with me, and I'll think about pointing you in the right direction. I have no intention of taking this intel to the shallow grave you'd put me in." "If this oshuultra speaks the truth then I do not believe Gor has anything else to concern himself with. Assassins work alone or in pairs. Too many variables complicates things, they would not send others. The reasoning is part of why you are here. We have reason to believe every clan leader is being targeted. Clearly Gor and Grishnod were."

Alzar crossed his arms in thought for a moment. "Alright. I'll play ball. Me and Vlad were after the hobgoblin. Gor. The....client, is one of our regulars. We go back nearly a century. Dishes out the biggest contracts in the biz. And the pay...not even the Shadeaux stack up against wherever he gets his cash." "Hmph." "Vlad here doesn't talk much. I figured working his way up from Red Lizard grunt to royal guard would be easier than all the hoops I jumped through to get my disguise. Suffice to say this has been in the works for a long time." "Working as best I can here, friend. We worked out a deal before, no reason we can't do the same here, hm? You do remember Posco, don't you?" Alzar tilted his head sideways at Skrall. "He was running a big risk job for the very same client we're working for now, and blew it. Managed to sneak off afterwards and go into hiding. We tried and failed to find him many times over the decades. Then the client put a big bounty on his head." "How big?" "A...motivating amount. Too much, really. Posco made all the Blue Assassins look bad when he escaped, but why would a third party care so much about our wounded pride? You ask me, Posco saw something he weren't supposed to see on that job, and our client wanted to make sure he didn't come out with any deathbed confessions. That spare change me and Vlad paid you and your friends off with turned into a hundred thousand when we delivered the good news." Alzar laughed. "I'll say. It makes them inefficient. Such a blatant disregard for your own life is...unhealthy. Besides. We've only had one runaway in the past few centuries and he's dead. I hear the Reds aren't so lucky." "Heh. That was my work, actually. Caught a priest of Tarok on his way back from the temple. I had a disguise scroll all nice and ready, but it needed to be constantly maintained...cast once a day. So I had Vlad lace in a nice little side-effect. Inspired by the Reds. When Karstirn first cast the spell to disguise me as Grishnod, he couldn't stop; he had to do it again, every day, or bite it. Seems like he gave up when I got caught." "Cute. But this doesn't answer where the real Grishnod is!" "Who is this client?" "Clearly you don't know how we work. We only communicate via dead drop. But it's not exactly a who. They're called the Wandering Silence. Some kind of monastic order they call themselves. Bit of a myth among assassins. Sometimes they do their own work, but other times they hire us. Maybe they don't want to attract attention." He shrugs. "But like I said...they dish out the best contracts and the best payouts, and they've been hiring us out for a damn long time. That's a lot of dough. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the money’s coming from royalty." "Royalty...naturally." Olmstyr sighed.

I assumed that was a fake accent she put on in the presence of Vader/Tarkin. Everyone in the Empire is British so it'd kind of be a giveaway if she spoke American like the rest of the Rebels. I agree with most of your opinions regarding the PT. It's hard to judge the acting when the lines are just so stilted.

Miderun turns her attention to Pumpkinface 2 from the front row, struggling to focus on her enemy.

"Assassins? We were not informed about this." "Information regarding the Vauno's movements is up to the Vauno. Nobody else." Tarvalk coughs raggedly, and leans back against a table. "Not even us." "So, they have free reign to do as they wish with no oversight." "It works for Heroica, yes? The Vauno are an ancient group, outside the jurisdiction of any of the clans. It's simply how they operate, King Valentino." "And clear-ly it worked. Wor-ry not, Red King." "I see." Valentino crossed his arms. His soldiers were staring hard at the detained Vendrick....or Vladius, as the assassin had called him, even as the pair of them were dragged off. "I assume you are taking custody of those two for an interrogation." "Not our style. But then again, it's not our business either. The Vauno don't work like the rest of the orocund. I trust that they and Heroica will make the right decisions." "Possibly." "I can tell you want your man back for a trial, but if he has information regarding clan leader Grishnod's location-" "Fine." The king waved his hand. "Take him. I will have a committee conduct our own investigation into Vendrick back in our lands. But if we need him for anything..." "We'll of course cooperate with your people, King Valentino." "If he still breathes." Valentino eyed the clan leaders, then left the hall without another word, his soldiers following. The orcish clan leaders relaxed a bit. Olmstyr did not. "Sir, we told you we have reason to believe there are many assassins after you tonight." "I know. But Valentino didn't need to know that. If they were targeting him to make us into scapegoats, they just missed their chance. If they weren't targeting him, then this is still a Baltarok matter. And you will handle it appropriately, I'm sure." He stared hard at Olmstyr, who nodded. "Yes, sir." "Good! All is settled then. Olmstyr, you know where we'll all be for the duration of the festivities tonight. Find us if you need anything or need to head off the assassins coming for us, eh?" "You know, this would be a lot easier if Zardalvohl was called off...and I know you know that." Olmstyr sighed. "At least try and be careful." "Care-ful, yes. Gor al-ways, al-ways care-ful. Good luck, he-roes and Vau-no." Tarvalk nodded and glanced between the clan leaders as they dispersed and left. "Vihl azh cal, il cezndo. Tarok kon di canz." Olmstyr watched them all leave, then looked sideways at Nerwen and Thalion. "Thanks for that. King Valentino made this one pretty risky, but I think we couldn't've handled that better. Still have a lot of questions, but now we have people who can answer them. Come, we should catch up with the rest of them." "I believe so; and we came to an arrangement there, so I'm hoping we can do the same here. Everything has its price, sir." "And I'll be more than willing to answer some of your questions." "Your willingness is not necessary. You will answer all our questions." "Yep. I can be pret-ty persuasive if I do say so myself. So can Aazy, he doesn't much like the taste of human fingers but he knows when it's gotta be done." The remaining heroes and Vauno pushed the assassins inside the small, run-down bar that acted as their headquarters. The Blue Assassin and his ally looked around. "Not much of a base...but I suppose we won't be hanging around here much longer." The heroes could see the man smile under his mask. "As I said, I am Alzar, and this is my friend Vladius. Before we get to your questions, let's start with one of mine; how much will it take for you to let us just do our thing?"

"He's got a Pandemonicon. If there's not one here, then he ain't doin' it right."

"He's got a bird too? Now he's just tryin' to get in my head," mumbled Atramor, rapping on the door with the back of his hand. "Dunno if even I could pick this damn lock. But is our plan really 'hope the archdemon opens the door for us'?"

Miderun repeats.

I assume Endor and Jakku both involved big parts of the Imperial fleet, not to mention how resource-intensive the Second Death Star was. Plus without the Emperor and Vader keeping the rest of the admirals in line, I would guess there was a lot of in-fighting. Plus if the First Order really did arise from the Empire, well, that's where the sizable pockets of Imperials went. It looked like Endor more or less crippled the entire Empire and Jakku was just cleaning up the majority of what was left. Without any leadership or planet-killing superweapons on their side, how capable was the Empire fighting the Rebels, really?

"If there are any demons to be found here, the temple's where we'll find 'em." Atramor took his hand off his Pheles Kris, it having jumped there reflexively at some point. He instead readied to draw his claws at any moment.

"O-Oh, uh, o-of course," stutters Trista as Boomingham and Tra-Serral flank her. Nerwen and Skrall get on either side of Vendrick and grab his arms, even as the soldier squirms and struggles fiercely. "You....are making a big mistake," he growls through gritted teeth. With everyone's hands full, the feast grinds to a halt. The other guests suddenly seem very aware that some of their number have been detained. "Excuse me, but that's one of my soldier-" "Taroksh oshuul Olmstyr, why on Olegaia are you holding Tarvalk?!" "Necessity. Stay back." Tra-Serral glances sideways at her father. "Heh, wow this is a mess." "Ven? Really? Why Ven, I always thought he was-" "Grgh." The blind orc turns slowly, he having been leaning heavily on a wall while the rest of the hall argued. Karstirn appeared to have blood pooling in the corners of his mouth. He looked at Grishnod. "...the spell is....fading." The grizzled Irlaz clan leader smiles for the first time the whole night, despite his capture. "Better cast it again. You know what happens if you don't." "...You really aren't Grishnod." "...No. He...is not. Tarok's...favor...all lies..." Karstirn coughed and slumped against the wall, blood splattering the ground mingled with saliva. He slid down it slowly, even as some of the others rushed over to him. "Damn it! Someone, get a, a healer-" "Too late. Ever heard of the Red Death, friend?" The orc's smile lengthened as the air around him shimmered and distorted. Karstirn, the blind orcish priest, sputtered once more, then went stiff. Grishnod's very being shifted and altered, to something else entirely...something one of the heroes was able to recognize, if vaguely. "Well, that's not what it looks like, I'm afraid." As if on cue, somewhere in the hall, a smoke bomb exploded, sending clouds of considerable thickness and intensity billowing through the feast hall for a few moments while a panic ensued. But it took only a few moments for it to clear...and when it did, there were more than a few dishes smashed and people tripping over one another blindly, but everyone appeared to be counted for. THE HEROES ARE VICTORIOUS!!! Everyone gains a full level of experience for successfully eliminating all three threats. "Ah. Well. It appears our back-up bailed on us, Vlad." "Hmph." "Mh. Poor Vlad. Doesn't talk much, I'm afraid. I had my doubts about his ability to infiltrate, color me the surprised one you found me first, I really didn't-" "That's enough." Olmstyr twisted the assassin's arm sideways and rammed his fist into his side, causing his knees to buckle. The Blue Assassin grunted, but, as far as the heroes could tell, continued to smile under his mask. "You know, if I was Red, I'd be the one coughing up blood right about now. Yet here we are. Lucky me. You're quite welcome." "Now what?" "Now-" Olmstyr looked over his shoulder briefly, at the wreckage of the feast hall. The clan leaders, and the king, were all arguing with one another. He let out a single sigh. "I need to handle this. Daske, Tra-Serral, lead the way back to the headquarters. Heroes, perhaps on the way you might have a word with these two. I imagine we have the Brothers Blue in custody now. This is an excellent start, but there are still many questions remaining, like-" "Who was that invisible weirdo?" "Irrelevant. The question of priority now is, if this zardser posed as Grishnod, where is the real Grishnod." "I'm so looking forward to it," remarked the man, voice dripping with sarcasm as Olmstyr went to deal with the clan leaders. "Alzar. Blue Assassins. A pleasure. You do good work, Heroica." Party Nerwen Calmcacil, Champion of the North Kingdoms (Chromeknight) *Party Leader* 265 year old female elven Shaman Level 41.4 *Immune to sealed* *Gains Double EXP* *Restoration* *Absorbs last element* *Counterstriking* Power bonus:,+8 Defense: 1 Health: 63/63 Ether: 50/50 Gold: 293 Equipment: Mourning Star (WP: 10; fire-elemental; inflicts Fragile-effect; mace), Lesser Ethereal cloak (SP:1, Max. ether +3, immune to sealed; backwear), Medal of Valor (Double experience from battles; accessory), Chameleon Vest (Max. Health +10, the user becomes able to absorb the last element it was damaged with; bodywear), Counterstrike Gloves, Barbarians boots (natural respite becomes restoration) Inventory: Weapons: Nocturne Flute (WP:6; causes asleep-effect; instrument), Mutt's Flute (WP:10; inflicts Weakened-effect; instrument), Party Maracas (WP:4; user is hastened; instrument), Battered wooden flute (WP:6; Darkness-elemental; instrument), Sword of the Warrior of the Light (WP: 14; Light-Elemental, Meditate becomes hits; longsword), Bent Crowbar (WP: 8; 3x damage to Mechanic enemies; hammer), Singing Sword (WP 10; causes bleeding, longsword/instrument) Artifacts: Leather armour (SP:1; Bodywear), Zap-Tap Badge (1/2 chance to Electric counterstrike an opponent who has dealt damage to a hero, equal to the hero's level; Accessory), Shield (SP: 5), Nordic Stomach Guard (SP: 3; Immunity to Ice and Water; Bodywear; Suitable for Barbarians, Regulators, and Beast Warriors), Shield of the Red Lizard (SP: 2; Immune to Blind), Seal of the Warrior Priestess (At the beginning of the battle the user has a 1/6 chance to be Transcended, a 1/6 chance to be Blessed, and a 1/6 chance to be Inspired; Accessory; Suitable for Paladins), Trickster's Mask of the Angel, Razor (user is Blessed and Immune to Bleeding, Enraged, and Encouraged; May take up any artifact slot; requires a shaved head), Helm of the Lord of Light (Immune to Light and Jinxed; headwear; Suitable for Knights), Sylvania's Cowl (Permits Animal Talk, Headwear), Encore Plectrum (if the same Battle Song is sung for more than one round in a row, the song’s ether cost for the consecutive rounds is halved; suitable to minstrels; accessory.) Spell Items: Opal (2), Topaz (2), Diamond (2), Amethyst, Garnet, Sapphire, Emerald, Aquamarine, Ruby, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Weakening, Scroll of Fragile, Scroll of Confusion, Hundred Hero Hymn (Inspired-effect to all allies for 10 ether; song), Consumables: Phoenix Essence (3), Potions (10), Grand potion (2), Health Core, Tonics (3), Grand tonic, Ether Core (2), Ambrosia (4), Elixirs (2), Remedies (6), Neutralisers (2), Tiger Balm (2), Nostrum (2), Smelling Salts (2), Venom (4), Mulled Wine, Dragon Scale (lucky & blessed), Titan Heart (encouraged & inspired), Fire Bomb, Ice Bombs (2), Lightning Bomb, Water Bombs (2), Dirt Bombs (2), Air Bomb, Bone, Milk (restores 15 HP and 15 Ether), Red Death Blood (Once applied to a weapon the first successful hit deals doomed, consumable) (2), Sushi (restores 5 health and ether), Feather of Lithe (user is nimble for three rounds, 1/3 chance to avoid rolls of COUNTER and DAMAGE and Free Hits), Grating Stone, Bright Polish (2), Meads (3), Mulled Wines (2) Tools/Treasure: Shovel, Bedroll, Magnifying Glass, Telescope Skrall, Krakenwhacker, Titan Smiter (Waterbrick Down) 81 year old male ogre Hunter Level 44.4 *Natural Respite* *Favors Humanoid and Ancient enemies* *Immune to fragile, blinded, and confused* *1/3 chance to revive when KO'd* Power Bonus: +2 WP for bows and crossbows Defense: 11 Health: 58/58 Gold: 3366 Equipment: Unlucky Crossbow (WP: 13, causes jinxed Effect), Hunter's Quiver (Bows and Crossbows +2WP, allows Hunters to favor two types of enemies, back wear), Tricorne (SP: 3, head wear), Heavy Armor (SP: 5, wearer is immune to fragile, blind, and confused effects, body wear), Moone Greaves (SP: 3), Vorpalis Talisman (1/3 chance of instantly resurrecting with 1 HP and 1 Ether upon being knocked out; accessory), Inventory Weapons: Oversized Greatsword (WP:16, double damage on targets that are clearly smaller than the hero, greatsword), Composite Bow (WP:12, ignores SP,light,lightning,water, wood, and earth-elemental; bow), Giant Hammer (WP: 13, deals Confused); Hunter's Crossbow (WP:12, double WP against beasts, fire, ice, wind, and darkness-elemental), Axe of the Minotaur Champion (WP: 30, user is slowed and immune to hastened, axe) Artifacts: Medal of Glory (Wearer gains 3x experience from battles, accessory), Paper Doll (Immunity to Hexed) Pugilist's Gloves (+2 Power, Immunity to Weakened), Lucky Doubloon (Grants "Special Guard"; accessory), Winged Sandals (Immune to bound and slowed, footwear), Cloak of Espionage (Allows the wearer to examine enemy stats before a battle, backwear, lent by Thalion) Consumables: 3 Potions, Phoenix Essence, 3 Phoenix Incenses, 10 Meads, 8 Nostrums, 3 Remedy, 3 Smelling Salts, 2 Deadly Venoms, 9 Smoke Bomb, 2 Dirt Bombs, Fire Bomb, 5 Water Bombs, 6 Bone, Blind Fury, Grating Stone, 2 Neutralizers, Letter of Recommendation, Tools/Treasure: Spyglass (Reveals if there are spies and eavesdroppers in the vicinity when used; tool) Lord Lawrence Boomingham, True Hero Who is Actually Worth Something (Zepher) 48 year old male human Vindicator Level 37.25 *Immune to darkness, fire, fragile, sleep, weakened, and blinded* *Affluence* *1/2 chance of being reinforced* *Zweihänder Grip* Power Bonus: +5 Defense: 8 Health: 60/60 Gold: 318 Equipment: Scupperer (WP:17; darkness-, fire- and earth-elemental; inflicts bleeding and poisoned by 10; has 1/2 chance each to inflict blinded, sealed, weakened and fragile; greatsword), Tome of Affluence (+10 Gold if equipped for the entirety of a battle; grants immunity to fragile, asleep, weakened, blinded, darkness and fire; accessory), Vest of Faded Trials (SP:8, 1/2 chance of granting reinforced effect at the start of every battle, Immune to Fragile; Suitable for Knights, Barbarians, Dragoons, Skirmishers, Regulators, Vindicators; bodywear and headwear), Fighting Boots (Power +5 on the front row; suitable to barbarians, knights, rogues, beast warriors, chi monks, dragoons, harlots, infiltrators, marauders, skirmishers, regulators, vindicators and winged warriors; footwear.) Inventory: Weapons: Epidemic Halberd (WP:8, causes all negative effects that the user has to the target when attacking; halberd), Venom Fang Blade (WP:9, causes poisoned equal to WP; longsword), Lullaby Wand (WP:6, inflicts asleep), Silver Sword (WP: 18, Longsword), Frozen Saber (WP: 15; light-, ice- and wind-elemental; inflicts stunned; great sword), Round Metal Shield (SP:7), Artifacts: Crown of the Desert King (SP:6; absorbs fire, wind, and earth; suitable for Boomingham only, headwear.), Venomari Helmet (SP:2, absorb poison as health; helmet), Hood of Belthazar Bluehood (Power +4; Ether -6; headwear), Scarlet Hood (SP:4, grants immunity to stunned), Chains of the Pongcanis Chief (Hero Pierces SP if fighting from Front, Enemies ignore SP if hero fights from the back row, cannot be removed in battle), Amulet of Optimism (Adds the confused-effect to all attacks; accessory, suitable to Erdathcath only), 2x Prayer Beads (Makes the wearer permanently blessed; accessory.), Counterstrike Gloves (If the wearer is damaged by a Free Hit, they counter with strength equal to their level; handwear.), Crimson Suit of Armor (SP:12, allows wearer to pose as Crimson Bear Knight; takes three artifact slots: bodywear, headwear and footwear), Spell Items: Amethyst (Darkness), Scroll of Recklessness (Encouraged and Fragile; costs 5 Ether; 50/50 chance), Emerald Lamp of Summoning (0/3), “True Love Serenade” (restores 50 health to the rest of the party per round; costs 10 ether; Battle Song) Consumables: Potion, Health Core, 2x Remedy, 2x Phoenix Essence, Danab's Apple (Revives all fallen party members, restores full health and ether to the whole party and removes all negative effects from them; consumable), 13x Mead, 4x Smelling Salt, 4x Nostrum, 2x Ambrosia, Fire Brandy (Encouraged, Immune to Ice), Fireball Whiskey (Immunity to Fire One Battle OR 20 Fire Damage All Enemies), Hamantasch (Lucky, Blessed), Jinxy Juice, 2x Floral Bomb, Seal Bomb, Poison Bomb, Stun Bomb, Seth Bomb (Deals 100 darkness-elemental damage to all opponents when used.), Feather of Flight (Allows the user to flee from the battle when used.), Hair of the Dog, 2x Grating Stone, Oculoid Miasma, Oculoid Fireworks, Saber Teeth, Bone, x2 Bright Polish, Tarok's Blood (The user deals double damage to humans and no damage to orcs for the duration of one battle) Tools/Treasure: Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Vindicator's Seal (Grants access to the Vindicator expert job class; cannot be given away), Mythril Shard Thalion Dwinlas, Super Sleuth, School Inspector (-obelix-) 213 years old male elf Mystic Knight Level 34 *Immune to all elements, sealed, blinded, weakened, confused, sleep, fragile, cursed, doomed, sudden death, poisoned and bleeding* *Nimble* *Lucky* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 17 Health: 45/45 Ether: 41/44 Gold: 1063 Equipment: Alpha and Omega (WP: 13, dual healing/spellcasting at the cost of 2 ether, Hollow [Grand Potion stored], staves), Ribcage Shield (SP:12; every time the wielder takes a hit, the shield loses one SP; gives immunity to Doomed and Sudden Death for as long the shield has SP left), Norgh Armor (SP:5, Immunity to Darkness, Light, Fire, Ice, Water, Wood, Wind, Lightning, Earth damage and Sealed, Blind, Fragile, Weaken, Sleep and Confused, bodywear), Blessed Amulet (Protects from Cursed-effect; accessory), Sterile Gloves (Immunity to Poisoned and Bleeding, handwear), Elven Boots (Wearer is permanently Nimble; suitable to elves; footwear) Inventory: Weapons: Despair (WP: 21, darkness-elemental, physical attacks and spells deal double damage to enemies inflicted with any negative effects, staff), Nightfall (WP: 11, Darkness-elemental, absorbs 2 health on successful hits, Hollow [Grand Potion], dagger), Sleeper (WP: 4, deals Asleep to enemies it hits, Hollow Upgrade [Grand Tonic], melee/throwing weapon), Duplovian Swift Halberd (WP: 10, deals Stunned on successful hits, Hollow [Phoenix Essence]) Broomstick (WP:9, ranged), Handy Shield (SP:4, Immune to Blinded) Artifacts: Slightly Less Lucky Die (Randomly causes the Lucky or Jinxed effect when used, costs 3 ether), Duplovian Helmet of the Guard (SP:2, Immune to Magic and Healing, headwear), Winged Sandals (Protects from Bound and Slowed effects, footwear), Heart Locket (Protects from Enamored-effect; accessory), Snake-Eye Charm (Protects from Petrified-effect; accessory), Shackles of War (Prevents anyone from fleeing battles; accessory), Paper Doll (Protects from Hexed-effect; accessory), Cloak of Espionage (Allows the wearer to examine enemy stats before a battle, backwear, lent to Nerwen), Bumble Fanshirt (SP:1, vermin with level less than half of the wearer's are scared and won't directly attack the wearer; bodywear), Dragoon's Helmet (SP:3, makes wearer absorb attacks of the element of their pet dragon, gaining health instead of damage; suitable for dragoons; headwear), Emerald Hood (SP:4, Immunity to Fragile, headwear), Cloak of Necrotic Shielding (SP:3, provides SPECIAL GUARD against Undead Enemies, backwear), Tin Helmet (Protects from Confused and Hexed effects; headwear), Sharkskin Hide (SP: 1, doubles water elemental spells, bodywear, suitable for mages, necromancers, chi monks, and weather mages) Spell Items: Zirconia (Gem containing all elements; cannot be merged into equipment), 3 Amethysts, (Diamond, Aquamarine, Opal, Garnet, lent to Tra-Serral), Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Weakening, Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Elemental Aura Consumables: Earthwyrm Fang (Grants the Encouraged, Lucky, Reinforced, and Blinded effects for the duration of one battle), Copy of The Eubric Herald (Gives the target the transcended and inspired effects for the duration of one battle), Kraken Fang (Grants hastened and reinforced effects when consumed), Grand Potion (7), Potion (4), Remedy (24), Mead (5), Smelling Salts (10), Nostrum (5), Mulled Wine (4), Elixir (3), Ambrosia, Ether Core (2), Grand Tonic (6), Phoenix Essence (4), Bone (2), Smoke Bomb, Blind Bomb (2), Seal Bomb, Sleep Bomb (2), Deluxe Skeleton Decoy, Feather of White, Feather of Flight (2), Demon Repellent, Skeleton Decoy (2) Tools/Treasure: Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Magnifying Glass, Telescope, Magic Compass, Mythril Shard, Crystal Ball (Worth 50 gold, 100 at magic shops) Olmstyr, Strakvaun (Controlled by Chromeknight) 35 years old male orc Vindicator Level 41 *Half Damage from Humans* *Immune to stunned, weakened, fragile, blinded, asleep, and afraid* *Zweihänder Grip* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 15 Health: 65/65 Equipment: Serstyr (WP: 25, light-elemental, longsword), Strakvaun’s Longcoat (SP: 6, backwear, immune to stunned, weakened, fragile, blinded, asleep, and afraid, suitable for the Strakvaun), Orc-Made Chainmail (SP: 9, half damage from humans, bodywear, suitable for Olmstyr), The Righteous Hand (Vindicators in the party can use any of the oaths in the wearer’s inventory, handwear, suitable for vindicators) Inventory: Health Core, Phoenix Essence, Oath of Reclamation (Vindicator’s Oath: After the targeted enemy damages an ally, the enemy immediately becomes stunned, and the vindicator becomes encouraged.), Vindicator’s Seal (Grants access to the Vindicator expert class) Tra-Serral, Kahzvaun (Controlled by Zepher) 26 years old female orc Chi Monk Level 34 *Immune to confused, hexed, enamored, enraged, asleep and afraid* *Lethal* *Nimble* *Inspired* *Encouraged* Power Bonus: +40 Defense: 0 Health: 42/42 Ether: 27/27 Equipment: Touch of Malice (The wearer has a 1/6 chance of instantly killing enemies with Martial and Chi Hits, but cannot heal allies, handwear, suitable for chi monks), Kazhvaun’s Cloak (Wearer is nimble, immune to confused, hexed, enamored, enraged, and afraid, backwear, suitable for the Kahzvaun), Broken Chains of Tarokai (-10 health and ether, +10 power multiplied by the number of greenskins in the party, bodywear, suitable for descendants of Tarokai) Inventory: 2 Grand Potions, Amethyst, Ruby, (Diamond, Aquamarine, Opal, Garnet, lent by Thalion) Daske, Marykvaun (Controlled by Waterbrick Down) 21 years old female hobgoblin Dragoon Level 31 *Immune to bound, slowed, jinxed, poisoned, bleeding, and petrified* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 20 Health: 53/53 Equipment: Dragon’s Tongue (WP: 20, pierces defense, wood-elemental, spear), Baltarok Buckler (SP: 15, shield), Marykvaun’s Greaves (SP: 5, immune to bound, slowed, jinxed, poisoned, bleeding, and petrified, legwear, suitable for the Marykvaun), Ally’s Shoulderguards (The dragoon absorbs all attacks that would knock out their dragon, accessory, suitable for dragoons), Ancient Dragoon Visor (Grants a dragoon's companion The Last of His Kind: Uses Fury from Above as its SHIELD and manifests its element early, headwear, suitable for the last Baltarok dragoon) Inventory: Phoenix Essence, 3 Remedies Aazy, Aazuuldrahkcand (pet dragon controlled by Daske) 2 years old male dragon Hatchling Level 31 *The Last of His Kind* Health: 31/31 Element: Wood

Miderun slashes at Barghest 2 from the front row. Sorry, I've been busy lately.

Since when?

We got a really good, well-rounded Star Wars movie for the first time in over thirty years. I can live with that. If people are expecting something with the impact of the OT they are in for many movies worth of disappointment.

Done, sorry about that.

"Aye, ya' won't find better experts in big hats anywhere on this side of the world." "Sounds just fine to me. But don't get your hopes up, just one of these books was able to sink an entire country in the desert."

"What?" snarled Grishnod as Olmstyr and Thalion twisted his arms behind his back. "This is not how one treats a clan leader, outsiders!" "Hmph. Very well." Skrall's spyglass spun around briefly, then for the first time lit up red, the color of blood yet to be spilled. There was an enemy in the eight spaces surrounding F3. "Oh, very well," sighed Jaret. "But I'm certainly not used to drinks like this. Far too strong for my tastes, I'm more used to High Kingdoms spirits, I'm afraid..." "Yes, of course. Actually, it was a Heroican who freed me and sent me here; I worked for a captain under the service of the Bonapartes, but I heard he became, um, indisposed by them." "Because," growled Vendrick. "Small kingdom. Deep north. Not much to say about them. 'Scuse me, miss." The people scattered around the feast shuffled around once more, save for Tarvalk and Grishnod. Jaret somewhat reluctantly took a sip of the strong orcish drink, face screwing up slightly as he sipped it. ---ROUND EIGHT OF A FEAST TO DIE FOR---

Sorry, was feeling rather under the weather yesterday, update coming later.

"Sounds fine to me," remarked Miderun, putting away her loot. "This is a good time, does not matter to me where we are fighting."

That quest already happened a few years ago.

Arthur attacks Miirym from the front row!

"Oh. Huh." Atramor tossed the stone into the air and let it land in his palm, the brilliant white gem glimmering even in the confines of his gloved hand. "...yeah, archangel'll probably do it, mate." He then handed over 100 gold for the Demon Repellent. "But this oughta help too." "Well, today's your king's lucky freakin' day mate, because the best problem solvers in the business just rolled up to his doorstep....as ya' can tell by our piles of loot both ancient and forbidden, our magic wagon with a burned-out cardshark drivin' it, and the most heroic freakshow rejects ridin' in the back, waitin' to kill some demons. We specialize in both fixin' strange stuff and trespassin' places we're not s'post to go, so I can just about promise we are the most qualified people to enter Goetia right now. Tell that to your king. And ask if he'll pay us, if ya' please." Atramor nodded to the soldier.

The next time things need to move along, somebody else can post suggested actions after 24 hours have passed, this is taking quite a lot longer than I anticipated. No rush if you're all strategist behind the scenes but I feel like 24 hours between each post is really stretching this out. Skrall's spyglass whirled around again. There were no threats in any of the spaces around H7. "Got it. Just let us know if you need anyone pinned down. I think the feast is gonna end soon..." Talking to allies and such is free, yeah. "Vendrick says you've all been asking questions, and it seems like more than a few of the greenskins here are on-edge. This is looking less like a feast by the second and more like a setup." Morkantus frowns. "What the hell is going on here? Because if it poses any kind of threat to King Valentino, I need to know about it." "...hmph." "I'll leave the accusing to you and the other heroes. But I wouldn't put it past this saroro here." "You think me a traitor?" snarled the clan leader. "Just because I don't fall in line with the rest of these fools? This does not make me a liar; it means you don't command the respect you once did." Tarvalk crossed his arms and glanced sideways at Thalion perceptively. "Tradition demands-" "You can stow your useless traditions. And you-" he glared at Thalion, "-you have no right to even be here. Our affairs are none of your business, so remove yourself from ours." "Not here, but he was the head of our army for several years. He was the only one who came here. To halt the Four Boulders. And I only joined King Valentino's personal retinue after his return from captivity..." his eyes narrowed slightly. "Is this an interrogation? Is that what all this is about?" The guests at the feast shuffled around once more. Grishnod, clearly cornered, seemed content to hang back. Morkantus returned to his seat while Vendrick leered at Boomingham waiting to get back to his. Tra-Serral looked away from the pouch Vendrick left at the bar to Trista, who was collecting the drink ordered by Artorias the knight. Jaret leaned against the bar on the maid's other side. "So....what exactly is being served here tonight? I haven't had a drink in ages." "Hrmph. Of course not, you're in Baltarok...human. Let's see, Tarok's Blood, Orcish Grog." "Oh. Dear. Nothing quite that strong, thank you. But some wine, perhaps...this night is giving me a headache." "Maybe rip that metal out of it," grumbled the bartender as he poured the drink. ---ROUND SEVEN OF A FEAST TO DIE FOR---

Right, sorry. She will use the Oculoid Claw, then.