(G208 08/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Al)

(G208 08/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Al)

DAY 219 (16th Marpenoth) continued...

Cale and Mathmoss ordered elaborate suppers and plenty of booze for their dinner. Cale danced to
the singing of the local 'bard' although perhaps he was a little tired and did not put on his best
performance.

Meanwhile Mathmoss had his eyes on the serving wenches and was heavily tipping the good looking one
in order to see where it might lead.

Cale drank until he was drunk and his youthful good looks attracted the attention of Margo the
Miller's daughter but by then he was too far gone.

Mathmoss had a dance with one of the local women until the singer was dragged home by his children.
Cale woke up and asked 'Where did the music go?' but then made every one happy by buying a round of
drinks for the whole room.

They finally got round to arranging rooms. The Miller's daughter wanted to meet Cale in the morning
but he just grunted and went to bed. Mathmoss had a much better time and took the wench, whose name
was Derndie, to his room for the night.


DAY 220 (17th Marpenoth)

Today was not going to be a good day for young Cale Cresthill but he wasn't to know that yet and
came down for his breakfast as normal. Mathmoss was there also, noticing that his new girlfriend
had risen early for work. Mathmoss thought she would make a good guide for the day though and gave
the innkeeper enough money to pay another village girl so Derndie could join them.

Once they left the inn to begin their investigations they noticed that they were being followed
by a boy and girl, the children of the singer in the inn. As strangers in the village, and such
odd looking ones, they were attracting attention.

They located the house that was the home of Freddorick. Cale knocked but there was no answer.
The door was found to be locked.

When asked who knew Fred the most, Derndie replied that he had been most friendly with Jaroo the
druid. So that was their next port of call. The little boy and girl still followed them. Their names
were Francie and Neely. When he saw them arrive, Jaroo gave them some money to get some food and they
scampered off.

Anyone appearing at the Grove was expected to donate something for the poor of the village. When
Cale checked his pockets for change he found that 50 gold coins had been stolen from him! He presumed
it had been while he was drunk.

Now, Cavu had told them to keep his name out of dealings with the people of Hommlet so when they
asked Jaroo is he had a spare key to Freddorick's house he was very mistrustful.

Mathmoss then went to the local temple priest to arrange a casting of the 'Zone of Truth' spell
for 120gp. Cale wasn't so keen though and voiced the opinion that 'It won't make any difference
to his attitude.'

Next they tried to enlist the help of Humperdink who was happy to lie on their behalf but was
told to tell the truth. Unfortunately though the truth was that he didn't really know Cavu and
Mathmoss and couldn't say for sure if they were trustworthy.

While Humperdink talked to Jaroo, Cale noticed a large black hairy ball snoring in the corner of
the grove. He went over to investigate but backed off when Mathmoss warned him, 'It's a bear!'.

They gave up on Jaroo and went to talk to Elem Oats the captain of the militia. They were faced
with the same problem though. They looked foreign. The villagers were mistrustful - and after all
who could blame them? There had been a lot of strange and dangerous characters through the village
just recently and the countryside was full of orcs, half orcs and northern barbarians.

Cale asked if there was a 'Criminal Underbelly' in  Hommlet. Oats slammed the door on him.

Another route of enquiry closed to them, guided by Derndie again they went and talked to Fred's
landlord. They had no luck here either, they were too foreign and dangerous looking.

They had a bite to eat at the inn for lunch and Mathmoss went to the local general store to buy
a sai (a type of dagger). Cale thought that breaking in to the house in the night was the only
way forward. While that would have been a good idea if they'd done it straight away, Mathmoss
pointed out the awkward fact that they had been round the whole village asking about the house
and would be prime suspects if the break in was noticed!

Cale suddenly announced 'I have an idea!'. It turned out to be a very bad idea. Four children
followed him as he left the inn but he gave each of them a silver and off the scampered.

Mathmoss shrugged and gave Derndie the nod. They then went upstairs to his room and had a much
better time than Cale was about to have.

Cale put another gold on the collection plate as he arrived in the grove but for reasons that may
have seemed sensible at the time he started threatening the druid.

This had the effect of turning the placid hairy lump in the corner of the grove into a huge clawed
killing machine which charged into Cale.

Three people who were in the grove fled as the fight began. Jaroo shouted at Cale to get out but
the dancer stood his ground, whacking the bear with the blunt end of his scythe.

Cale tried to talk to the druid to calm the situation down, but Jaroo continued to tell him to get
out of the grove. When Cale stunned the bear with one final blow, Jaroo mistook this for a fatal
injury. Crying 'No! Not Bear! Prepare to die!'

Still Cale did not leave or make any attempt to flee. Jaroo summoned four crocodiles (one of my favourite
tricks!) and set them on the dancer. Cale managed to Dervish Dance around them all though and very nearly
killed the druid before he could take on the form of an eagle and flap into the sky.

Again, Cale did not flee, although badly injured he stood his ground bravely, but was quickly savaged
to death by the crocodiles.

**
Now. Just to add my own thoughts on this incident. Speaking as a druid I feel sorry for Cale. His heart
always seemed to be in the right place, but he had a habit of making bad decisions. Diplomacy not being
his strong point he had tried to intimidate the druid. Not a good idea to a senior druid with years of
experience and indeed, within his own grove.
One would not walk calmly into the Halls of Justice and start threatening Hammer Lord Hykros Allumen
for instance.
So, you may argue who was in the right at this stage, but a bear is a savage animal and seeing its master
threatened in his own home it attacked. Cale should really have left at this stage, but this time tried
diplomacy, something he was not well suited to.
When Jaroo attacked it was only going to go one way and Cale should have used his expert skills in ducking
and weaving to flee the scene. Perhaps a nice big donation to the grove would have smoothed things over
after that? But instead he stood his ground and died. It is very sad that a young man from the northern
deserts, perhaps unfamiliar in the ways of southern druids, should end this way, but ultimately it was
of his own doing. In any event, to continue...
**

Mathmoss was roused from his peaceful sleep in the inn by Jaroo and Captain Oats. They told him to leave
the village at once. When he asked why Jaroo told him of the attack.
'It sounds more like you murdered him!', decried the ninja.

The following witnesses were called:

Mrs Murfle, the leather workers wife
Mr Weaver, the weaver
Mrs Hopps, the brewers wife

Like all small villages though, everyone knew everyone else and Mathmoss was deluding himself if he thought
the witnesses would do anything other than back the druid that had lived in their midst for forty or more years.
In fact, I am lead to believe Mrs Murfle was Jaroo's sister-in-law and Mrs Hopps his second cousin.

So, the mission falling apart, Mathmoss left town. He tried to at least retain Cale's possessions, but
these were confiscated. He paid the priest to cast 'Gentle Repose' on what remained of Cale and placed
in a box (after being partially digested by four crocodiles there was no need of something so big as a
coffin) and he left the village by himself, Humperdink now wanting nothing to do with him apparently.

(G207 25/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira)

(G207 25/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira)


DAY 217    (14th Marpenoth) ....

Once they had settled 'Clompy' into the stables and set up a watch schedule they settled
in to sleep. The child snuggled into the magic bedroll with Pensato.

DAY 218 (15th Marpenoth)

If the temple bell had anyone to ring it in Toadstone, it would have not long chimed four
in the morning when the child awakened and told Pensato that she needed to pee-pee.

Humperdink was on watch and when they did not return for some time he woke up Cale who
then woke up Mathmoss. The ninja took the lantern and went into the night to look for
them.

He worked his way round to the villages only inn and heard voices from within.
Looking under the main door he saw feet so climbed up the outer wall and quietly entered
the building via a window. The upper floor of the inn was given over to guest rooms
and the area was in darkness but he could see light coming up from the stairwell.

Creeping down the stairs he could see a gathering of twenty or so orcs around a stove,
cooking up some orcish food. One of them sniffed the air, as if it could detect
Mathmoss's scent. The ninja beat a hasty retreat.

When asked about what he had seen he replied,
'A ton or orcs! Pensato may already be in their cooking pot!'

Mathmoss and Cale returned to the inn and while Mathmoss went up and returned to the
stairs, Cale banged on the door,
'Whoever is in there! Come out with your hands up and I will spare your life!'
He then heard some hushed voices within.
He repeated his demand in all the languages he knew, knocking on the door and shouting.

Eventually an orc opened the door and asked 'Who are you?'
Cale instantly slew the orc with his scythe. One supposes it had not satisfied Cale in the matter
of meeting him at the door with hands raised.

Cale waded into the room to attack the orcs, but found that they all fled as fast as they could
out of the back door. He grabbed one though, crying out,
'Mathmoss we need a prisoner!'

The orc he grabbed was a juvenile female and struggle as she might, Cale had a good hold of
her. The others having fled, but Mathmoss caught two more orish children upstairs.

When questioned though it boiled down to this;

These orcs were part of the 'baggage train', women and children of the horde and part of the
Many Arrows tribe. They had been traveling with some warriors but had been attacked by
Waterdavian forces and fled. They had arrived at this inn just a few hours ago and were catching
their breath and having something to eat. They knew nothing about Pensato or the child.
The girl explained that she was actually a half-orc called Edna. She did not seem dangerous
in any way.

Humperdink was summoned and asked of he could track Pensato. He followed a trail in the dark
to the edge of the village but from that point on it was impossible.

Mathmoss went to bed, washing his hands of the whole affair. Cale took their only remaining
prisoner (the two other children having escaped) and dumped the half-orc girl on Mathmoss.
'You decide what to do with her.'
Saying nothing, Mathmoss untied her and shooed her out the door.

In the morning Humperdink examined the tracks again but they seemed to end mysteriously.
'I wonder though', he said, 'I have heard tell of a necromancer that lives in these parts.
Perhaps he had something to do with it?'
It seemed a bit thin though and lacking a better plan they packed up camp and head on their
way once more.

In the afternoon they arrived at the swampside cave of Glevenax, the old trollish sear that had
once told Oz and Alduin their fortunes.

It was still a large and reasonably well furnished cave and did not smell too bad considering that
a troll lived in it. Humperdink expressed no interest in getting his future foretold but Mathmoss
did and was instructed to bring a fish from the pond nearby.

First he stood for ten minutes, shivering wasted deep in the water, but found that his nunchucks were
poor implements for catching fish. When he returned to shore and started to make a trap Humperdink
approached him and said,
'What are you doing there, chief?'
'Fish trap.'
'Want to borrow my hook and line?'
Mathmoss left out a deep sigh.

Equipped with a fish he presented it to Glevenax. She spilled its guts out into a wide bronze bowl and
read the future there in. It wasn't all good.

'You will find a lot of treasure in the near future. But best make plans for a way to deal
with your impending death. A man of evil disposition will kill you. He is a tall, thin man, with
sharp features and protruding eyes.'

Mathmoss shuddered, then dried himself out by the fire.

DAY 219 (16th Marpenoth)

They set off in the morning and arrived at the village of Hommlet at eight o'clock in the evening.
Humperdink lead them to the Inn of the Welcoming Wench where Ostier Gundigoot was still the inn
keeper.

(G206 18/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 16

(G206 18/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 16

DAY 68 (fri) cont...

Kirk replicated three more drones bringing his total up to five. He also looked through the
shuttles records to see how easy it would be to weaponise them. It was possible but would take
too long. Instead he taped an industrial laser onto each drone alongside the camera. It would
cause a distraction at least and maybe dazzle an enemy if aimed right at his eyes.

He teleported out these Mark IIs out to join their kin over the skies of Schtackburg.

It was about 0400 hours when the drones converged on the street of Obser Varo. They managed
to narrow the Vidiian presence down to one building. No forcefield was detected.

They brought down the drones to a lower altitude and narrowed it down to the middle
three floors of the five floor building. Noxus teleported onto the roof and set up a
transporter enhancer, then scanned for the bomb. He was distracted by sirens below
him though. On hearing this, Kirk landed all the drones on the roof to keep them
safe.

Straining his ears Noxus could hear the sound of voices as people entered the building
from the street below. He scanned them, but they were locals, not Vidiians.

As he continued to scan he heard shouting, then a single gunshot from below. Kirk
teleported a Treebadian disguise kit and then teleported him to the forth floor.

On the landing he met a Treebadian female coming up the stairs. She was stern looking
and wearing a patterned wool jumper. Noxus, his mind racing to come up with ideas, bluffed
that he really needed the toilet.
'I need the toilet!'
'Do you live here?, replied the woman.
'Of course!'
'On this floor?'
'Not on this floor...'
'I'm Detective Stiva. You can't go downstairs just yet, see if one of your neighbours will help.'
Noxus knocked on the nearest door and a little old man let him in. Noxus pretended to go to the
bathroom.

The detective was still there when he returned though. She talked on her radio and Kirk was listening in.
'Suspect won't come out... Says he knows nothing about the drones..'
Kirk decided to break in to their radio and sternly intoned,
'Attention police. This building has a bomb at this level. I have detected it by the use of my drones. There is
another in Vanadis park. The drones are here to aid you in this crisis.'
The detective said,
'Unknown caller, identify yourself!'
'I regret to inform you I cannot. We removed the threat from Hummelgarden and disabled the bomb. I'm only trying
to assist the city and remove the imminent threat.'
'Please leave this frequency!'
'Please accept my help!'
'What help exactly? Please leave this frequency,'

While she was talking to Kirk, Noxus observed her use another electronic device, as if the were sending messages
or looking something up. Next he noticed a look of surprise on her face as she read from the device.
Kirk continued to reveal more of the Vidiian's plot and told her of the nuclear bombs that had been placed
around the city as part of their terror attack.
As she talked she walked down the stairs and she was replaced by another policeman called Heinrich.

More police arrived and went to the door of the Vidiians flat. Noxus and Kirk waited to see what
was going to happen. As people began to look out their doors to see what all the commotion was about
the police kicked their way in.

Kirk moved the drones from the roof and transported Noxus back to the shuttle.
Meanwhile the radio conversation continued,
'Mysterious person. Are you still there?'
Kirk could hear the click of a car door opening and closing.
'Yes'. Kirk went on to tell her about the Vidiians, the Phage and their organ harvesting ways.
'Who are these people? What country are they from?'
'That's not important.'

Noxus checked his gear and Kirk flew the drones to the park. Police helicopters followed them for
a while, but then held back. Scanning the park Noxus detected the residual effects of a forcefield
in the area. The Vidiians had been there recently.

On the radio they heard;
'In position now sir!'
'Stay off this channel!'

Ensign Kirk teleported to the southern most point of the park and approached the area the Vidiians
were in. He threw a dazzle grenade toward the bandstand.
Noxus approached from the west and threw incendiary grenades towards the Vidiian strong point.

Kirk sent in drones and one was shot down. It was hard to see the shadowy figures in the darkness
of the park but the Vidiians were definitely there and returning fire.

Using the cameras of the drones routed through his tricorder Kirk could make out that this area
was a pond with a path that went either side of it to a bandstand around which where placed dozens
of chairs.

Noxus threw another grenade, making a Vidiian run back to a darker location. For some reason known only
to himself Noxus then took off at the spring northwards, perhaps thinking to flank them, but in the
dark he ran headlong into a bush. He then changed his mind and joined the shooting.

Kirk continued to shoot at the Vidiians. It was a tense firefight as each shot gave away his location,
but each time he was shot at he then knew where one of the enemy was. In the end though, he was not enough
to take them all one and when they were both stunned by the Vidiian weapons they transported
back to the shuttle by the automatic return protocol Kirk had programmed previously.

Noxus was the first to regain consciousness. He could hear drilling coming from the side of the shuttle.
Looking out a window he could see that somehow they had come to be on the dockside.

He activated the shields and the people around the craft were pushed away from it. The cardassian then
had a bite to eat and a nice cup of tea.
He opened a channel to outside and talked,
'How may i help you?'
'The bomb goes off in minutes!', yelled back Detective Stiva, 'We killed the Vidiians , but we don't
know what to do with the bomb!'

Grasping the situation Noxus flew the shuttle up over the part and transported the bomb out into
space.

As they left the star system the Vidiian Warship poked its head out from behind a moon and approached
them.
'Stop where you are!', its captain demanded.
'We are the U.S.S Bikini. 0-6-0-6.' replied Kirk and other nonsense.
'Surrender!'

The warship was stronger and better armed than the shuttle, but slower, so they had not much trouble
avoiding it and heading back to Voyager.

DAY 69 (thu)

Ensign Kirk spent most of the return flight, while not asleep, writing his report and working on
his M.A.T.S.E project (the new name for T.I.T.S).

At 0600 hours they arrived at Voyager.

They reported to the med bay for a routine check up. Kirk submitted his Design documents to Torres.

(G205 04/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), LD) 15

(G205 04/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), LD) 15

Personnel File : Evoras
Race           : Vulcan
Dept           : Science Division
Rank           : Ensign (Specialist 3)

Evoras worked as a freelance deep space science researcher before joining Starfleet.
Her experience includes field operations, biology, zoology and anthropology.
After the Academy she worked on smaller vessels before joining the crew of Voyager.