Adventure Thread - Atarin's Delve

Herja puts her back against a wall and points her shield at the direction she thinks the voice is coming from, keeps her head low, and grips her axe. She scans her surroundings for places these archers and their leader might be hiding.

"Huh? Who's there? Wasn't someone watching the door? Ack, nevermind." Bart steps out of the mausoleum, filling the doorway on his way out with his imposing figure.

"I'm guessing if you wanted us dead we'd all ready be pin cushions. So to what do we owe the pleasure, or is it as my comrade here has said, and you are a group of brigands getting your jollies by frightening arkay-o... arch-e, the client! dammit." He waves his hand dismissively, happy to let Esteber do the talking.

"We know nothing about that Atarin you speak of, or his companions, but we have seen some strange people around that might be responsible for your employer's disappearance and might be a potential threat to all of us. I think we are no enemies, so I'm going to walk where you can see me as a sign of good will and then we can parley. Don't do anything strange or you'll all be dead before you can reach me. Do you all agree to talk in peace?"

Waits for the adventurers to nod in agreement or say something and then walks out of the woods.

In response to the disembodied words, Herja nods grimly but maintains her battle stance. She glances at the setting sun (beautiful!) over the Lough Derg but at the sight of the loch the inexplicable chills run up and down her spine again. Then she remembers she is standing inside a tomb.

What? You mean he has no archers? Well my friend, I don,t know whether to call you brave or a fool... or a brave fool... Still, seems we are no enemies. My name is Esteber, this is Bart, Slae, and the lovely Herja. Please, tell us about those "strange people" you mentioned.

"Yep, maybe I exaggerated a little bit about that , you got me there elf. But now we know we are not enemies, let's not allow this little white lie to ruin our new found friendship." Says Alden, ready to flee at the slightest sign of aggression.

"Alden is my name, and If you allow me I'll talk to you about the strange things I have seen around this place"

Alden starts telling them his story:

"Well, I was staying in the old manor on the hill for reasons of no concern to our current situation and I could see in the distance a group of blue robed men going inside the graveyard, and as you all know robed men going in a graveyard always mean trouble." Looks to Slae for a moment "No offense intended my elven friend."

"There also were some men camping in the beach, I think they were investigating the caves in the cliff, they looked harmless and I was tempted to go talk to them, but then..."

He waits a second and looks to the water "...about that creepy lake, well... we'll do better not getting close to it. I... just don't know how to describe what emerged from there, they were neither men, nor beasts... they took those men camping in the beach by surprise, I don't know if anyone survived their attack..."

Caves? Must be where that flag is. Well, we were hired by those men on the beach, so we'll have to get back to the beach eventually to investigate further, maybe find those caves, but not tonight: we had a long journey and need to rest. Alden, do you know of any place which is safe to spend the night?

"Wait, blue-robed men in which graveyard?" Herja interrupts, "THIS graveyard?"

"I was hiding in the old manor, we can all go there if you like, but let's go as far from the lake as we can."

To Herja: "I'm afraid so, war maiden"

"I fear those monsters already know of our presence and might attack us while we sleep so we better keep our guard up"

Bart grins at Alden's bold bluff. "Har! I think I like you Alden! Fortune favours the bold, and while the fickle bitch might still have me in debt to the guild, I'm willing to bet it'll take you far!"

Bart barely stifles a yawn, then nods to Esteber's suggestion. "Agreed. We should rest in the manor house. At the very least it should be more defensible."

Actually, I think I prefer Alden's suggestion of going as far as possible better. If those "sea monsters" are to come after us tonight, I want them to travel as far as possible in order to do so, if only to spite them. Also, I'm not sure I'm comfortable staying next to the cemetery those strange hooded men visit... Let us go while we still have some daylight. Alden, I assume you know the area better than us, so lead the way. We can discuss guard duty while we're on the move.

"I suppose it would be best to hole up for the night and investigate in the morning. No use exposing ourselves on two fronts in the night. On the other hand, the longer we wait the less likely we'll find our employer still breathing."

Hmm, fine, I guess the best option would be to hole up in the ruined manor in that case. We'll have protection from the elements and the walls will at least help mask any campfire we make, and Bart is right, it might be more defensible. Who knows, we might even find clues inside as we set up camp... Well, let's take advantage of what daylight we have left to gather firewood and figure out guard duty.

Esteber will start looking for firewood