Gameplay Date 09-09-07
Players present: Mordek, Taneus
An unexpected visitor
After a little time had passed, in which a person could have drifted off to sleep, if that was their intention, there was a sound coming from right outside the window of my room. As I laid there, gripping the strings of my crossbow traps, waiting for whoever it was outside to make their move, I could make out a strange shape sliding down from the window sill to the floor. Was this guy not gonna show his face? I let go of the strings and grabbed my hammer from where I had left in on top of my bed covers. As I quietly eased out of the bed and tried to sneak to the window, I got a nasty surprise as I was suddenly bitten in the leg by a viper. Giving a shout of surprise and jumping back away from it, I grabbed the blanket off of my bed and threw it over the snake so it couldn't see me. Then I jumped on top of the blanket in an effort to pin the snake down and started smashing at it with my hammer until it was a bloody stain. Whoever it was outside my window didn't stick around once things didn't turn out the way he had intended, and I just barely caught a silhouette running in the direction of the Scarlet Jester. Apparently, my rather load pounding on the floor caught Kaela's attention as she soon appeared, knocking on my door, wondering what was going on.
I opened the door to let her in and apologized for ruining her blanket as I pulled it back to take a look at the dead snake underneath it. She gasped, though whether it was from the sight of the bloody mess on the floor or the puncture marks on my leg, I don't know. She told me I needed to get to a temple quickly to deal with the bite in case it happened to be a venomous snake. Pulling on my britches and slipping on my boots, Kaela told me to head next door to the Temple of St. Cuthbert. I took my hammer along just in case some other fool decided to harass me tonight. Making my way downstairs and outside, I followed the worn path right to the door of the temple. I started banging loudly on the door to wake the priests if they were already asleep for the night. Before long though, a figure opened the door and asked me what business I had that was so important at this time of the night. I told him about my night time visitor and showed him the bite on my leg, and how Kaela had told me to come over here as quick as I could. The priest mellowed a bit for the untimely awakening and motioned me inside. He had me take a seat on a bench and had me prop my leg up on it so he could see the wound better. Then he closed his eyes, muttering some prayer or something and his hands began to glow. As he passed his hands over the wound, the punctures in my leg closed up and the slight pain disappeared. I thanked him for his help and ask him his name, it's Phenomous, then introduce myself as Mordek. He tells me the gods help those in need, and nonchalantly nods his head toward an offering plate nearby. Ah, yes, of course... as I'm reaching for my coin purse, it suddenly dawns on me that I left it back up in my room at the Inn. I apologize to him, saying that in my haste, I left my money behind. I offer to buy him breakfast in the morning at the Inn and we can settle up my debt to St. Cuthbert then, if he would be so willing. He agrees and I bid him a good night, then return to my room in the hopes that I won't be interrupted anymore for the night and can get some rest.
When the morning arrives, I headed downstairs and went back over to the temple to see if Phenomous was up and about. It didn't take him long to be ready, and we went back over to the Inn to order up some breakfast. As we are chatting over our meal, Phenomous tells me that my visitor from last night was most likely a member of the Grey Fingers called Slipknot, who apparently has a penchant for using various snakes. After eating, I thanked Phenomous again and handed him several gold pieces for his swift assistance last night. Then I went back up to my room to gather my temple sketches, and headed out to meet with Aglim. When I arrived back at the High Temple, a very big and well armored orc was guarding the door... I think I heard someone mention his name was Kerg. Kerg has me wait on the steps while he informs Aglim that I'm there. Aglim comes out, and then he begins leading me around the town showing me the plots of land that he says are available. At the same time, I showed him the rough plans I had drawn up to give him an idea of how much land we would need. He says that for 1,000 gold pieces, we could build our temple in the big open space, south of the town's largest reflecting pool. A prime spot as he called it, situated right where the roads to Teryll & Bumfor converge as people arrive in Nerom. I can almost see a gleam in his eye as he contemplates that much new gold filling his coffers. The next location that he showed me was close to the dual temple of Obad-Hai & Corellan Larenthian... he was asking 700 gold pieces for that location. I tell him that the Temple of Moradin wasn't seeking to outshine the other temples in town by building in such prime locations, and that the equality might be better maintained by building on the outskirts of the town.
Aglim continued to take me around the town offering different plots of land here & there, but he started to get testy every time I continued to mention that the outskirts of town would be more than adequate. I inquire about the possibility of building our temple on the southeast corner of town, just past the Temple of St. Cuthbert and The Stone's Throw Inn, saying that it would be a welcome sight to dwarven travelers coming from Bumfor as one of the first buildings they see upon their arrival in Nerom. Aglim doesn't seem to care anymore... at least not since I declined to take him up on the more expensive plots of land in town... and he says we can have that spot for 300 gold pieces. That's something I can actually handle, since I'm not really being backed by the Temple and it's coming out of my own coin purse instead. I hand Aglim 75 gold pieces right then & there, and tell him I left the rest in my room at the Inn and can get it to him soon. Aglim, slightly happier now that he's got some gold in hand, tells me to bring it by the High Temple around 5:00 pm. He's going to call another town meeting at that time and will make an announcement to everyone welcoming another Temple to Nerom's fold. Thanking him for his kind assistance, I ask him if there is someone in Nerom that runs a pigeon courier service, or the like, as I'd like to send a note to the Temple in Bumfor expressing the good news. Aglim tells me to talk with Corna at her General Store. I have another sly grin on my face as Aglim departs and I turn toward Corna's General Store.
To be continued...
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