Gameplay Date 09-16-07
Players present: Mordek, Taneus, Brynn
More newcomers arrive in Nerom
Corna greeted me as I arrived back at her shop. I told her I'd like to send a message to Bumfor through her courier service. She handed me a small piece of parchment that would fit in the pigeon's carrying pouch and told me to start writing my message. I addressed the note to Arda, one of the priests I was familiar with back at the Grand Temple in Bumfor. Knowing that my message would be received with a "What the hell is he talking about" attitude back in Bumfor, I tried to make it as intriguing as possible, using just a few sentences, in the hopes they would send a group to investigate.
Master Arda,
Negotiations for purchase of land successful.
Groundbreaking & Temple construction to begin soon.
Nerom's leaders eager to welcome Moradin into it's fold.
Mordek, Greyheim Mountain Clan.
Corna has one of her pigeons in hand by the time I am done writing the note. She tells me it will take about 6 days for a response to arrive back from Bumfor. Once the message was secured to the bird, I tell Corna that I will also be needing some supplies... about 600 feet of string, a whole lot of wooden stakes, and a sack or two to put them all in. Corna tells me I'll have to stop by Kelper's shop if I want any stakes, but she has the other items. After paying Corna for the items and the courier service, I thank her and head out the door toward Kelper's Wagon shop. He greets me as I come into his shop, asking what he can do for me. I tell him that I'm in need of several dozen wooden stakes... most about a foot and a half tall, and one or two stakes that are about 3 or 4 feet tall. I hold open the bag I got at Corna's as Kelper loads it up with the stakes. I paid and thanked him for his help, then set off in the direction of the little plot of land I had just made a down payment on.
Setting the bag down on the ground and consulting my sketches of the floor plan, I pounded a stake into the ground, using my nice and shiny war hammer I had recently gotten, to mark the first corner of the future temple. Walking out my estimated distances, I continued putting more and more stakes in the ground until the outline of the temple's walls had been created. Going back to the bag, I pulled out the first of several rolls of twine and began running a length of cord from one stake to the next until all of the walls and the pathway and the altar block were marked out about a foot off of the ground. Using the two longer wooden stakes, I pounded one into the ground in the center of the temple's "main room." Then I tied the other stake to it like a cross. Using some of the remaining cord, I then lashed the shiny hammer to the top of the vertical stake and hung the shield, bearing the symbol of Moradin, across the horizontal stake, so that any passerby would see that this was the beginning of a temple to Moradin.
Satisfied that I had done a good enough job, I started walking out of the town toward the stream, so that I could make a show of cleaning myself up in the river, while I was actually retrieving the gold I had buried under a rock in the stream back when we were coming into Nerom. Going back into the town, I headed for the dual Temples of Obad-Hai and Corellan Larenthian. Just wanted to check in with Luvana and see how she was doing. I find that she's back from her mission. She's with another woman as I approach. She's also bubbly with excitement as she tells me about the battle against the orcs. Then she remembers to introduce me to her companion... Terusella, a cleric of Obad-Hai that has accepted Luvana as her initiate and begun teaching her their druidish ways. Terusella apologizes, saying that she and Luvana must get back to Luvana's training, and politely escorts me back out of the Temple's entrance. At least the kid's okay.
I started heading back to The Stone's Throw Inn after that, and went up to my room. I needed to count out enough gold to give to Aglim at the town meeting this afternoon in order to conclude our deal. Once that was done, I made my way back downstairs and ordered an ale from Kaela. There weren't too many people in here at this time, so I grabbed a table for myself and sat down to think what I would be saying if Aglim had me address the crowd. While I was working on my second ale, the door of the Inn opened and in walked an elf... female by the look of her... sometimes it's hard to tell... all that long hair and their thin builds... carrying a quarterstaff and wearing leather armor. She turns back outside the door and says "stay" to someone or something, then proceeds on up to the bar where Kaela is working. She's asking for a hunk of raw meat on the bone and a plate of the house special along with a goblet of wine. Taken aback by the odd request, Kaela heads into the kitchen and comes back with shank of goat and says she'll be back in a minute with the rest of her order. The elf paid Kaela for the food, then took the leg of goat back towards the front door. She opened the door and tossed the goat leg outside, but I didn't hear it hit the ground... only some happy scarfing sounds. She said "away... but stay close" and then came back inside, closing the door behind her again.
The elf took a seat at a table nearby to wait for Kaela to come out with her food. As the only two people in here, she glanced my way and we caught eyes. I gave her a nod in acknowledgement and resumed drinking my ale, downing the last of it. She was eyeing me cautiously, and when I went up to the bar to get another refill, she decided to invite me over to her table. I was curious what she might want, so I paid Kaela for the ale and grabbed the seat opposite her at her table. She introduced herself as Brynn Brya (played by Kelly) and I introduced myself in return. Something told me that she wasn't a local, so I asked where she was from. She told me that she had journeyed here from Daegus Woods, following the trail of several orcs. I told her there's quite a few in town and that they seem to be helping the Priests of the Temple of Erythnul at the High Temple. I also told her that she might want to visit the Temple of Obad-Hai if she's looking for information on the orcs in town. She asked what I do, and I told her that I'm currently in Nerom to purchase land for the raising of a Temple to Moradin and to begin the groundwork for it's construction, and that this afternoon... pretty soon actually... it will be made official in an announcement during a town meeting.
We sat there talking for a while more, just killing time until in was nearly 5:00. I told her that I needed to be on hand when Aglim made his announcement, and began to excuse myself from the table, but said if she was interested, she could follow along to where the townspeople would be gathering. We left the Inn and made our way through Nerom toward the HIgh Temple. I bid Brynn well and parted from her company as we drew near and made my way toward the main doors to await Aglim. The townspeople began showing up from their homes and businesses, and then a huge group showed up, having just gotten off shift working on the stairway project. A horn blares out to grab everyone's attention and Aglim heads to the top of the dais to address the crowd. As he begins his speech praising their hard work again, Aglim gets interrupted. There is a man in full plate armor, helmet in hand, sitting astride a horse, at the back of the crowd. A woman in simpler clothes is standing beside him as he raises his voice saying "People of Nerom... Your plight is over. No longer shall you be enthralled by the forces of... ." He didn't get to finish his sentence as all of a sudden, a crossbow bolt was protruding out of his forehead, nearly between his eyes. As the man slumped to the ground from his saddle, his companion gasped in surprise and stooped down to his dead body. Behind both of them, another man with crossbow in hand, walked up until he was near the dead man's horse. He reached into the saddle bags, groping around until he pulled out an item out and held it high. It looked like a white cup. The man with the crossbow gave out a sinister laugh and threw the cup to the ground in disgust, then stalked away. The crowd nearest the spectacle began murmuring to each other and soon I was able to catch a few words as they rippled from the back to the front of the assemblage. "Alabaster Cup." "Malward." So that was Malward the Mad. I'll have to keep an eye out for him. And an alabaster cup... wasn't that the prize awarded to the winners of the Tournament of Champions held over in Straag? What would they be doing here? Had someone gotten a message out asking for help? Bloody shame... nasty way to die... and he was a sitting duck too! Did they know he was coming somehow?
Aglim quickly got the crowd's attention again and went on as if nothing had just happen, though the crowd was still a little uneasy. He motioned for me to join him atop the dais, and when I had climbed to the top, he began telling the crowd how Nerom was already prospering from their work efforts and beginning to grow with the addition of a new temple, this one to Moradin. The crowd was not as enthusiastic as I would have hoped, especially given recent events, and only gave out murmurs of approval. Stepping forward, I addressed the crowd, inviting them all to the future site of the temple upon leaving this meeting, and turning to Aglim in particular, I invited him to help me break ground to symbolize the coming together of Nerom & Moradin. He didn't look completely happy that I had put him on the spot like that, but he accepted, sent one of his orcs to bring a pair of shovels, and turned to the crowd, telling them that those who were not on the next work shift should follow along. He then turns and motions for me to lead the way. As we descend the dais, the crowd parts a bit to allow us to pass through. As nearly half of the crowd breaks off and heads toward the rear of the High Temple, the orcs surrounding the rest of the crowd start herding them along in our wake. Arriving at the array of string and stakes I had set up earlier in the day, Aglim follows me as I step over the cords and make my way to the shield & hammer I had set up in the middle of it all. Each of us had a shovel in hand as I turned and addressed the crowd. I said, "May the strength & wisdom of Moradin bring an added peace to Nerom and it's people," as I plunged my shovel into the ground. Aglim rather grudgingly followed suit. A slightly more enthusiastic applause rippled from the crowd. When it died down, Aglim turned to me and said we had some business to conclude and then he would leave me to my work. Pulling out the sack filled with the remaining portion of the gold I owed to him for the land, I handed it over, but made a final request of Aglim for tonight. I asked him if he wouldn't mind my dwarven brethren being allowed to linger for the first of many prayer sessions to follow. His eyes were on the sack now in his possession, but he said "as you wish," then left and began heading back toward the HIgh Temple. I raised my voice to the crowd again and requested my fellow dwarves to stay a moment as the crowd began to disperse. There were maybe a half dozen that lingered as everyone else left.
To be continued...
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