The ranger and his father spend an uneventful morning, in which Sureiya practices for a while with one of the staffs his father uses to fight. A while later, the two of them decide to visit to pub again, hoping to find the harper and the funny guy with his hamster.

It's less than an hour after arriving at the pub that the eladrin woman from before enters, along with her human bodyguard and his hamster animal companion. "Good to see you again. We have the information necessary. Come with us."

Sureiya and his father follow the Harper agent and her burly companion down some of the less-populated roads towards the warehouse district. As they walk at a steady yet brisk pace, Remallia begins to explain, "We have the location--the Cowled Wizards have set up shop in the far side of the ward. I have the area thoroughly scouted out, and some questioning of people who have been inside the warehouse recently suggests that there won't be much inside. It's large, and single-room, so while they may have additional goods in there, it's unlikely to be so difficult you will be unable to find the item. With that said, we don't know what kind of container they've placed it inside, so it may take extra time... which is a problem. I don't know how long we can keep them occupied."

"Well, what was the original plan for a distraction?" Reiyasu asks.

"We can keep them busy enough if we knock em all" Sureiya replies, not very interesting in an elaborated plan.

"I agree! Swords, not words!" Minsc says immediately, holding one of his twin blades for all to see--it is a simple, yet dangerous-looking curved steel bastard sword. "But Remallia says to be careful, and I follow her lead."

"Trying to defeat a pack of wizards in their own lair is not a battle I wish to wage," the eladrin woman explains. "They are likely to have the place warded and possibly even attended by magical constructs... which is why I brought this."

From a satchel at her side, Remallia Haventree procures a blade with a peculiar hue--it appears to be forged of green crystal. It is quite short, and could pass for a short sword or large knife. "This weapon possesses enchantments which temporarily hide its bearer from magical sight, and powers to dispel wards. However, I only have the one, and it can only dispel a single potent ward, so we must be careful with how we use it. This is why I wish to send in Sureiya with this blade into the warehouse while we confront the wizards outside."

"Minsc, Remallia, and Boo will give their evil arses a good pounding to draw all of the wizards out of hiding, then we shall run away to keep them fooled!" the human ranger addes emphatically.

"There are at least a half-dozen Cowled Wizards on site, plus any arcane constructs they might have brought with them," the Harper agent adds. "It would be easier if I could tell you what to look for inside, but it's likely they have placed the mask in some kind of important-looking container. Look for something ornate and flashy."

"I believe I should be able to bring competent wizard from the Emerald Cabal to assist us. Perhaps that might help us to create a longer distraction?" Reiyasu suggests, deep in thought.

"Are ya serious old man? It might get ugly for her if we get caught."

"Don't underestimate lady Sophie. She has grown wise and strong" the older human says. "Unless lady Remalia has another idea, of course. "

"There are a lot of risks in getting more people involved herein and making more of a fight than there needs be," Remallia begins, then sharply draws in breath. "However, it would be even riskier if the distraction fails and Sureiya is cut off, or if one of us falls and is captured. Therefore, call upon a small set of allies--as few as you can manage, if possible, if you feel they are trustworthy."

"I wouldn't suggest asking someone else to come if she wasn't exceptionally suited for the task" Reiyasu replies, softly smiling.

Sureiya, who has been silent during most of the planning, suddenly remembers something important from their investigation with the Cabal.

"I heard yesterday that the Cowled Wizards were seen carrying a big wooden box with black opals. I bet that's where they have the mask."

The eladrin woman considers. "Decorated with black opals, was it? In that case, I concur, that is likely the container we need to seize," she says, showing again the barest hint of a smile. "This information was obtained by the Emerald Cabal, then? Very well," She turns to face Reiyasu and adds, [green]"I believe we have the information we need to proceed. If you wish to call a friend, please do so quickly."[green]

By this time, you have walked all the way to the Warehouse District and are surrounded on all sides by large, rectangular buildings. There aren't many people milling about here, and those that are seem to be preoccupied with moving heavy items from place to place.

"Very well, I will leave now. I asked her to wait in a pub not very far away from this district." Reiyasu says as he leaves the group to pick up the reinforcements.

In the meanwhile, Sureiya investigates the surroundings.
Stealth and perception: http://orokos.com/roll/313601

About 15 minutes later, Reiyasu returns with the rest of the group accompanied by a short and feminine figure wearing a long coat, covering most of her face.

Then, the eladrin introduces herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Sophie. I've been already informed of the plan and I wish to assist you" she says in a shy, but determined voice.

"I've brought a few potions that should help us to keep our identities hidden during the mission, please use them if you desire to remain anonymous" she says as she lends everyone a potion.

Remallia looks over to Minsc and says, "...I don't think it would help my friend here much to shift to a slightly different shape."

The eladrin studies one of the potions briefly before returning it to Sophie, declining to use them politely. "Greetings, miss Sophie. I am Remallia Haventree of the Harpers."

"And I am Minsc! This is my good friend, Boo, the miniature giant space hamster!" the boisterous human replies, indicating the hamster on his shoulder.

Sureiya's brief search of the surroundings reveals more of the same. Luckily, he doesn't seem to have aroused any additional suspicion.

"If we are all together and prepared, I shall now lead you and yours to our destination,"

Sureiya and his father accept the potions and drink them in a single gulp, perhaps already used to their bitter flavor. Immediately after finishing it, their whole body seems to morph. Their skin, eye colors and even their height change a little bit. Sureiya's skin now is more pale, his eyes light green. His hair is much longer, and his whole build is slender. Reiyasu's changes are a little less extreme, besides the longer ears, sharper nose and colorful eyes, he holds a very similar aura than before. Just a few seconds passed and now they kind-of-look like a normal Eladrin.

"Please give me a minute" Sophie asks. Then she procures some magical reagents from her robes and hides into s corner. She quietly performs a ritual in a corner, and once she finishes her figure and clothes transform as well. She now has the appearance of an older, black haired halfling.

"I'm ready now." she announces to the group. The other two rangers, now with their changed appearances, nod in agreement.

Once the group has finished their temporary disguises, Remallia leads them to the far edge of the district. Eventually, she indicates stealth, and leads you up a ladder atop one of the larger warehouses. Creeping forward, she shows Sureiya, Sophie, and Reiyasu just the barest glimpse of a smaller, nondescript building constructed of dark wood paneling in the distance. Minsc stays at the ground level to keep watch.

"Here is the plan, in detail," Remallia begins. "Minsc, Sophie, Reiyasu, and I shall approach from the east, and I will attempt to talk to the Cowled Wizards they have stationed in the front. I don't expect I'll be able to stall them for long, so Sureiya will remain nearby, on the other side of the warehouse to the south. On the southern wall, there is a window--but it is too high to reach normally. I am given to understand that Sureiya is a skilled climber, however, and the moldy wood has enough grips to suffice for a climb. There is a construct guarding the south wall, so, Sureiya of the twin blades, I entrust unto you this blade." She hands him the green crystalline dagger he saw before, then explains, "You will be undetectable to the constructs when its power is active. Activate its power before you approach, and enter the window, find the box, disable any wards that might be placed upon it, secure it, and escape. In the meantime, we'll probably have a fight on our hands out front, but you will be hidden from the sight of any of the constructs that they have guarding the box inside as well. With any luck, we'll be able to draw any of the wizards on-site out front first before you move in."

Sureiya accepts the green-colored blade and says "If there's anyone inside I'll knock em cold and get out with the mask."

The disguised Eladrin nods with a smile and says "Do not worry about the wizards, we will keep them entertained."

"Well, well. If it is the four of us against them we might not even need my son to sneak in" Reiyasu laughs, confident of their success.

Last edited at 15/08/03(Mon)00:45:31

Remallia's eyes flash in response to the group's confidence. "Above all else, we must avoid giving them the impression that we will defeat them. If we begin to overpower them, they will retreat inside, and complicate matters. I must again emphasize that this is a wizard's lair, and fighting a half-dozen wizards alongside their magical traps and constructs is not a battle we wish to be fighting." She turns to Minsc and gives him a hard look as well. "This is why we must retreat shortly after starting the battle. Make enough of a show to get the wizards to pay attention to us, then we cut and run. Sureiya knows what the item looks like, so he will have plenty of time to secure it."

Reiyasu and Sophie nod in agreement. They still seem ready to kick some ass, though.

With the plan in motion, Sureiya approaches from the south while the rest of the group moves in from the east. Sureiya hides behind the nearest warehouse south of their target, ready to move in, and Remallia takes point with Reiyasu, Minsc, and Sophie following behind.

As they round the corner, they spot four humanoid figures dressed in brown and red cowled robes with hoods, lined with fancy-looking silver thread. Behind them, near the set of rickety-looking wooden double doors that grant entry to the warehouse are two huge arcane golems, which appear fashioned from brass metal plating with blue gemstones embedded within. It is difficult to discern their race, but all are roughly human or elf-sized. Remallia moves forward, and one of the wizards steps forth to meet her. About fifty feet out, he holds up his hand and says, "That's far enough. You have no business here. Leave immediately."

Remallia does stop, noting the other three wizards reaching for hidden implements. "Excuse me, but I do believe I have business here. I am given to understand you have something of ours."
Now would be the time for Sureiya to move--stealthily, and using the power of the magic sword he was given, preferably.

The ranger grabs the anti-mage sword and calls upon its magical properties. Then he silently moves toward the desired wall and starts climbing it, aided by some tools.

Stealth (24), Athetlics (33) http://orokos.com/roll/313893 http://orokos.com/roll/313933

When Sureiya rounds the corner, he immediately notices one of the arcane constructs standing guard next to an open window about sixteen feet off the ground level of the warehouse. However, as promised, the arcane construct seems to not even realize that the half-orc is present, presumably because of the magical properties of the short sword he holds, which is currently glowing with a faint, yet eerie green line.

After silently slinking over to the warehouse, Sureiya begins to climb the grimy, slightly moist and unpleasant wooden paneling towards his objective. Using his grappling hook with a rope fashioned to it from his climber's kit, he's able to ascend the wall at a fairly good pace. He's almost at the top when he hears things begin to get heated in front of the warehouse.

"I asked nicely. The next time will not be so," the wizard in front of Remallia announces, brandishing a magic-looking staff of some sort. "Leave."

Remallia likewise draws forth a long, curved blade from behind her back--it was well-concealed by her cloak--and adopts a fighting stance. "Likewise, you have only a few seconds more to give us the dragon mask, or be cut down where you stand."

Minsc likewise pulls out a pair of bastard swords, and hunches over as he stalks forward protectively towards Remallia.

Sophie procures a magic staff and holds it with her both hands. She stays on the back but wears a expression in her face, it was not her first time fight these cowards.

"You have heard the lady, please be nice and give us the mask, otherwise..." the older human says making a pause, showing his staff and reading a fighting stance. Then, the staff's appearance changes a little bit, a prestidigitation trick performed some hours ago start wearing off. Instead of looking like an old and worn staff, it recovers a faint purple glow and both ends of the staff start emanating cold energy.

On the other side, Sureiya doesn't stop, and he reaches the window and gets into the room in a single jump.

Last edited at 15/08/03(Mon)20:56:49

As Sureiya pulls himself through the narrow window, he sees the interior of the warehouse is fairly bare--there are no piles of boxes or merchandise scattered about. Instead, there are two large arcane construct standing aside a single pile of ordinary-looking wooden crates, atop which is the box that was described to him: a small, wooden box with black opals set in various points along its frame as decoration.

"You had your chance!" the cowled wizard yells, and with a sweeping motion of his staff, he hurls a fireball at the group. Luckily, Reiyasu and Sophie stand too far back to be in the blast area, and both Minsc and Remallia nimbly leap to opposite sides of the fiery burst.

"Now, it is Minsc's time for action! Evil, meet my swords!" the human ranger yells excitedly, hurling himself forward. "Swords, TO EVIL!" One of the other wizards is apparently his target, and that wizard hurls forth a bolt of frost at Minsc's face, but the ranger seems to ignore its effects as blows through impact upon his form. With only five feet between them, Minsc lunges, yelling, "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!"

Remallia wastes no times with words, springing to her feet and charging the opposite flank, nimbly dodging a bolt of lightning leveled at her by the other wizard and bringing her long, slender blade to bear. The final wizard, the one in the back, launches a barrage of silvery force bolts, striking all four of the aggressors--but the impacts merely create a slight piercing, stinging pain within the body part struck.

Reiyasu engages against the closer wizard to him, meanwhile Sophie provides cover with her illusory spells from the back.

Inside of the storage, Sureiya carefully moves to the wooden box, and inspects it.

Perception: http://orokos.com/roll/314103

As the group out front engages the wizards, they react with a barrage of shielding and teleportation spells to protect them against the opening onslaught, and the constructs move in front, smashing at the melee combatants with their enormous rocket fists. Sophie's illusions seem to be effective in distracting them, however, at least temporarily.

Minsc has some choice words regarding the tactics of the Cowled Wizards, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it! I'm huge!" And he lunges forward once more with even greater fury, as if working himself into a berserker rage.

Sureiya, on the other hand, is largely ignored by the two constructs standing guard next to the opal-decorated container. His thorough examination of it, however, reveals no obvious mechanical traps, but an ominous glow directly underneath it suggests that some sort of magical alarm might sound should the box be moved.

The half-orc ranger also looks around the room proper, and discovers not a sign of another living soul within. It looks like they'd taken no great steps to set up shop here, and were probably planning on leaving very soon.

"It seems dangerous to open the box, well, that's what this blade is for."

The ranger grabs the greenish shortsword again, and poiting against the wooden box, he activates its power to disable the magical trap set on it.

Last edited at 15/08/04(Tue)18:06:58

Remallia just barely manages to duck under the blows of the arcane construct, which seems to have worked itself into a horrific battle frenzy. "Not good--withdraw, withdraw!"

Minsc is flanking one of the constructs with Reiyasu, and has managed to shatter a forearm with his blades while the other human's staff has broken one of its legs--though it still appears to be functional, if just barely. "Yes, yes, fall back! Let us retreat to fight another day!"

At this, Sophie conjures a cloud of mist to cover the escape of the distraction team. Meanwhile, inside, Sureiya stabs forward in the direction of the box, and when the blade nicks the surface below it, it discharges a brief blast of energy and the rune Sureiya spotted below disappears. However, the sound seems to have alerted one of the constructs, which looks in Sureiya's direction suspiciously. It does not, however, move to attack.

"Tsk, it won't be a clean escape" the ranger says. Then, keeping the green blade in his off-hand, gives a quick glance to his surroundings, looking for an alternate escape route. Then, Sureiya opens the box and takes the mask.

Sureiya's sweep of the warehouse reveals only that single window--there is another window to the north, but it appears boarded up. There is also the large set of doors to the east, from which the sounds of battle still resonate.

When the ranger attempts to open the box, he finds that it appears to be sealed rather tightly. He probably could force it open, but that would take extra time and possibly make some noise.

The ranger forcibly attempts to open the box, as he would rather confirm the mask is inside, then after a rather brutish slam, the box actually opens.

"Great, got it."

Wasting no more time, the ranger places the mask inside of his bag of holding. Then, he runs toward the window and prepares to jump.
Strenght check (18) http://orokos.com/roll/314235

Sureiya climbs to the window and throws a glance to the events outside.
Athetlics (18) Stealth (32) http://orokos.com/roll/314244

Sureiya manages to force the box open with a reasonably display of strength, and finds inside a mask sized to fit a medium-sized humanoid face. The mask is horned and is made of a glossy material that is ebony in color, and possesses a skull-like mien. As the half-orc grabs the mask, he can feel the magic emanating from it--this is a wondrous item of incredible power, but he would need more time to study it in order to utilize the power it contains. Which is time he does not have.

The half-orc successfully and stealthily makes his way back towards the window, and the arcane golem that seemed to notice him before remains fixated on the spot Sureiya vacated. However, his progress in climbing is slow, and he can hear the sounds of battle outside beginning to fade.

Trying to make haste, the ranger jumps from the window, trying to land as quietly as possible.
Acrobatics (20) http://orokos.com/roll/314443

Sureiya manages to jump down out of the window after climbing it--but he lands hard enough to fall forward and scrape his limbs in the process.

Sureiya takes 9 falling damage.

As he begins to pick himself off the ground, still clutching the bag of holding containing the mask, he hears the wizards talking out front.

"They've run..." one says.

"Fool! That could have been a distraction! You two, check inside. You, come with me, we're scouting the perimeter!"

"I think I heard something around this side..."

Once the ranger hears again the voices of the wizards, he begins a internal struggle.

"Lady Remalia said it was important to bring back the mask... I should get the heck away from here. But, I won't have another chance to teach em' a lesson any soon. I'll need to keep a low profile" Sureiya meditates, trying to convince himself.

Just a few instants later, his expression show a serious resolution. Then, without making much noise, he walks away from the basement to the closest alley or street intersection he can see. He hides from their sight in a corner, and waits until his prey is close enough.

Keep Mage masher in main hand, Farbond in off-hand.
Move without running and conceal yourself from their sight in a corner. Stealth (17, sigh) http://orokos.com/roll/314587
Ready an action: Once a wizard is in range, use Frenzied Skirmish against the valid targets in range.

"Nothing inside!" comes a voice from inside the warehouse. "Th-the package is gone!"

Sureiya lurks around the corner from the warehouse, waiting for his chance. And it soon comes, as one of the Cowled Wizards approaches quickly from the front.

"Scour the area! Don't let anything else get away! Those imbeciles were just a diversion, the real thief is trying to make their escape!" yells the wizard that sounds as though he is in charge.

"You're right, there's definitely something moving over here..." mutters one of the wizards as it approaches the corner. As soon as the cloaked humanoid enters Sureiya's field of vision, he knows it's now or never.

Initiative
Cowled Wizard 2 (Enemy): 27
Sureiya (Anonkun): 26
Arcane Golem 3 (Enemy): 26
Cowled Sorcerer 1 (Enemy): 24

Players and Allies
Sureiya (Anonkun): (T-4) 86/86, resist 2 all when bloodied

Enemies
Cowled Wizard 1: (L-12) -31 HP
Cowled Wizard 2: (Inside Warehouse)
Cowled Sorcerer 1: (M-6) -18 HP
Cowled Sorcerer 2: (Inside Warehouse) -23 HP
Arcane Golem 1: (K/M-0/2)
Arcane Golem 2: (B/D-12/14) -34 HP
Arcane Golem 3: (H/J-12/14) -115 HP (Bloodied)

Notes
Squares with crates are treated as difficult terrain.

Sureiya leaps against the closest wizard, unleashing a stunning double strike against his prey.
Frenzied Skirmish! Move to N-6 (one hit for 18 damage), and the Cowled Wizard is dazed until the end of my next turn. http://orokos.com/roll/314845 http://orokos.com/roll/314846

Darting out of the shadows, Sureiya unleashes a pair of frenzied attacks against the unsuspecting wizard, though it quickly backpedals out of the path of the slicing blades. Nevertheless, the half-orc manages to strike the sorcerer with the half of the blade, knocking it senseless for a moment.

"There! Put that scum down!" the order-giving Cowled Wizard commands. At his orders, the golems spring to life, and one simply closes the gap with the half-orc while another launches a rocket fist in Sureiya's direction, though the ranger manages to duck under the projectile, which then returns to the golem that fired it.

A moment later, Sureiya hears the doors to the warehouse open again, and the leader of the wizards launches a silvery bolt of force, which homes in on the dodging ranger, striking him unerringly. The other Cowled Wizard exits the warehouse and then, from around the corner, hurls an enormous ball of flame, which ignites Sureiya's magic armor.

The last golem moves forward and launches another rocket fist in Sureiya's direction, and this one strikes him solidly in the face, knocking loose a few teeth in a splatter of half-orc blood that splashes against the ground.

"Don't let him escape!" yells the wizards' leader.

Sureiya uses frenzied skirmish, moving and then hitting the cowled sorcerer 1 once for 18 damage, and it is dazed until the end of Surieya's next turn. This ends the cowled sorcerer's turn.
Arcane golem 2 double-moves.
Arcane golem 1 use panzerfaust but misses Sureiya due to being unable to see him.
Cowled Sorcerer 2 moves and opens the door to the warehouse.
Cowled Wizard 1 moves, then uses magic missile, and Sureiya takes 10 force damage.
Cowled Wizard 2 moves, then uses fireball, hitting Sureiya for 17 fire damage plus ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends).
Arcane golem 3 moves, then crits Sureiya with panzerfaust for 35 damage. Sureiya is blooded and gains 5 temporary hit points.
Sureiya takes ongoing 5 fire damage (reduced to 1).

Initiative
Cowled Wizard 2 (Enemy): 27
Arcane Golem 3 (Enemy): 26
Sureiya (Anonkun): 24+1
Cowled Sorcerer 1 (Enemy): 24
Arcane Golem 2 (Enemy): 24
Arcane Golem 1 (Enemy): 20
Cowled Sorcerer 2 (Enemy): 13
Cowled Wizard 1 (Enemy): 12

Players and Allies
Sureiya (Anonkun): (N-6) 25/86 (Bloodied) + 9 THP, resist 4 all when bloodied

Enemies
Cowled Wizard 1: (N-14) -31 HP
Cowled Wizard 2: (G-14)
Cowled Sorcerer 1: (M-6) -36 HP, dazed
Cowled Sorcerer 2: (Inside Warehouse) -23 HP
Arcane Golem 1: (K/M-0/2)
Arcane Golem 2: (K/M-7/9) -34 HP
Arcane Golem 3: (L/M-10/12) -115 HP (Bloodied)

Notes
Squares with crates are treated as difficult terrain.

Ignoring the whole punishment of having so many enemies attention on him, the ranger summons his courage and fiercely slashes the wizard next to him and then increases his distance from his enemies. "This is out of my league, I was hoping for rest to distract these bastards a little longer" he complains.

"Don't forget this day, Cowled Wizards! I'll take you down, when the times come!" he says, as he gets the hell out of there.

Off-hand strike, inevitable strike, furious assault and Attacks on the run! (35, 27 and 27 damage)
Move back 6 squares as part of Attacks on the run. Then double run spending an Action Point.http://orokos.com/roll/314870 http://orokos.com/roll/314874 http://orokos.com/roll/314875

Last edited at 15/08/06(Thu)21:06:23

"Stop him! Stop--" the leader of the Cowled Wizards gathered there spits out just before Sureiya launches into a flurry of vicious slices that staggers the sorcerer nearby, who then collapses in a bloody heap. The Cowled wizards descend into confused yelling as Surieya makes his escape, moving incredibly fast while leaving between the various warehouses and he nearly runs into his father, Remallia, Minsc, and Sophie, who were waiting for him about a hundred feet away.

Sureiya's attacks on the run reduces the Cowled Sorcerer to less than zero hit points.

"You're injured! Are you all right? Did you get the mask?" the eladrin inquires emphatically.

"Yeah" he says abruptly says, still tired from running so much. Then he reaches the mask from his bag of holding and handles it to Remalia.

"Son..." Reiyasu says with a worried expression. "Tell me, did you fight them?"

The ranger doesn't replies, which causes an uncomfortable silence. Perhaps trying to lend him a hand, Sophie says, "Maybe they located him during his escape? Our distraction was quite brief."

Last edited at 15/08/06(Thu)22:39:33

Remallia briefly examines the black dragon mask, nods, then says, [green]"We can't stay here. We need to get somewhere safe, quickly. There were only four wizards there, but my information says there may be as many as eight in the city--they may seek reinforcements and pursue us."[green]

"Right, let's move on"the ranger nods snd follows the rest.

The group flees to a tavern on the far opposite end of the city, where the hustle and bustle of the large crowd inside allows them to blend in quite well. In fact, you can barely hear each other speak as you sit around a round table near the back end of the establishment, with Minsc celebrating over another round of drinks.

"Well done, well done all around! Evil has good reason to fear you, my friends!" Minsc manages to say between gulps of ale.

Remallia, still declining any drinks, places the dragon mask on the table in front of her and folds her hands atop it. "The Cowled Wizards will not be pleased--nor will the Cult of the Dragon. I would say we both accomplished our goals here, so Minsc and I will be departing for Waterdeep presently." For a moment, she hesitates, then nods to Minsc, who gets up from the table to gather more drinks of the group. She leans forward and says a bit more quietly, "Sureiya. I am still unaware of many of the details of the adventure that has made you a famous name on the Sword Coast, but I am privy to the information I gave you earlier regarding the Draakhorn. We did not get a chance to discuss it much. Before we depart, I wished to get your opinion: what is this threat to the Faerûn? What tyranny is the Cult of the Dragon plotting? Any conclusions you have drawn from the events that transpired is welcome."

"We don't know much about it" the ranger answers. "but it's something big."

"We are now waiting Valanor, he's gonna talk with the council of dragons, or something, about this damn horn. So I'd like to have a way to contact you, I'm sure these masks will be important to understand this mess" he says, rather decided.

"I see... worrying that we do not know more about this," Remallia says, rising from her seat. "But again, thank you for your aid. We'll study the mask in Waterdeep and learn as much as we can. Is there any other information I can provide you with?"

"Actually, there's just one thing. You know, nobody had heard of the Harpers in a while, so it was hard to believe your story the first time" the ranger explains.

"What brought you together again? Who started this, and why?"

Remallia hesitates, then nods, saying, "...You are trustworthy enough to share this with. We have been reformed under the leadership of Storm Silverhand. She is a former Chosen of Mystra who survived the Spellplague. She is an eladrin who has been a member of the Harpers for nearly five hundred years now. While the Spellplague destroyed most of the Harpers' organizational structure along with her god, it failed to break her spirit, and she leads us from Cormyr."

She pauses, looks to the side for a moment, then adds, "If there's nothing else... all I can say is to look for me in Waterdeep should you wish to be in touch. Any tavernkeep in the city can put you in touch with either myself or my husband, Lord Arthagast Ulbrinter."

"Yeah, I'd be sure to visit you once things calm down around here. The Emerald Cabal will some tough days thanks to our little trick here" the ranger says, with a smirk.

"It was a pleasure to work alongside you, lady Remalia. I hope your research on the mask to be successful" Reiyasu adds, doing a respectful bow.

History check: (25) http://orokos.com/roll/315667

Last edited at 15/08/09(Sun)17:39:32

Nodding, the eladrin replies, "Sureiya. Reiyasu, Sophie. It has been a pleasure to work with you." With that, she turns to leave, taking Minsc with her.

History: Storm Silverhand is most notable as an adventuring companion of Elminster of Shadowdale (unquestionably the most well-known wizard in all Faerûn). She is said to be one of the famous "Seven Sisters", seven chosen of Mystra, the greater goddess and Mother of Magic. The seven were also said to be daughters of Mystra, who possessed a mortal host to birth them. Storm took care of Elminster in the years following the Spellplague, who is said to have suffered a period of insanity when the Weave collapsed. Her activities since Elminster's departure are news to you, though she was well-known as an influential Harper throughout the centuries. She has a long and storied history, but suffice it to say she is regarded as a powerful force of good in the realm.

"I'll now excuse myself. Mr. Reiyasu, Sureiya, please take care!

Sophie, proud of providing support for an important mission, leaves the pub with a wide smile on her face. Meanwhile, father and son stay around while enjoying some more ale.

"That was certainly stupid, boy. Even all of us would have had a good fight against all of them. What made you fight them?" Reiyasu asks, talking in a worried tone.

"I was powerless before leaving this place, old man. But now, I am not. I wanted to teach those bastards a lesson, but it wasn't one of my best ideas" the ranger carelessly explains, gulping a generous amount of his drink after that.

"But you did. Stealing that mask was certainly a bigger hit for them than just killing some of their bodyguards and one of their leaders. Change will come, son."

The half-orc and his father spend a relaxing evening there, where they exchange several stories of their adventures. Reiyasu is still worried of the harsh nature of his son, but that night, there was no man more proud of their son than that worn adventurer.

Though it's hard to immediately judge the effects of stealing the dragon mask away from the hands of the Cowled Wizards and, indirectly, the Cult of the Dragon, Sureiya is well aware that something big is happening all across Faerûn. For now, he has done his part to see that the greater good is served throughout the duration of these events, but there will be many more challenges ahead. His thoughts turn northward towards Baldur's Gate, Thelkra, and his adventuring companions, and he knows that adventure will soon call once again.