[Vanguard] Book 1 - Chapter 5: Tyresia, Town of the Dead

[pringerbeam]

     "Oh Jarsy you were really cutting us short on the deal. Had us bent over like it was a red light district." Said Yuki with a sly grin as she began to sort though the cash with him, enjoying the feel of the princely sum in her hands. "Maybe we could do a little more negotiating later tonight?"

UTI/AGI (Same bonus for Yuki)

Rolled 1d20+2 : 9 + 2, total 11

[Throndir]

Town Hall Cellar - Room
Day 4 - Late Afternoon

Jars glanced at Yuki briefly, as the chubby man slightly blushed at the night-time negotiating, but he went back to focus on the counting rather than let it bother him. "Every bit of money counts. Our god, Dian Cecht, rewards greatly the more we please him, you see." Jars replied as the two of you continued to sort out the money.

"The potions our familia makes is the best in Orario. So it's natural that they would fetch a high price. More so from this town due to the deal we had with them."



"So... Will you investigate the wizard's tower? Or deliver the potions?" He asked again, his tone a bit more insistent.

[pringerbeam]

     Yuki let out a dramatic sigh. "Grandma was right when she said men always rush to the end. No foreplay." She set down the vals she was counting. "You're going to need to do better than a million vals if you expect us to save your bacon. You were willing to shell out more than a hundred for potions that wouldn't even work. We know you have the money."

Diplomacy

Rolled 1d20+2 : 11 + 2, total 13

[Mysticsage]

"A man who is willing to sacrifice his people and then wants to be saved himself should be equally willing to sacrifice some coin to save his pride once things go to hell like this," Taiga said staring down the man as a growl built deep in his chest as he spoke. His eyes glowed slightly in the dark his pupils as thin as daggers.

"What would Ares say if he saw one of his subordinates so willing to turn tail and flee from a fight willing to leave his people in the thick of it? If you want us to take the risk for you then that comes with the correct cost," Taiga said Grimacing in a way that showed his fangs. Taiga puffed himself up in a way that made it seem like he was filling up the entire room behind Yuki as he almost exhaled steam as he tried to maintain control of his anger.

Diplomacy aid Yuki

Rolled 1d20+1 : 14 + 1, total 15

[Throndir]

Town Hall Cellar - Room
Day 4 - Late Afternoon

"The money is the country's money, not my own personal stash! But... very well. 2 million vals for investigating the cause of the disease, and another 2 million for delivering the potions you brought to the guards."

The mayor paused as if thinking.

"Well the town is done for either way. The taxes collected might as well be put to good use. Two more jobs then. One official, the other will be more of a request. The official job is another 2 million vals for sending a message out to the Rakian army with what's going on here, at least to get them to send help, I already have a letter prepared though in my arrogance, I didn't send it when I had the chance. The last job... well... They'll have my head or at least imprisoned for mismanagement, so I'm prepared to offer 5 million vals, from my own personal savings, along with some heirlooms of my family to both ensure me safe passage to Orario."

[pringerbeam]

     "There we go. Knew you had more in you. We'll investigate and get you your potions then alert the Rakians on our way out. But we're not covering your escape. For that you're on your own. I'm too tired of being some low rent escort for every helpless pedestrian we come across... No offense Jarsy."  she finished with a wink to Jars.

[Mysticsage]

"The captain deserves to go down with the ship, and I would rather take civilians who need it but our family does need the cash Yuki. I think we should consider taking him at least a distance. I doubt Thalia would approve of leaving this man to die," Taiga says clearly displeased that he has to say it.

"That being said, if he doesn't listen and gets himself killed I don't see that as our problem. I say we take all the jobs and work our way down the list since we are headed in that direction and will help build the reputation of the family with the other gods,"

[pringerbeam]

     "We're not taking a potential fugitive with us Taiga. This isn't like ditching a tavern bill. If we get caught with his incompetent ass it could be the gallows for us never mind what'll happen to the familia's reputation. He isn't even willing to pay out of his own pocket to save this town and keeps holding back. He'll probably stab us in the back the second he gets the chance. I don't care if he gets his melon lopped off or not but I do care if we get strung up." She emphasized this last point by motioning to Mimsy and Sotu.

[Asta]

"Don't trust him..." Sotu said, absentmindedly.

[Mysticsage]

Taiga frowns slightly in a way that said he never intended for this man to make it all the way to Orario in the first place. But to explain his motives would ruin more than just that particular deal that could be made. Besides, he did have to admit that his grasp on the law was basic at best he figured having the letter from the wizard and a statement from Jars would be enough to get an arrest. But, he couldn't be sure and he did not want to be blamed.

"Fine, these things will take everyone's agreement to work. It's not worth forcing the topic at a time like this, but we should check on this wizard and the town's folk. Plus, delivering word to the authorities is already on our way," He says calm as he kept watch on the mayor in case he decided to do something stupid.

[Throndir]

Town Hall Cellar - Room
Day 4 - Late Afternoon

The mayor sighed, but eventually just sat down further into his chair.

"The... creatures around the building take awhile to disperse, unless they catch a whiff of something, or something in the town gets their attention. They have unnaturally good hearing, so be quiet if you plan to go upstairs. Some looters attempted to go through the town, but you can imagine that didn't work out very well for them. I'm not sure how many actual people are still in the town, but I assume there's others like me hiding in basements, or attics."

It was at this point in time that both Yuki and Jars finished counting the coins, it was some vals short, but the mayor begrudgingly gave out the allotted amount. With that first transaction done, Jars then proceeded to bag your familia's share of the venture.

+10 million for job
+400k vals for horse replacement

I've updated the shared inventory sheet.

Putting the vals in the shared loot pile, if you guys want to split it evenly instead, feel free to do so.

The mayor went over to another set of his bags in the room, then pulled out a loaf of bread. He then tossed that towards Taiga.

"As the mayor of this town I suppose I should make sure the Dian Cecht familia and his guards are fed. Originally I was planning to start a small feast for the conclusion of this large transaction, but this is really all I can spare due to the circumstances. Besides, I think it's about time for dinner." He explained.

Once the piece of bread was tossed, Jars spoke.

"I take it there's a lack of beasts of burden in this town?" Jars asked, almost rhetorically, since he figured he knew the answer. The mayor simply stared at him. "I figured as much..." He sighed as he took out what looked to be a vial of liquid out from in his coat. He swirled it around for everyone to see.

"We have a problem." He eyed everyone in the room carefully.

"Each of us in Dian Cecht familia usually only take maybe 6-10 vials of our specially-branded marching potions with us on our person during the journey. We take more from the wagon whenever we need. Each dosage of our marching potion lasts 30 minutes per horse. The moment we stop feeding them, the injuries they take up to that point are dumped on them in one go. Needless to say, most horses don't survive."

Jars glanced at Taiga specifically. "In his tiger form, he'll probably be able to carry the wagon. But I was planning to split from the rest of your familia and part our separate ways once we reached this town. That means... We have to keep feeding our horses the vials. We only brought a bit over enough to bring us to this town. We have enough extra for another 4 days going on just two horses. But the problem was that we split it with your familias' two horses as well. Effectively we have three horses we're maintaining, as Ciara has no doubt run out of potions by now."

He paused to let it all sink in, coming to the conclusion that he was sure everyone should have understood.

"That means we have 2 days at least left remaining for them with the stock of marching potions we have left. We'll run out sometime on the third day."

"Therefore... We have 2 days at most. As much as Taiga can carry the wagon, it will only be during the night when the moon is out. Likewise, in the event we are chased, I would much prefer the speed of a horse."

"Anyways, this concerns the Thalia familia more than my familia, as apart from the potion boxes, all the rest of our supplies can be carried on our person. I noticed your familia have quite a bit in the wagon, that chest, the crate of foods, along with other supplies."

[pringerbeam]

     "Well good. I was hoping we wouldn't have to spend any more than a day or two in this plague infested hole anyways. By the way... we're going to need at least half the cash up front. If this plague is as bad as you say then we need some insurance in case you get eaten before we're done."

[Throndir]

Town Hall Cellar - Room
Day 4 - Late Afternoon

The mayor glared angrily for a moment, but it was brief - he knew he was in no position at all to make any demands. Eventually, he moved towards the locked chest again, unlocked it, then began to separate out specific bags. There was still quite a lot inside the chest itself, btu he eventually closed and locked it.

"1 million vals to investigate the disease, perhaps it can be information the guard captain or the Rakian army can use. 1 million vals to deliver your potions to the captain. Another 1 million vals to get word out to the Rakian army and ensure they take you seriously!" He pushed the bags over to Jars and Yuki, who seemed to be the ones most interested in the coins, along with the letter to the Rakian army.

+3 million vals
+Letter to Rakian Army about events in Tyresia

I've updated the shared inventory sheet.

"The rest of the 3 million vals can be after you've confirmed the first two jobs at least. With the rest from the letter delivery when you make it back here in one piece. Besides, the chapel is on the other side of town, so surely you'll be able to retrieve it on your way back. I need to make sure you don't die along the way."

"You guys mentioned three horses... Let me buy one. And a couple of those 'marching potions' or whatever that you have. You need a single horse per wagon anyways, I just need one! A million for the horse and 2... no 4 potions."

[Mysticsage]

"Don't worry about transport Jars, I have a couple of ideas to keep us moving. I'm more concerned about making sure that we get through the area right now without drawing a huge amount of attention. There is no way we can make it across town with the horses and not make noise. If something does go wrong we may need what's in that wizard's home if things go bad. I can also attempt to deliver the medicine to the church but it will be difficult." Taiga said with a grimace.

"We have three options, I pull the cart to where it needs to go as we try to stay quiet. Two carry everything and try to stick to the shadows or three, try and muffle the sound of the horses. All options have their risk, but they all have their benefits to.

Regardless, if we are moving without the cart I think we should do our best to stick to the rooftops and see how far we can get while we are here in town. Either that or as quiet as possible, the horses cannot really stealth and we will need to save them for when we leave. Honestly, if we are not careful when we leave a whole wave may try to overwhelm us. We should try to get big sis to make us some quick coverings for their horseshoes from what we have in the wagon. Softening the sound should help us leave if not get more medicine to where it needs to be,"

He then looked to the mayor, "Do you have a map of the town that could help us navigate to where the civilians and this wizard's home is?" Taiga asks, "Also, if you have any personal letters you want sent I can take those for you as well. "

"I don't think we need three horses, but I don't own those marching potions that is on Jars, and his familia to agree to," he says looking to Jars.

[Throndir]

Town Hall Cellar - Room
Day 4 - Late Afternoon

Jars considered the offer for awhile, but he eventually shook his head and took the safer route.

"Any way out of this godforsaken town is too valuable to sell. Plus, we don't have many marching potions left as I said. It depends on how long we end up staying in this town, and if we can either secure more horses or a new wagon. For now I'll have to decline."

Next Jars looked over to the rest of Thalia familia.

"I'm staying out of the business of this town, the amount the mayor is paying for re-delivering the potions to another part of the town is a great deal... But Rota and I are still waiting for Ciara. She's one of the stronger ones in our familia, and I'd rather not have Rota or I be in a dangerous situation, or unable to get to Ciara, if we need to meet up with her again."

As he spoke, he began pulling out two vials.

"I'll be staying here with the mayor once the moving corpses leave, then I'll probably make my way to find Rota and your other companion once it's safe." With that, he passed the vials over to Yuki. Judging from the number of vials Rota had given the rest of the group, you knew Jars still had a couple on him.

"Sorry about the road trip." Jars stammered. "Business and all... and you can't really trust people all too much in this country. People of Orario aren't all that welcomed here usually."

"If Thalia familia makes it back to Orario, I'll put in a good word."

"Anyways, split up the potions with who you think would need it." Jars said once the potions were handed over.

Yuki receives:

2 Rank E Healing Potions to Yuki

If there's anything more to be said, go for it, otherwise let me know when I can move on to the next scenes. If people plan to explore the town hall building (upstairs), then I'll need to know how many hours from now you plan to do it, and include a stealth and perception check. The mayor would have mentioned that the creatures eventually dissipate and naturally move about until they hear another commotion.

Current goals:
1) Investigate the Wizard's tower
2) Deliver potions to Guard Captain at chapel
3) Word to Rakian army, and deliver letter to addressed to them
4) Escort mayor out
5) Head to Orario, and make a base of operations for the familia