Keeper's Quest

[x] His stomach voiced it’s opinion. The Keeper most FEED!
- [x] And he would use the chance to talk to the locals

[x] His stomach voiced it’s opinion. The Keeper most FEED!
- [x] And he would use the chance to talk to the locals

[x] His stomach voiced it’s opinion. The Keeper most FEED!
- [x] And he would use the chance to talk to the locals

Okay, I'd like to point something out to everyone right now...

When you want to TALK TO THE LOCALS or anything of the kind it really is really really helpful if you'd give me some subjects and questions you'd like to talk about.

Other wise I get stuck in the little rut I am in now because you know what... "okay you talk" is not a gripping reply but if you don't give me anything to work with, it's what I've got...

Well, my idea would be to continue establishing Seth's cover. Introduce himself to people ("yeah, I know we don't look much similar, relation's through marriage"), ask the kind of questions an adventurer-to-be might ask, that sort of thing. Gather information beyond what the Lady told us, since she's probably more fixated on local problems than the people in the tavern/inn.

Since it'd make for a fairly short update, though, and from what I remember it's still fairly in the day, perhaps continue to explore the village afterwards? Visit the apothecary and the witchery-shop, since they're the most likely ones to be of interest to an "adventurer", and see if we stumble over anything in general.

Actually, now that I think about it, Roselle mentioned something about sheep getting stolen. Maybe we could keep an eye out for people with large herds of lifestock, to target them for an AoI? Then use the stolen lifestock as a source of food to hire the Trolls in the Swamp.

Seth walked into the main room of the Inn and glanced out the window. The sun was already getting a bit low in the sky and he had to scowl somewhat. He felt like it was still morning. Had his time underground really screwed up his body clock that much?

Oh well, he thought to himself with a shrug, “Rollick, I’ll take a bowl of that stew and some ale please.”

Rollick paused for a moment, “You sure you want the ale? We have a mighty fine scrumpy. Just tapped a fresh keg today.”

Seth paused for a moment and looked and him in confusion. “Scrumpy?”

“Aye, Scrumpy, tis a wine brewed from apples. Only have a couple kegs left before I’m through for the season.”

“Oh,” Seth replied. “Hard Cider. Okay, that does sound good. I’ll take it.”

“And a pumpkin pie for dessert?”

Seth smiled. “Of course.”

The tubby red-haired man returned to his chores and communicated his order to the bar wench.

As he waited Seth glanced about the room and saw that it had filled in somewhat since he’d gone into the back. There were now over a half a dozen men happily throwing back beers with smiles on their faces.

This was, he decided, the perfect chance to gather some information. Along those lines he looked carefully over the group around him, and honestly, he wasn’t quite impressed by what he saw. So far every woman he’d seen up here was on the plus side of attractive while every man seemed to look like they fell out of a Monty Python sketch.

He was sure he would come across the strapping youths and middle aged women who looked like men in skirts eventually, but so far his experienced had been limited to hotness and glassy eyed mutants.

Still, he had to talk to one of these people so he turned his eyes to the least idiotic looking of the bunch. Not that that was saying much.

“Hail to thee,” he said casually, with a relaxed look on his face. “Fine evening wouldn’t you say?”

“If you say so...” he muttered throwing back the rest of his beer. “Ain’t much fine about it I can see.”

“Something the matter?” Seth asked casually.

He snorted. “Nothin’ you need concern yourself with.”

“Come now,” Seth replied, “I’m an adventurer. Getting in other people’s business and solving their problems is pretty much the crux of the job description.”

“Adventurer, huh?” he said with a snort, “Sorry to say lad, but this is one great hideous monster I don’t think ye can slay.”

“Oh really,” Seth said with a smirk, “Wife giving you trouble?”

The man’s face sank into a deep frown. “Actually, I was gonna say that ye look a mite too small to be huntin’ trolls... but now that ye talk about it, would ye like directions to its bloody lair?”

“I donna know Richard, sounds mighty like y’r missus ta me!”

“Shut your gob, George!”

The entire room broke out in ruckus laughter, but feeling somewhat sorry for the man, he looked back to Richard, and said, “I didn’t mean to offend you about your wife.”

“Nah, no offense taken,” he replied, “I married myself a mighty fearsome creature, but I ain’t gonna let anyone say a bloody word about it except me.”

He took a deep drag of his ale and looked back to Seth, “I’ll warn ye now lad, bein’ wed sounds like a right wonderful thing. Havin’ a sweet, bonnie lass to live with ye, sharin’ your bed and cookin’ your meals... but before long you’ll be wonderin’ where she’d run off to and why’s this ogre in skirts living under your roof.”

Seth shrugged, “I’ll keep that in mind, so, tell me about the trolls.”

He scowled. “Damned things are always goin’ after the flocks...”

“So its the Trolls that are stealing sheep?” Seth asked.

“Aye, them, the blasted wolves, and the damned goblins, but them blighters are the worst. Wolves’ll run off with a lamb from time to time, and the goblins gotta have their tricks, but the Trolls are a bloody menace. They’ll club three or four ewes at a time, eat one of ‘em before leaving, and move there bowels where they stand,” he pauses, “Ye ever have te clean up troll shite, boy?”

Seth grimaced. “Can’t say that I have.”

“Only the most foul substance in all creation. It’s black and sticky like tar and has a stench so foul that not a living thing’ll come within 100 yards of it. Nothin’ll ruin a good shovel faster, but gotta clean it up less the sheep’ll avoid a large spance o’ pasture, and ye can’t even let the rain wash it fer it’ll leave a great spot dead grass in the middle of the field that won’t sprout new grass until the following spring!”

Seth thought for a moment with those kinds of natural predation, it wouldn’t be hard for someone to run off with some sheep and blame it on one of the others. After a moment’s thought he asked, “You sure you don’t have any human sheep thieves about?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Ain’t been much o’ that kind of nonsense since the good Lord Demetrius had those foul bandits put to the sword a while back. Taught that kind of scum not to come around these parts.

Seth steeled his jaw. Considering that was probably Serena’s father and kin he was talking about, he was glad the woman wasn’t here. The farmer would probably be a head shorter and thus unable to give him any useful intelligence.

“So,” Seth asked, “What would you give me if I could get rid of your troll problems?”

“Personally I ain’t got much, but these damned blighters are a menace to us all. I’m sure that ‘tween the lot of us, we could come up with some way to show our appreciation...”

Seth nodded. “Ask around and I’ll tell you if its worth my time. So, anything interesting coming up?”

“Aye,” he replied, “There’s going to be the annual Shepard’s festival in Medowsweet in a fortnight, and the Great Pumpkin Festival in Spree a week later...”

Then the wench, who’s name he’d couldn't recall for the life of him, arrived with a frothy mug of beer and a large crusty roll that had been hollowed out to make room for a hearty stew. The bread from the inside of the bowl lay to the side for dipping.

Taking a moment, Seth took a spoon full of the hearty stew and had to admit it was damned good. Then he moved onto the cider and found it much to his liking. It was sweet and strong, warmed just hot enough to steam but not enough to burn, and was spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon.

“Mmm. Very good.”

After taking a moment to try his food, Seth decided to...

[ ] Ask more Questions (give questions)
- [ ] And find out more about those towns (what do you ask?)
- [ ] Ask more about the festivals (what do you ask?)
[ ] Take a moment to hit on the serving wench
- [ ] And try and outright seduce her (what approach do you take)
[ ] Finish his meal and return to the underworld (and do what?)
[ ] Spend some time thinking up a story to tell Lady Rosella (Like?)
[ ] Write in

[x] Offer to buy our new friends for the night their drinks for the night as being adventure means we will have a lot of questions. An since we know talking can be thirsty work it would only be proper of us to wet the throat if we are the ones drying it up.
-If they agree tell the wench that our friends here will be drinking on our coin so just keep them coming.
[x] Ask more Questions.
--Trolls--
-So do you have any idea how many trolls there might be attacking your sheep and how often they come?
--Town--
-So are there any places in town one might be able to get things like some potions, oil flasks, healing herb or other related adventuring gear from the player's handbook?
-So how the town's been doing since there lord left and if the attacks have only started up after he left or if the have been a constant thing here?
-So have their be any other adventures that have come through this area to help and if some do they know what happen to them?
--Festivals--
-So about these festivals, what are they about and how far are they away they by foot from here?
-Who shows up to those events and should there be anyone there I should look out for if I went?
-Are there any games or challenges at those festivals where a adventurer like myself can gain some renown or fame in winning?

An that's all I got right now guys, so if you have any other ideas to add please do as if we are going to pump these guys for info we might as well try to get all we can.

Hm... the information about those villages sounds like the basis for an AoI-idea we had in the previous thread. I'm not sure about asking too many questions, though, because it could make us look suspicious.

We also still need a story to tell to Rosella about Serena. Psycko suggested a variation of the truth; that Serena found a mate/lover/husband and moved away, though that would raise the question how Seth found out, in case the Lady asks.
My idea would be to say that Serena finished some business with the goblin-tribe in the swamp, like them helping her move her house or the like, and Saw that Seth was in the area to find out more on the Lady's behalf, so she decided to meet him.

(Also, isn't the serving-girl's name 'Margaret'? Rollick spoke to her earlier; or are there multiple ones working at the inn?)

In regards to the Festivals, maybe ask if anyone from here will go, either to visit or participate?
It might give us an idea about potential targets here in the village (especially in regards to the sheep), and an idea of how big those two villages are and how far away. Depending on how it goes we can then follow up with more in-depth question about how to get there and the like.

Oh, he's heard her name, he just can't remember if off the top of his head...

Ironforge wrote:-So are there any places in town one might be able to get things like some potions, oil flasks, healing herb or other related adventuring gear from the player's handbook?

Elizabeth already told us about an apothecary and a shop for witchcraft, so we don't need to ask about them again. Might be worth checking them out personally, though, if we got the time afterwards.

-So about these festivals, what are they about and how far are they away they by foot from here?

Chances are, they're about sheep and pumpkins. So, exactly what it says on the tin.

I'd phrase the questions a bit more general;

[x] Buy the guy one, maybe two drinks. Talking makes thirsty, but we're still an adventurer just setting out; buying the whole tavern their drinks for the evening should be *way* above our means, at least for now, and get a sizable number of raised eyebrows.
Questions:
- More information about the trolls, like their numbers and how often they go around stealing sheep.
- More information on the town/region; how long these problems have been there, and whether any adventurers tried to take care of them before.
- More information on the festivals; how big are they, and how far away?

Should give us a lot of information both directly and indirectly.

[X]Kel's plan.

[X] Kel

[X]Kel's plan.

“So,” Seth observed, “I guess you know a lot about the goings on around here.”

“Aye,” Richard replied, “More than most.”

“Poor bastards Spends most of his time in the pubs hidin’ from ‘is wife!”

Another man laughed, “And never the same bar twice!”

“SHUT YOUR GOB!” Richard roared, his face turning an interesting shade of puce.

Again, there was laughter.

Seth patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry about your troubles, man. Here, let me buy you another beer...” he nodded to Rollick who had another sent forward.

“Y’re a fine lad you are,” Richard said with a smile, “Better than any of these slack jawed gits.”

“Oi! Now ye’re hurtin’ our feelins!”

“Oh bugger off ye great tit!”

Once again, laughter.

“So, is what they’re saying true?”

He frowned deeply and shot Seth a glare. “What’s it to ye?”

“In my line of work,” Seth was sure not to mention what it was, let him assume, “It’s always good to have a friend whose has a good ear on the local gossip. If you’re always round and about you probably hear all the rumors juicy and otherwise.”

Richard grunted for a moment, then downed the new beer the moment margaret delivered it.

“It’s true that ye’ll never find me in the same bar two days in a row...” he said with a frown. “The blasted harpy thinks good drink is a thing of evil...”

“Teetotaler?”

“Aye,” he sighed, “All too often ye’ll find ‘er standin’ at the doors of some bar or tavern with her blasted frying pan in hand ready ta cause trouble for any decent men just lookin’ te unwind from a ‘ard day’s labor.”

“Aye,” another man chimed in, “Woman’s a bloody menace she is!”

“Shut it!” he growled, “I’ll let no man talk ill of me ball and chain... Except for me!”

Seth sighed. “Well, I wish I could help you... but in the meantime how about we come to an arrangement you and I.”

“What kind of arrangement?”

“You keep me up to date on any gossip you hear and I’ll cover your tab here at Rollick’s place. What do you say?”

“Hmmm... mighty reasonable,” he smiled, “You’ll cover me drinks... and I just have to give ye the news as it comes to me?”

Seth nodded. “Aye.”

“Ye got yourself a deal boyo!” he laughed, “

Seth smiled and motioned for another beer. “So well me about these festivals.”

“Isn’t much to say,” he admitted. “All the farmers in the country bring their fluffiest ewes and grandest pumpkins to be judged to see which is finest in the land.

“How far away are they?” Seth asked.

“Tis a large country... mostly woods an’ swamp.” he admitted, “Spree’s a good 7 leagues to the south with Medowsweet a good 12 leagues to the southwest.”

Seth frowned. Great. What’s a league?

Hey! Mentor! What exactly is a league?

I see they don’t use the common measurements in your world, Keeper...

Less snark, more answer.

It is the distance that a man can walk in an hour.

That’s helpful. In miles?

About three.

Thank you.

“So any other good festivals?”

“Aye. Besides that there’s the Scrumpy Festival... but the damned wife never lets me go.”

Seth nodded. “How about the trolls. How many are there and how often do they steal sheep?”

“Enough to be a problem and often enough to be a right pain in the arse,” he replied, “Though they tend to spread the sufferin’ around a bit. I think they’re bright ‘nough to figure out that if they eat one man’s flock he won’t have any more sheep te run off with.”

“So, any other problems? And have any adventurers tried to deal with them?”

“Aye, but most get ‘et by the damned werewolves of the wood. It like the bugger know they’re comin’ somehow...”

Seth nodded and...

[ ] Had more questions
[ ] Decided enough was enough and let Richard drink in peace.
[ ] Tried to get a serving of spotted breast from the bar wench
[ ] Decided to call it a night and tend to his dungeon.
[ ] Write in

(Do remember to describe how you want to go about doing that)

Well, it sounds like we got pretty much everything useful out of Richard, and made him into a (basic) informant for us, to boot. Though I'm kinda curious how he keep up his drinking without being discovered by his wive; I was under the impression that there's only one tavern and Rollick's inn in the village. Maybe he goes to nearby villages?

In any case, considering the people drinking in the tavern/inn, it's apparently quite late, so visiting the potion- or witchcraft-shop seems out for today.

My suggestion would be to call it a day, discreetly remove ourselves to our "room", and then teleport to the dungeon to task our minions with scrying those two towns to plan our first Overworld-AoI.

Agreed. Festivals are good targets usually, even if those a little too close to our home for my peace of mind. I don't suppose either the Mentor or Gnarl would know how to animate pumpkin into ravenous monsters ?

We could make use of the distraction to steal a bunch of sheep while we're at it.

hello?

[x] Decided to call it a night and tend to his dungeon.

[x] Decided to call it a night and tend to his dungeon.

[x] Decided to call it a night and tend to his dungeon.

Sorry about the delay... after 3 1/2 years of wait, Brutal Legend is finally on PC...

Expect the Barbarian infested Northern Wastes to be very... very... very... METAL!

After a good hour's conversation, chatting about the minutia of the region and generally making himself known to the locals as a friendly, positive force, Seth decided to turn in for the night, or rather, get back to the business of keeping dungeon.

After all, he was an aspiring dark lord, not a plucky young heroic type. He had bigger fish to fry. He...

His line of thought was disrupted as Margaret bent over to pick up a stack of empty mugs, giving him a rather good look right down her top.

Hot damn. He swore, you could visit those things on a skiing holiday!

He coughed. He’d have to consider the charms of the busty barmaid later.

Or, a dark little voice creeping at the back of his skull pointed out, he could just covertly enslave her. He was going to be putting a plant in here anyways. Completely enslaving the entire serving staff, of paying no mind that the majority of them barring Rollick were probably attractive young ladies of generous bust and bountiful assets, would be useful. Yes. No mind at all to their narrow waists, big titties, and and firm, peach shaped...

No!

Bad Seth!

That would be evil, and even though he was technically a dark lord, he didn’t really want to be evil. He wanted to operate along the line of Google’s Corporate mission. Don’t be evil. Of course maybe these days that was the bad idea, and he didn’t really want to slap ads on everything in existence, but at least he could try and be some kind of well meaning enlightened selfishness, the good kind of evil if you could wrap your head around the oxymoron. He didn’t want to be the Apple kind of Evil. The kind of evil that produces unoriginal overpriced gimmicky crap for the hipster crowd while trying to destroy all competition.

He could respect the destroy all competition aspect, after all, his competition thus far seemed to be either self-righteous boneheads or puppy punting psychopaths, but you had to just say no to hipsters.

He wondered for a moment. Were there hipsters in this world? If so, he wondered if he could round them all up and have them killed, and in an ‘ironic’ manner of course.

Huh. Something to consider in passing at a later time.

Well, with that out of the way he stood up and looked over to Rollick for a moment before motioning for him to head into the back.

Silently the two men walked into the kitchens together and rollick closed the door behind them.

“Is there something I can help you with, sire?” he asked.

Seth knew he’d have to keep contact, which meant giving Rollick one of his charms. He supposed that he could just bind him and give him a non-detection ring, but at the moment he much rather keep his hands out of the man’s pants.

He’d have to put that fucking elf through the wringer again on general principle for that one. Ick.

“Take this,” Seth replied handing him the least impressive looking of his amulets. “It will allow me to communicate with you. I have someone coming in the morning to drop something off for me so it would be a good idea to know when to be here to receive it.”

“Aye, I understand sire.”

“Good,” Seth nodded and headed into his room, which he immediately locked.

Then he paused. And frowned.

While that would help if someone came with a message or package, he really needed to know if someone knocked on his door in the night... or was trying to break in.

Gnarl!

Yes master?”

You know any spells that I could use to put a magical alarm on my door so I know if anyone not me touched it?”

Hmmmm... ]Why in fact I do!

Is it one of those spells that has to be recast every time it goes off?

Sadly, yes...

Anyway around it?

Gnarl thought for a moment. Have any of those spell charms left?

Yeah...

Send it over, master. Though I will need a bonus for this one. Magical item creation takes a lot out of you...

Seth sighed. Fine. Here you go...

He sent over the small amulet and moments later felt a spell cast on it, Then a subtle but slightly annoying buzz as Gnarl held it into the air.

Please tell me its not going to do that all the time...

No, only when someone is touching it or the item it’s in contact with...

Seth sighed and snatched the item with his keeper powers.

Now hid it somewhere on the door

Seth looked at the door for a moment before seeing a small gap in one of the cross beams of the relatively heavy door.

Careful he took the small charm, and after using his dagger to pry back the boards, tamped the charm, minus the leather thong that would have otherwise kept it around someone's’ neck, into the gap. To cover for the slight glint of metal he used his keeper powers to summon a handful of thick river mud and sand and forced it into the gap to dirty it up a bit.

After wiping his hands off he smiled and looked over his work. Couldn’t see it and...

Slowly he touched the door and felt a light buzz. Then he let go and it was gone. Very nice.

Smiling he removed his clothes. While it would be a bit odd to arrive back in his dungeon naked, he considered that it would probably be a good idea to have what he was wearing ready to put back on in case he had to jump back to his place. He’d also want to make it look like he’d been sleeping, so along those lines, he messed up the bed, even lying in it for a moment.

It wasn’t uncomfortable, but at the same time was no match for his real bed. Which mind you was also large enough that it probably could comfortably sleep him and a harem of 12, if people were willing to cuddle.

Bare ass naked he arrived back in his Inner Sanctum, enjoying the feeling of the cool dungeon air on his unmentionables. It was almost liberating to be able to walk around ones own fortress of doom, naked as the day your were born, and with no one in a place to complain on threat of painful death!

Seth smiled and stretched for a moment considering what to wear before the door burst open and a slightly winded Araleth entered with her head bowed deep. “This one apologizes that she was not present to greet her master.”

“Araleth, in too good a mood for this third person shit,” he said with a smile.

“Yes master, I understand master,” she paused, “In what way should I account for your nakedness, master? Should I ready a bath? Prepare a change of clothes?” she smiled, “Or does master wish his slave to pleasure him with her body?”

Seth laughed. “You’re a randy little thing aren’t you?”

She flushed. “I only wish to please my master...”

Seth laughed and rolled his eyes before making his decision...

[ ] No, he just needed to get dressed
- [ ] And while he was considering clothes, take a couple of the guards and go to Skid to order herself a proper wardrobe. He was getting sick of seeing her in that same over-glorified shift day after day.
- - [ ] And take Tesha. If she's going to proclaim herself to be his concubine, then she better be able to dress the part!
- - [ ] And take Serena. She could use some clothes that reflect her station as a Keeper's personal seeress, or atleast some dresses that aren't made of sack cloth.
[ ] A bath would be nice.
[ ] Yes, yes indeed you can please your master...
[ ] How about a two fer?
[ ] Write in

Of course he also had business to attend to.

[ ] He needed to do something about those two girls in the dungeon
[ ] And he did mention putting Jevrin through the wringer again. Hedwig was probably getting bored. Why not?
[ ] He needed to attend to dungeon building. He wondered if the imps were done digging it out yet?
[ ] There were acts of infamy that needed planning now he knew more about the area...
- [ ] Both above and below!
[ ] He needed to chat with his underlings. Time to do some Keeper/Minion Outreach.
[ ] Might be a good idea to visit the Mongrels for any updates and planning
- [ ] And of course to hit on Nati.
[ ] Make plans to enslave the wait staff of the inn. It was evil but it could be useful.
[ ] He needed to train!
- [ ] Magic?
- [ ] Fighting?
- [ ] Thieving skills?
[ ] Write in!

[x] No, he just needed to get dressed
- [x] And while he was considering clothes, take a couple of the guards and go to Skid to order herself a proper wardrobe. He was getting sick of seeing her in that same over-glorified shift day after day.
- - [x] And take Tesha. If she's going to proclaim herself to be his concubine, then she better be able to dress the part!
- - [x] And take Serena. She could use some clothes that reflect her station as a Keeper's personal seeress, or atleast some dresses that aren't made of sack cloth.

Perhaps when they get back they'll put on a private show for us...?

As for the rest... so much to choose from.
[x] He needed to do something about those two girls in the dungeon
- Transfer the mind-blank one to his Sanctuary-dungeon; she could make a good spare-body for infiltration or the like, and one of the Imps could take care of her needs.
[x] He needed to chat with his underlings. Time to do some Keeper/Minion Outreach.
- Specifically, talk with our most notable minions (Aladri, Hedwig, Kelvan); find out if there are any problems, complaints, or the like.
[x] Get an update on the Imps' progress with the new main-dungeon in-between the talks.

We can start planning an AoI on the surface afterwards.

[x] Kelenas

[ ] A bath would be nice.

[ ] Might be a good idea to visit the Mongrels for any updates and planning
- [ ] And of course to hit on Nati.

[x] No, he just needed to get dressed
- [x] And while he was considering clothes, take a couple of the guards and go to Skid to order herself a proper wardrobe. He was getting sick of seeing her in that same over-glorified shift day after day.
- - [x] And take Tesha. If she's going to proclaim herself to be his concubine, then she better be able to dress the part!
- - [x] And take Serena. She could use some clothes that reflect her station as a Keeper's personal seeress, or atleast some dresses that aren't made of sack cloth.

Some Overload to Mistresses Concubine counseling may be in order. Ask what they expect from the relationship and plan accordingly. Also make sure none of them are secretly going to betray you at the eleventh hour because of some stupidly charismatic hero/etc gets in their pants...

[x] He needed to chat with his underlings. Time to do some Keeper/Minion Outreach.

Perhaps team building exercises and cross training programs are in order, as well as seminars to help them better deal with the current minion job expectation quotas and such. Also classes on how to better defend against enemy infiltration.

Passerby

[X]Passerby
Then we should do a little training in sword work to pose as an adventurer better.

[X] Passerby