Happy Swindle
painted-bees
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- 5 years, 1 month ago
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- painted-bees
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Profile
Happy Swindle
Druid (Circle of Dreams)
Class
Charlatan
Background
7
Level
Firbolg
Race
Chaotic Neutral
Alignment
n/a
Exp. Points
Proficiency Bonus
+3
Passive Wisdom
23
Strength
(-1)
9
athletics
-1
Dexterity
(0)
10
acrobatics
0
sleight of hand
0
stealth
0
Constitution
(+1)
12
Intelligence
(+1)
13
arcana
+1
history
+1
investigation
+1
nature
+1
religion
+4
Wisdom
(+5)
20
animal handling
+5
insight
+8
medicine
+5
perception
+8
survival
+5
Charisma
(+2)
14
deception
+5
intimidation
+2
performance
+2
persuasion
+3
Other Proficiencies
Languages
- Common
- Druidic
- Elvish
- Giant
- Infernal
- Celestial
- Gnomish
Weapons
- Club
- Dagger
- Dart
- Javelin
- Mace
- Quarterstaff
- Scimitar
- Sickle
- Sling
- Spear
Armor
- Light Armor
- Medium Armor
- Shields
Other
Toolkit proficiencies
Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit, Herbalism Kit
HP
57
Temp HP
0
Hit Dice
6
Armor Class
12
Speed
30
Initiative
0
Attacks & Spellcasting
Unarmed Strike
+1
Melee Attack (bludgeoning)
Infestation (cantrip)
You cause a cloud of mites, fleas, and other parasites to appear momentarily on one creature you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw, or it takes 1d6 poison damage and moves 5 feet in a random direction if it can move and its speed is at least 5 feet. Roll a d4 for the direction: 1, north; 2, south; 3, east; or 4, west. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks, and if the direction rolled is blocked, the target doesn’t move.
Druidcraft (cantrip)
Whispering to the spirits of nature, you create one of the following effects within range:
You create a tiny, harmless sensory effect that predicts what the weather will be at your location for the next 24 hours. The effect might manifest as a golden orb for clear skies, a cloud for rain, falling snowflakes for snow, and so on. This effect persists for 1 round.
You instantly make a flower blossom, a seed pod open, or a leaf bud bloom.
You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as falling leaves, a puff of wind, the sound of a small animal, or the faint odor of skunk. The effect must fit in a 5-foot cube.
You instantly light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
You instantly make a flower blossom, a seed pod open, or a leaf bud bloom.
You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as falling leaves, a puff of wind, the sound of a small animal, or the faint odor of skunk. The effect must fit in a 5-foot cube.
You instantly light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
Thorn Whip (cantrip)
You create a long, vine-like whip covered in thorns that lashes out at your command toward a creature in range. Make a melee spell attack against the target. If the attack hits, the creature takes 1d6 piercing damage, and if the creature is Large or smaller, you pull the creature up to 10 feet closer to you.
The spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
The spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
Detect Magic (1st)
For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any.
The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.
The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.
Disguise Self (1st)
FYou make yourself--including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person--look different until the spell ends or until you use your action to dismiss it. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller and can appear thin, fat, or in between. You can't change your body type, so you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs. Otherwise, the extent of the illusion is up to you.
The changes wrought by this spell fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat to your outfit, objects pass through the hat, and anyone who touches it would feel nothing or would feel your head and hair. If you use this spell to appear thinner than you are, the hand of someone who reaches out to touch you would bump into you while it was seemingly still in midair.
To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.
The changes wrought by this spell fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat to your outfit, objects pass through the hat, and anyone who touches it would feel nothing or would feel your head and hair. If you use this spell to appear thinner than you are, the hand of someone who reaches out to touch you would bump into you while it was seemingly still in midair.
To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.
Absorb Elements (1st)
The spell captures some of the incoming energy, lessening its effect on you and storing it for your next melee attack. You have resistance to the triggering damage type until the start of your next turn. Also, the first time you hit with a melee attack on your next turn, the target takes an extra 1d6 damage of the triggering type, and the spell ends.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.
Thunderwave (1st)
A wave of thunderous force sweeps out from you. Each creature in a 15-foot cube originating from you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d8 thunder damage and is pushed 10 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn't pushed.
In addition, unsecured objects that are completely within the area of effect are automatically pushed 10 feet away from you by the spell's effect, and the spell emits a thunderous boom audible out to 300 feet.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.
In addition, unsecured objects that are completely within the area of effect are automatically pushed 10 feet away from you by the spell's effect, and the spell emits a thunderous boom audible out to 300 feet.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.
GoodShroom (1st)
Up to ten mushrooms appear in your hand and are infused with magic for the duration. A creature can use its action to eat one shroom. Eating a shroom restores 1 hit point, and the shroom provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for one day.
The mushrooms lose their potency if they have not been consumed within 24 hours of the casting of this spell.
The mushrooms lose their potency if they have not been consumed within 24 hours of the casting of this spell.
Faerie Fire (1st)
Each object in a 20-foot cube within range is outlined in blue, green, or violet light (your choice). Any creature in the area when the spell is cast is also outlined in light if it fails a Dexterity saving throw. For the duration, objects and affected creatures shed dim light in a 10-foot radius.
Any attack roll against an affected creature or object has advantage if the attacker can see it, and the affected creature or object can't benefit from being invisible.
Any attack roll against an affected creature or object has advantage if the attacker can see it, and the affected creature or object can't benefit from being invisible.
Healing Word (1st)
A creature of your choice that you can see within range regains hit points equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 1st.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 1st.
Charm Person (1st)
You attempt to charm a humanoid you can see within range. It must make a Wisdom saving throw, and does so with advantage if you or your companions are fighting it. If it fails the saving throw, it is charmed by you until the spell ends or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. When the spell ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 1st. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 1st. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
Healing Spirit (2nd)
You call forth a nature spirit to soothe the wounded. The intangible spirit appears in a space that is a 5-foot cube you can see within range. The spirit looks like a transparent beast or fey (your choice).
Until the spell ends, whenever you or a creature you can see moves into the spirit’s space for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, you can cause the spirit to restore 1d6 hit points to that creature (no action required). The spirit can’t heal constructs or undead.
As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the spirit up to 30 feet to a space you can see.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd.
Until the spell ends, whenever you or a creature you can see moves into the spirit’s space for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, you can cause the spirit to restore 1d6 hit points to that creature (no action required). The spirit can’t heal constructs or undead.
As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the spirit up to 30 feet to a space you can see.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd.
Pass without Trace (2nd)
A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you, masking you and your companions from detection. For the duration, each creature you choose within 30 feet of you (including you) has a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks and can't be tracked except by magical means. A creature that receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or other traces of its passage.
Call Lightning (3rd)
A storm cloud appears in the shape of a cylinder that is 10 feet tall with a 60-foot radius, centered on a point you can see within range directly above you. The spell fails if you can't see a point in the air where the storm cloud could appear (for example, if you are in a room that can't accommodate the cloud).
When you cast the spell, choose a point you can see under the cloud. A bolt of lightning flashes down from the cloud to that point. Each creature within 5 feet of that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d10 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On each of your turns until the spell ends, you can use your action to call down lightning in this way again, targeting the same point or a different one.
If you are outdoors in stormy conditions when you cast this spell, the spell gives you control over the existing storm instead of creating a new one. Under such conditions, the spell's damage increases by 1d10.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th or higher level, the damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 3rd.
When you cast the spell, choose a point you can see under the cloud. A bolt of lightning flashes down from the cloud to that point. Each creature within 5 feet of that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d10 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On each of your turns until the spell ends, you can use your action to call down lightning in this way again, targeting the same point or a different one.
If you are outdoors in stormy conditions when you cast this spell, the spell gives you control over the existing storm instead of creating a new one. Under such conditions, the spell's damage increases by 1d10.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th or higher level, the damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 3rd.
Speak with Plants (3rd)
You imbue plants within 30 feet of you with limited sentience and animation, giving them the ability to communicate with you and follow your simple commands. You can question plants about events in the spell's area within the past day, gaining information about creatures that have passed, weather, and other circumstances.
You can also turn difficult terrain caused by plant growth (such as thickets and undergrowth) into ordinary terrain that lasts for the duration. Or you can turn ordinary terrain where plants are present into difficult terrain that lasts for the duration, causing vines and branches to hinder pursuers, for example.
Plants might be able to perform other tasks on your behalf, at the GM's discretion. The spell doesn't enable plants to uproot themselves and move about, but they can freely move branches, tendrils, and stalks.
If a plant creature is in the area, you can communicate with it as if you shared a common language, but you gain no magical ability to influence it.
This spell can cause the plants created by the entangle spell to release a restrained creature.
You can also turn difficult terrain caused by plant growth (such as thickets and undergrowth) into ordinary terrain that lasts for the duration. Or you can turn ordinary terrain where plants are present into difficult terrain that lasts for the duration, causing vines and branches to hinder pursuers, for example.
Plants might be able to perform other tasks on your behalf, at the GM's discretion. The spell doesn't enable plants to uproot themselves and move about, but they can freely move branches, tendrils, and stalks.
If a plant creature is in the area, you can communicate with it as if you shared a common language, but you gain no magical ability to influence it.
This spell can cause the plants created by the entangle spell to release a restrained creature.
Inventory
Weapons
- Sickle
- Dagger
- Wooden Staff
Armor & Clothing
- Leather
- Clothes, fine
- Glasses
Food & Aid
- Rations (1 day)
- Waterskin
Misc
- Backpack
- Bedroll
- Disguise Kit
- Mess Kit
- Rope, Hempen (50 feet)
- Tinderbox
- Torch
- a signet ring of an imaginary duke
Treasures
Allswell's ink
A jar of tattoo ink, kept safely inside a small wooden box.
Ring of Protection
You gain a +1 bonus to AC and Saving Throws while wearing this ring.
Currency
300
CP
120
SP
0
EP
24
GP
0
PP
Personality Traits
Flattery is my preferred trick for getting what I want.
I keep multiple holy symbols on me and invoke whatever deity might come in useful at any given moment.
Ideals
Accommodation. I want everyone to feel happy and safe, even if those feelings must be built upon a small, white lie.
Self-improvement. We might all benefit from a prusuit of betterment.
Bonds
My selfishness has cost lives, I hope to avoid repeating past mistakes.
I must redeem myself after a life of misdeeds.
Flaws
I judge people harshly and secretly believe that everyone is beneath me.
I am ashamed of my true nature and hope that no one sees through my kindly facade.
Features & Traits
Observant
Increase your WIS score by 1. If you can see a creature's mouth while it is speaking a language you understand, you can interpret what it's saying by reading its lips. You have a +5 bonus to your passive Perception and passive Investigation scores.
Firbolg Magic
You can cast detect magic and disguise self (can seem up to 3 ft. shorter) once per short rest. WIS is your spellcasting ability.
Hidden Step
As a bonus action, turn invisible until the start of your next turn, you attack, deal damage, or force a saving throw once per short rest.
Speech of Beast and Leaf
You can communicate with (though not understand) beasts and plants and have advantage on CHA checks to influence them.
Druidic
You know Druidic, the secret language of druids.
Spellcasting
You can cast prepared druid spells using WIS as your spellcasting modifier (Spell DC 13, Spell Attack +5) and prepared druid spells as rituals if they have the ritual tag. You can use a druidic focus as a spellcasting focus.
Wild Shape
As an action, you can magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen before twice per short rest.
You can stay in beast shape for 1 hours before reverting back to your normal form (or as a bonus action earlier or if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die).
Circle of Dreams-Balm of the Summer Court
Fey Energy Pool - bd6
As a bonus action, by spending dice from the pool, you can restore HP to one creature you can see within 120 ft. The creature also gains 1 temp HP per die spent.
As a bonus action, by spending dice from the pool, you can restore HP to one creature you can see within 120 ft. The creature also gains 1 temp HP per die spent.
Hearth of Moonlight and Shadow
During a short or long rest, you can touch a point in space and create an invisible 30 ft. sphere that grants a +5 bonus to Stealth and Perception checks while within it, and light from open flames within it can't be seen.
176 y/o
Age
Male
Gender
7'5"
Height
214lbs
Weight
Emaciated
Build
The Way Back Home
Homeland
Swindler...
Profession
Observant, dishonest, sychophantic
Disposition
History
Swindle's misdeeds have prevented him from spending much time in any single place for long. His life on the road began after an act of selfishness saw the death of his best friend and a curse upon his clan. It was a fallout that he never expected, and though he managed to avoid taking the blame for what he had done, the anxiety of one day being 'found out' eventually drove him to leave his clan behind. He cited a pilgrimage for insight into the terrible misfortune that had befalled the clan as his reason for leaving, and they saw him off with hugs, well wishes, and requests for his safe return. Swindle, of course, had no intention of returning, and his travels soon brought him into the care of some travelling merchants. It was through them that he learned all about trade, commerce, and how to spin a convincing sales pitch. He travelled with them for four years before disappearing into the forest late one night with all their coin-filled purses.
Living off his stolen coin and newfound bartering skills, Swindle crossed boarders into a neighbouring kingdom, making his way into the capitol city to find what fortune might bring him. Here, he met an insightful cleric who keenly identified Swindle's less than honest nature. The cleric invited Swindle into his ongoing charity con scheme, and together, the two charlatans eventually found themselves present for several events held by the local aristocracy. Once the two had collected more than enough coin to afford a few years of comfort, they packed up and dissappeared well before anyone could wisen up to their fraudulent charity work.
Skipping boarders again back into Swindle's country of origin, Swindle and his business partner started setting up their con scheme once more. During the early phases of establishing their organization, they were approached by a teifling monk named Allswell. She lamented that she had nothing of value to offer for charity except a rare tattoo ink imbued with magical properties. Despite the teifling’s reluctance to bequeath ink to them, Swindle's cleric partner showed no hesitation in charming Allswell out of her valuable, enchanted heirloom.
Allswell’s ink was not the only enchanted thing present for that interaction. For the first time in his life, at the age of one hundred seventy-three, Swindle found himself absolutely captivated by the teifling's beauty. A guilty regret brewed within him for having cheated the beautiful monk out of her treasured item.
Try as he did to keep his uncharacterist remorse to himself, Swindle found himself incapable of ignoring it and soon acted behind his partner's back to return the ink to Allswell.
Upon finding Allswell at her monestary, Swindle was suprised when she refused to take back the ink. He confessed to her that his partner had been dishonest and that her contribution would not have gone towards a charitable cause. Allswell simply replied that she already knew all of this. She also expressed disappointment in Swindle’s capability to turn so readily against someone whom he called a friend.
Confused by this unexpected response, Swindle argued that he was doing a good thing by returning the ink to her, but she countered that his reasons for doing so where not in line with goodness. She knew that if he were not attracted to her, he would not have cared.
Swindle repeated her words about how important the inks apparently were to her and she pointed out plainly that she would have had to relinquish it eventually. She explained to him that no one can ever own anything permanently. Eventually all beings, whether rich or poor, powerful or weak, good or evil, can never take their belongings with them. Even their bodies must be returned to the dirt once their time is up. The soul is the only thing that a person can truly own; kept healthy by meaningful relationships, selfless deeds, and a positive outlook.
Noticing Swindle's discomfort at her seeing clean through his facade, Allswell assured him that she felt the loneliness and isolation which incessantly clings to people like him would be punishment enough for his misdeeds. The teifling monk instructed Swindle to hold onto the ink and find her again when he was ready to return it out of the genuine goodness of his heart, predicting that when they next meet one another, he will be a dramatically different person.
Swindle never returned to meet with his cleric partner after that. With the ink safely in tow, he walked out of the city on a quest to internalize Allswell’s words and fulfill her prediction of their next meeting. Changing his outlook and approach to life is proving to be a much more difficult task than he expected. With all the trouble and temptation he’s run into on the way, he recently developed a habit of stopping at every temple and shrine he passes to pay tribute to any divine entity that might help him turn a new leaf. His gaunt figure is overburdened with countless amulets and talismans that jingle against one another with every step he takes.
Now at the age of one hundred seventy-six, Swindle is still a compulsive liar, occasional con-artist, and struggles constantly with his own selfishness. Still, he has gone out of his way to avoid unsavory, dishonest company, endeavors to partake exclusively in white lies and half-truths, and works hard against acting on an impulse. He has cultivated a warm and kindly outward demeanor, and has forbid himself from turning down an honest plea for help. No matter how stupid or inconvenient it may be, if a charitable task is within his abilities and doesn’t cause him to fail a pre-existing promise, he’ll do it. Consider it a form of penance...
Trivia
Diluted Devotion
Swindle has no allegiance to any single deity and has never fucking heard from one in his entire life.
Addicted to Shrooms
Swindle’s physically malnourished state is mostly thanks to the appetite-suppressant side-effects of the mushrooms he cultivates and consumes. These mushrooms have a variety of different effects ranging from mildly helpful to incompacitating.
Near-Sightedness
Without his glasses, Swindle is incapable of seeing distance. Should Swindle be without his glasses, his perception is negatively impacted.
Allswell's Ink
Swindle is unable to use Allswell’s ink. The ink can only be properly used by a monk who is able to identify what it is.
Links
Maxwell
A warforged paladin that Swindle recently chanced upon during his travels, Maxwell has spent the last hundred years half-burried in the rubble of a collapsed temple serving as a novel tourist attraction at the site of a great battle. Initially, Swindle had visited the temple with intentions of buying a talisman but, upon discovering that the talismans were cheap fakes, decided to leave with Maxwell instead. All it took was a simple fey favor, and Maxwell was able to find his legs again for the first time in decades. Turns out that fixing him would likely have been easy with the correct resources, but the family who owned him preferred exploiting the naive warforged for their own easy profit. Swindle struck up a deal with Maxwell, asking for his protection in exchange for the gift of mobility.
He and Swindle now call one another 'friends', and enjoy the mutual benefits of their relationship.
Rhokun Truthweaver
A straight-laced, stern and very serious goliath wizard/diviner... This guy needs to lighten up a bit, he' way, way too tense. He seems to hail from the north, and speaks fondly of his clan--even though he's been sent out away from them for some reason. Hm, wonder what happened there? Rhogkun has a very tense, distrusting relationship with Swindle... Swindle enjoys disarming him with sweet-talk and over-familliar pet names. Rhogkun cringes...a lot.
Amity Pell
Small and cute, Amity calls herself a wizard and relies on crystals for casting spells. She's proven to be somewhat adept at exploding things, and she's not a terribley suspicious (nor clever) sort, so Swindle is happy to have the little magical turret on the team.
Variel
The most tsundere Eladrin bard. It seems Variel has been shunted out of the fey wilds to live in squalor with the dirty mortals of the material plane. She's a bit of a bitch, but her ego is very easy to pander too--making Variel a pretty simple tool to manipulate by Swindle's perspective. It seems as though she's on the look out for some manner of power or artifact with which to endear herself to the summer court...so that she may return back home.
Wait a minute... The Summer Court...where have I heard that before? Oh, right! Hoho~ they send me blessings on command..!
Delebean Humplebumble
Gnomish owner and proprieter off Humplebumble's Magnificent Menagerie: a travelling spectacle featuring a variety of rare monsterous creatures. Swindle and Maxwell have both enjoyed an honorary status among their troop in a mutually beneficial travel arrangement. During his time with Delebean, Swindle has...attempted...to learn Gnomish under his tutliage, with...limited success. Swindle enjoys a friendly relationship with the eccentric, but honest, Mr. Humplebumble. However, recent trouble that Swindle's past meddlings have attracted to the menagerie has certainly tested Delebean's kindly patience...
Ample Harvest
The Tabaxi chef who cooks for Delebean and his troupe. Short, stout, stern and matronly, Swindle quickly grew to adore her (and she, him)! He brings her fine ingredients as he comes across them, and has donated some of his own prized mushrooms to her excellent cuisine on a couple occassions.
Piony Oakweed
A halfling fighter who's family owns and runs Maxwell's 'home', the Shrine of Pharos. Her great grandfather was responsible for crippling Maxwell, and the Oakweed family has gone out of their way to maintain his immobile state for nearly a century until Swindle came along and repaired his legs with the help of fey magic. He then made off with Maxwell...and the Oakweed family has not responded kindly to what they deem to be grand theft of their most lucrative shrine asset. Her relationship with Swindle was not mended when he filled her mouth with bees the first time, it was not mended when he filled her mouth with bees the second time, and it was certainly not mended when he filled her mouth with bees the third time.
Azelea
A half-elf cleric who one worked closely with Maxwell under the Pharos shrine's employ. She was more or less released from her position there over "conflicting interests", and Maxwell hadn't seen her for many, many years since. However, she met with Maxwell (and the rest of the party) recently during a clash with Piony and her men. She's a genuinely kind, patient, insightful sort and Swindle is both infatuated with and frightened of her...
Ongoing Story
On his way across the central mountain range, on his long journey west, Swindle followed rumors to a Shrine of Pharos where he intended to aquire an amulet of Dol Arrah. It was for...mmm...protective purposes.
Upon arriving and learning that the amulets were newly casted fakes, Swindle...swindled...his way into a free viewing of the so-called "Oracle of Pharos Shrine". Before him sat a stone statue, covered in moss and overgrowth. And then the statue moved. And then it spoke. And, as it spoke, it became clear to Swindle that this creature was capable of independant thought, self-reflection, and...well...He was big. The stone construct, however, was incapable of moving due to damaged legs that had ceased their function many decades ago. It then became very obvious to Swindle that this gentle giant was being exploited. The entry fee to see him was exorbitant, preying upon the honest faithful who truely believed this man-made construct was a mouthpiece of Dol Arrah herself. And, not a single copper of it appeared to be invested into the maitanence of this massive stone wonder. Even the "shrine" around him was being lost to time and neglect...
Not one to turn down an excellent opprotunity, Swindle swiftly helped his newbodyguardfriend find his feet again with the help of some magic from the fey Summer Court, and the construct, Maxwell, was soon revelling in the miracle of being able to walk again.
No good deed goes unpunished, however, and as soon as Maxwell began to pull his moss laiden body up from the dirt, the local guardsmen became very alarmed, called for the Shrine's overseer, and began taking measures to seize both Swindle and Maxwell. Not long then after, the shrill voice of a female halfling named "Lady Peony Oakweed" rang through the air. And she was pissed. Her most lucritive asset was about to literally walk out the door.
Maxwell, embued with new vigor and mobility, and urged on by Swindle to help him get out of here, made a good assessment of the guardsmen around him and opted not to leave through the front exit. Maxwell used his hammer to smash a custom-made back passage out of the shrine, through which he and Swindle made their grand escape.
...though, not before Swindle filled Peony's mouth with a swarm of angry bees. You know, to keep her busy and give them a fair head start.
Luck (or Dol Arrah) must have been on their side, because they were able to make a clean escape and shake off any pursuers. After a few nights camping in the woods, both Swindle and Maxwell finally found a well-travelled road, upon which they chanced upon a travelling menagerie. Humplebumble Delebean was the rambunctious, well natured gnome at the head of this operation, "Humplebumple's Monsterous Menagerie," he called it. The gnome had wood-colored skin and a mess of curly red hair beneath a large, lovingly worn purple tophat. He was also missing a few fingers on each hand--something he attributed to "occupational hazards". Swindle and Max were invited to travel alongside them in exchange for medical attention and protection, respectively. And when they arrived at the small township of Dunswallow, Delebean humbley requested Swindle's favor in getting the word out about the Monsterous Menagerie opening its attraction to the Dunswallow public for a modest entry fee. Swindle and Maxwell decided to preform this favor at the local inn, The Siren's Sigh, and this is where they met with Amity, young, human wizard girl with white-pink curls and diminuative stature--and Rhogkun a much larger, much older grey skinned goliath wizard with a receeding hairline and admirable moustache. Amity was immediately smitten by Maxwell and entertained by Swindle, while Rhogkun was much more wary. Upon hearing Swindle's name, Rhogkun's immediate impression of Swindle was that of a distrustful charlatan, and who can blame him, really? Despite the reasonable cause for a swift judgement, Swindle felt no small amount of scorn for being painted a bad guy before even having the chance to prove otherwise. This snap judgement would set the tone for Swindle's travels from this point onward. Swindle managed to drum up no small amount of interest for Delebean's Monsterous Menagerie, and after his charming advertising campaign had concluded, Swindle, Maxwell, Amity and Rhogkun decided to head on and get an eyefull of the menagerie's attractions for themselves. The assortment of beasts were as varied as they were fascinating, but the final attraction caused Rhogkun a bit of concern. The white wolf in the cage had been presented by Delebean as a Dire Wolf, but Rhogkun soon pulled Delebean aside to tell him that his "dire wolf" was infact a highly intelligent and extremely proud, spiteful Winter Wolf, capable of speaking the language of giants. Rhogkun urged Delebean to be very careful with this acquision of his, and to make sure that there is no means for it to escape by. He goes so far as to offer his own muscle to help manage the beast.
Humplebumble assures Rhogkun that the Menagerie has everything under control, but this is Dungeons and Dragons. We know what's about to happen. The crew of aquaintences return to the inn for a good night's rest, and when morning rolls around, a member of Delebean's crew arrives at the inn in search of Rhogkun because, you guess it, the Winter Wolf escaped. This was a little beyond Swindle's...erm...expertise, and he opted to take it easy at the inn and not concern himself with other people's issues.
At least, that's what he would have liked. Unfortunately, his newly recruited stone bodyguard had a very different idea. Maxwell insisted, without so much as a discussion about it, that he and Swindle would assist Rhogkun in tracking down and neutralizing this escaped and dangerous beast. At this point, the party was greeted by a new stranger--a pompous, self-important eleadrin bard named Variel. She's prattled on about her titles, which didn't mean anything to anyone except her... Although...Swindle's ears do perked up at her calling the Summer Court her home. How curious. She asserted that she'd rather not be trudging among the mortals in their dirty mortal realm--but she's stuck here and this is the most interesting thing she's heard yet--so she wants to see this Winter Wolf and maybe bring it back as a prize to "her lady". Amity was reluctant to join, but even more reluctant to let her new friends (friends??) leave her behind. And so...the party went wolf hunting. Having been raised in the wilderness, tracking an animal wasn't new for Swindle...and he managed to do an expert job of it, despite himself. The trail led them to a gorge where two shelves of land walled off a narrow passage. The part opted not to trek through the narrow passage, and took the higher ground, instead. This turned out to be a good idea, as they soon found the winter wolf among a pack of normal wolves at the center of this natural corridor. Sure enough, Rhogkun was correct about the wolf's ability to speak. What Rhogkun didn't know was that this wolf could speak common, also.
Swindle did what Swindle knew how to do best, and attempted to...well...swindle the wolf. He told the wolf that actually, he could have had a really comfortable life travelling with the Menagerie. Delebean was already scared shitless of him, the wolf could travel the world in a guilded cage, demanding anything he wants, and his man-servants, ruled by fear, would provide him with all he could possibly ask for.
Only Amity thought this was a great pitch. The Winter Wolf then expressed his desire to hunt Delebean tirelessly for the humiliation the gnome put it through, and initiated the fight. The five of them took down the wolf, and once it was good and dead, Variel decided she really needed its luxurious pelt. Swindle can only stand watching her make an absolute mess of this disgraced animal for a total of five seconds before taking the knife from her and skinning the animal properly. The group camped out there for the night, and returned back to Dunswallow with the pelt in tow. Delebean was sad that the wolf had to be killed, but happy that it was no longer alive to eat him in the middle of the night. He then invited the entire group to join him and his menagerie westward as hired muscle. Swindle was actually delighted by this, because the Menagerie has a wagon dedicated to bathing...and after his experience with the local inn's back alley wooden barrel bath...Swindle was swift to agree that travelling with the menagerie would be an excellent idea. The crew was on the road for less than a month, spending their time with the menagerie learning new skills alongside them. Swindle took it upon himself to attempt learning gnomish under Delebean's tutliage, though...be it from imbibing a little too generously on mushrooms, or having been largely disintertested in the basics of the language at first, Swindle was not...the most attentive student. One day, the group took a small break near the remnants of an old town on the side of the road. Always on the hunt for new mushrooms, Swindle took it upon himself to investigate the shaded corners and rotting wood for any noteworthy fungi. He did not find any fungi. He found dead a dead person.
The dead person rose from the ground.
At this point, Delebean began screaming from where the rest of the caravan was, and it turned out that dead guy had lots of dead friends--and they were all converging upon the Menagerie. The party fended off the shambling undead, and when a calm quiet returned to everyone, Delebean nervously suggested that the ruins should be...maybe...investigated. Because, apparently, undead had never been a problem in this area before, and this road was a frequently travelled one.
As per Swindle's usual self, he insisted that there was probably no other undead in the area, because what are the odds? And besides, if there were more, it wasn't their problem.
No one agreed with him. And so! The party of five investigated the ruins and chanced upon an old cellar that opened up into a vast underground corridor. It began as a well burrowed dirt cavern housing meenlocks, which ended suddenly with a collapsed section of the cave that led into...what appeared to be...some underground, man-made chamber. The stonework was polished and thoughtfully laid down, but the air inside this newly uncovered room was old...stale. The room housed four stonework statues featuring life-like human figures with contorted poses and agonized expressions. Rhogkun began preparing a ritual spell that would allow him to detect magic, but before he had the chance to complete it, one of the statues came to life and clawed at him, causing him to lose all mobility. With that, the other three statues became animated at well, and the team was forced to ilimiate them. As Maxwell brough his hammer down upon the last standing statue, it's head shattered, sending shards of dark obsidian scattering across the stonework. Upon closer inspection, Swindle discerned that these ebony shards were unique from the rest of the stonework that these statues were made from--and with help from the team, he was able to extract three obsidian skulls from the remaining statues who still had their heads in tact. Their journey brought them deeper into this strange underground complext, and eventually led them into a harrowing room full of torture impliments and old, long rotting gore. It was at this point that Amity began to panic, the blood draining from her face--and she wanted to leave this place even more than Swindle did. Variel attempted to quell her fears, with negligible effect, but nevertheless, the crew continued forward. Along the way, Swindle found a peculiar purple blade, and recognized it as the symbol of The Keeper, a god of death and decay. They eventually came to a much smaller room with some manner of magic circle scrawlled upon the floor, and a dead body resting upon it. Variel took a closer look at it, and found that the corpse appeared to have burned from the inside, out. Against the wall was a large hammer fashioned to appear like a ram's head--which Maxwell picked up. On the dead man's body was a journal, written in a language that Rhogkun identified as Dragonic. Amity piped up, saying that she had spoken to a dragon once, asserting that this clearly meant she could understand the language of the dragons. Upon looking at the book however, Amity found herself incapable of reading it's contents, and everyone was disappointed. A corridor was all that remained for them to follow down, and at the end of that corridor opened a door into one final room. This room sported four more stone statues, bearing the full load of the ceiling above them. In the center of the room, a terrible spectre of black, writing smoke stood. Its voice echoed through everyone's mind in a sickly, contorted tone, "Do you want to hear a secret?" Variel swiftly warned everyone not to let it say any more. She identified the ghost as an allip, explaining that it's 'secret' is what drove it into this agonized state, and that anyone else who hears it will follow the same fate.
Sssooo, everyone attacked it. As per his usual style, Swindle hun back as far as he could, where the allips awful whispers couldn't reach him. And from his safe distance, he made sure everyone stayed on their feet. The allip was eventually, successfully slain. Unfortunately, so were three of the four load-bearing statues. The team had no time to celebrate their victory, the ceiling had already begun to crumble, and everyone was force to make a swift escape back out the way they came from.
Back above ground, the effects of their battle could be clearly seen. A huge sinkhole had opened up where the ceiling of the allip's dungeon had collapsed. Finally, the party could return back to the caravan and get their hard earned rest...
Except they couldn't. As the caravan came into view, Swindle was able to see that there was additional company.
That additional company was no one other that Peony Oakweed and a small army of her guardsmen.
Exhausted and wholly not equipped to deal with any of this, Swindle panicked and hid behind a bush. Everyone except Maxwell was reasonably confused by this reaction, to which Swindle simply barked back in a hushed voice that Peony is the worst kind of person conceivable, having exploited Maxwell for gods know how long. Also, he put bees in her mouth. That last remark threw them off, but not enough to prevent Variel from quipping that Swindle, himself, had arguably been exploiting Maxwell this whole time. Regardless both she and Amity proceeded at attempting to hel Maxie hide from Peony's detection.
But they fail. One of the guardsmen took notice of the conspicuous illusionary shrubs struggling to hide Maxwell's bulk. He called over to Peony, but as he approached, Swindle wildshaped into a panther and pounced upon the man in a panicked attempt to frighten Peony's entourage away. His attempt at intimidating the armed men were successful, but unfortunately, they responded to their fear by leveling their crossbows at the enormous cat. Variel attempted to de-escalate the situation by proclaiming that they had been looking for the panther after it had escaped from the menagerie, and Delebean nervously played along. Not wanting to actually kill a man, his intimidation attempt thouroughly falling through, Swindle had no choice but to let himself be shepherded into the vacant cage that once belonged to the winter wolf. From there, he watched the rest of the scene play out. After questioning where Swindle was (and receiving "oh...he uh...died, tragically. But we're all happy he's dead because he was the worst" as an explaination for his absence) explained that Swindle had stolen Maxwell from the shrine, and that he belonged to her family--reffering to him as an "it" and a "thing". Confused by this, Variel asserted that Maxwell was clearly a person capable of his own thought and exersized his own will--and that calling him a object that could be owned sounded an awful lot like some manner of slavery. Of course, Peony thought this was a rediculous notion, and mentioned that if they refuse to return Maxwell to her, that her men will arrest the entire caravan for grand theift and the vandalism of a holy artifact. It was at this point that Maxwell spoke up, assuring Peony that he has been able to fulfill his duties to Dol Arrah much more effectively now that he's been able to travel. He told her about the undead, and the allip, and how he felt that there was a divine reason for him to come upon all of this today--that it may be something he has been appointed to look into by Dol Arrah herself. He spoke on to promise that he would return to the Pharos Shrine when he felt his work out here was done, when felt his purpose had been served. He gifted Peony with his hammer as a symbol of his good word. Peony took the hammer into her hands with a brief moment of reverence for what the guesture meant--before instructing her men to arrest everyone and seize Maxwell. "Break his legs again, if you must." And so, a fight ensues, at which point, Swindle turns back into himself again just so he can refill Peony's stupid, ugly mouth with bees.And that's how Peony learns that Swindle is very much alive and well...and angry. The team was tired...and low on resources, and the fight was a slog that they were most certainly going to lose if not for some divine intervention. And that intervention came in the form of an elf cleric named Azalea. She tipped the balance of the battle into the party's favor, and when Peony saw that she was on the losing side, she turned heel to run. Swindle sent one last swarm of bees upon her, and it was enough to drop her like a sac of swollen potatoes. She was promptly stripped of her weapons and affects, and thrown into the Winter Wolf's old cage for safekeeping.
In an offhand comment, Azalea suggested to Swindle that he take less time worrying about his outward appearances and vest some of that care into what he's been neglecting to nurture on the inside. This sent him into a spiral of self-pity and misery for a while, and he didn't really go out of his way to interact with Azalea much after that. That is, until the caravan arrived Blackbough. Blackbough was a hole of a town. Cold winds blew up from the sheer, stony cliffs, the salt battered away at the tar-blackened houses. The skies hung grey and dreary overhead, and the moisture in the air threatened rain that never came. The people here all appeared exhausted, with dark bags under their eyes, and no energy to spare for pleasantries. It didn't take long for the group to learn that no one in this small, dingy town was getting any sleep. (WIP)
Not one to turn down an excellent opprotunity, Swindle swiftly helped his new
Luck (or Dol Arrah) must have been on their side, because they were able to make a clean escape and shake off any pursuers. After a few nights camping in the woods, both Swindle and Maxwell finally found a well-travelled road, upon which they chanced upon a travelling menagerie. Humplebumble Delebean was the rambunctious, well natured gnome at the head of this operation, "Humplebumple's Monsterous Menagerie," he called it. The gnome had wood-colored skin and a mess of curly red hair beneath a large, lovingly worn purple tophat. He was also missing a few fingers on each hand--something he attributed to "occupational hazards". Swindle and Max were invited to travel alongside them in exchange for medical attention and protection, respectively. And when they arrived at the small township of Dunswallow, Delebean humbley requested Swindle's favor in getting the word out about the Monsterous Menagerie opening its attraction to the Dunswallow public for a modest entry fee. Swindle and Maxwell decided to preform this favor at the local inn, The Siren's Sigh, and this is where they met with Amity, young, human wizard girl with white-pink curls and diminuative stature--and Rhogkun a much larger, much older grey skinned goliath wizard with a receeding hairline and admirable moustache. Amity was immediately smitten by Maxwell and entertained by Swindle, while Rhogkun was much more wary. Upon hearing Swindle's name, Rhogkun's immediate impression of Swindle was that of a distrustful charlatan, and who can blame him, really? Despite the reasonable cause for a swift judgement, Swindle felt no small amount of scorn for being painted a bad guy before even having the chance to prove otherwise. This snap judgement would set the tone for Swindle's travels from this point onward. Swindle managed to drum up no small amount of interest for Delebean's Monsterous Menagerie, and after his charming advertising campaign had concluded, Swindle, Maxwell, Amity and Rhogkun decided to head on and get an eyefull of the menagerie's attractions for themselves. The assortment of beasts were as varied as they were fascinating, but the final attraction caused Rhogkun a bit of concern. The white wolf in the cage had been presented by Delebean as a Dire Wolf, but Rhogkun soon pulled Delebean aside to tell him that his "dire wolf" was infact a highly intelligent and extremely proud, spiteful Winter Wolf, capable of speaking the language of giants. Rhogkun urged Delebean to be very careful with this acquision of his, and to make sure that there is no means for it to escape by. He goes so far as to offer his own muscle to help manage the beast.
Humplebumble assures Rhogkun that the Menagerie has everything under control, but this is Dungeons and Dragons. We know what's about to happen. The crew of aquaintences return to the inn for a good night's rest, and when morning rolls around, a member of Delebean's crew arrives at the inn in search of Rhogkun because, you guess it, the Winter Wolf escaped. This was a little beyond Swindle's...erm...expertise, and he opted to take it easy at the inn and not concern himself with other people's issues.
At least, that's what he would have liked. Unfortunately, his newly recruited stone bodyguard had a very different idea. Maxwell insisted, without so much as a discussion about it, that he and Swindle would assist Rhogkun in tracking down and neutralizing this escaped and dangerous beast. At this point, the party was greeted by a new stranger--a pompous, self-important eleadrin bard named Variel. She's prattled on about her titles, which didn't mean anything to anyone except her... Although...Swindle's ears do perked up at her calling the Summer Court her home. How curious. She asserted that she'd rather not be trudging among the mortals in their dirty mortal realm--but she's stuck here and this is the most interesting thing she's heard yet--so she wants to see this Winter Wolf and maybe bring it back as a prize to "her lady". Amity was reluctant to join, but even more reluctant to let her new friends (friends??) leave her behind. And so...the party went wolf hunting. Having been raised in the wilderness, tracking an animal wasn't new for Swindle...and he managed to do an expert job of it, despite himself. The trail led them to a gorge where two shelves of land walled off a narrow passage. The part opted not to trek through the narrow passage, and took the higher ground, instead. This turned out to be a good idea, as they soon found the winter wolf among a pack of normal wolves at the center of this natural corridor. Sure enough, Rhogkun was correct about the wolf's ability to speak. What Rhogkun didn't know was that this wolf could speak common, also.
Swindle did what Swindle knew how to do best, and attempted to...well...swindle the wolf. He told the wolf that actually, he could have had a really comfortable life travelling with the Menagerie. Delebean was already scared shitless of him, the wolf could travel the world in a guilded cage, demanding anything he wants, and his man-servants, ruled by fear, would provide him with all he could possibly ask for.
Only Amity thought this was a great pitch. The Winter Wolf then expressed his desire to hunt Delebean tirelessly for the humiliation the gnome put it through, and initiated the fight. The five of them took down the wolf, and once it was good and dead, Variel decided she really needed its luxurious pelt. Swindle can only stand watching her make an absolute mess of this disgraced animal for a total of five seconds before taking the knife from her and skinning the animal properly. The group camped out there for the night, and returned back to Dunswallow with the pelt in tow. Delebean was sad that the wolf had to be killed, but happy that it was no longer alive to eat him in the middle of the night. He then invited the entire group to join him and his menagerie westward as hired muscle. Swindle was actually delighted by this, because the Menagerie has a wagon dedicated to bathing...and after his experience with the local inn's back alley wooden barrel bath...Swindle was swift to agree that travelling with the menagerie would be an excellent idea. The crew was on the road for less than a month, spending their time with the menagerie learning new skills alongside them. Swindle took it upon himself to attempt learning gnomish under Delebean's tutliage, though...be it from imbibing a little too generously on mushrooms, or having been largely disintertested in the basics of the language at first, Swindle was not...the most attentive student. One day, the group took a small break near the remnants of an old town on the side of the road. Always on the hunt for new mushrooms, Swindle took it upon himself to investigate the shaded corners and rotting wood for any noteworthy fungi. He did not find any fungi. He found dead a dead person.
The dead person rose from the ground.
At this point, Delebean began screaming from where the rest of the caravan was, and it turned out that dead guy had lots of dead friends--and they were all converging upon the Menagerie. The party fended off the shambling undead, and when a calm quiet returned to everyone, Delebean nervously suggested that the ruins should be...maybe...investigated. Because, apparently, undead had never been a problem in this area before, and this road was a frequently travelled one.
As per Swindle's usual self, he insisted that there was probably no other undead in the area, because what are the odds? And besides, if there were more, it wasn't their problem.
No one agreed with him. And so! The party of five investigated the ruins and chanced upon an old cellar that opened up into a vast underground corridor. It began as a well burrowed dirt cavern housing meenlocks, which ended suddenly with a collapsed section of the cave that led into...what appeared to be...some underground, man-made chamber. The stonework was polished and thoughtfully laid down, but the air inside this newly uncovered room was old...stale. The room housed four stonework statues featuring life-like human figures with contorted poses and agonized expressions. Rhogkun began preparing a ritual spell that would allow him to detect magic, but before he had the chance to complete it, one of the statues came to life and clawed at him, causing him to lose all mobility. With that, the other three statues became animated at well, and the team was forced to ilimiate them. As Maxwell brough his hammer down upon the last standing statue, it's head shattered, sending shards of dark obsidian scattering across the stonework. Upon closer inspection, Swindle discerned that these ebony shards were unique from the rest of the stonework that these statues were made from--and with help from the team, he was able to extract three obsidian skulls from the remaining statues who still had their heads in tact. Their journey brought them deeper into this strange underground complext, and eventually led them into a harrowing room full of torture impliments and old, long rotting gore. It was at this point that Amity began to panic, the blood draining from her face--and she wanted to leave this place even more than Swindle did. Variel attempted to quell her fears, with negligible effect, but nevertheless, the crew continued forward. Along the way, Swindle found a peculiar purple blade, and recognized it as the symbol of The Keeper, a god of death and decay. They eventually came to a much smaller room with some manner of magic circle scrawlled upon the floor, and a dead body resting upon it. Variel took a closer look at it, and found that the corpse appeared to have burned from the inside, out. Against the wall was a large hammer fashioned to appear like a ram's head--which Maxwell picked up. On the dead man's body was a journal, written in a language that Rhogkun identified as Dragonic. Amity piped up, saying that she had spoken to a dragon once, asserting that this clearly meant she could understand the language of the dragons. Upon looking at the book however, Amity found herself incapable of reading it's contents, and everyone was disappointed. A corridor was all that remained for them to follow down, and at the end of that corridor opened a door into one final room. This room sported four more stone statues, bearing the full load of the ceiling above them. In the center of the room, a terrible spectre of black, writing smoke stood. Its voice echoed through everyone's mind in a sickly, contorted tone, "Do you want to hear a secret?" Variel swiftly warned everyone not to let it say any more. She identified the ghost as an allip, explaining that it's 'secret' is what drove it into this agonized state, and that anyone else who hears it will follow the same fate.
Sssooo, everyone attacked it. As per his usual style, Swindle hun back as far as he could, where the allips awful whispers couldn't reach him. And from his safe distance, he made sure everyone stayed on their feet. The allip was eventually, successfully slain. Unfortunately, so were three of the four load-bearing statues. The team had no time to celebrate their victory, the ceiling had already begun to crumble, and everyone was force to make a swift escape back out the way they came from.
Back above ground, the effects of their battle could be clearly seen. A huge sinkhole had opened up where the ceiling of the allip's dungeon had collapsed. Finally, the party could return back to the caravan and get their hard earned rest...
Except they couldn't. As the caravan came into view, Swindle was able to see that there was additional company.
That additional company was no one other that Peony Oakweed and a small army of her guardsmen.
Exhausted and wholly not equipped to deal with any of this, Swindle panicked and hid behind a bush. Everyone except Maxwell was reasonably confused by this reaction, to which Swindle simply barked back in a hushed voice that Peony is the worst kind of person conceivable, having exploited Maxwell for gods know how long. Also, he put bees in her mouth. That last remark threw them off, but not enough to prevent Variel from quipping that Swindle, himself, had arguably been exploiting Maxwell this whole time. Regardless both she and Amity proceeded at attempting to hel Maxie hide from Peony's detection.
But they fail. One of the guardsmen took notice of the conspicuous illusionary shrubs struggling to hide Maxwell's bulk. He called over to Peony, but as he approached, Swindle wildshaped into a panther and pounced upon the man in a panicked attempt to frighten Peony's entourage away. His attempt at intimidating the armed men were successful, but unfortunately, they responded to their fear by leveling their crossbows at the enormous cat. Variel attempted to de-escalate the situation by proclaiming that they had been looking for the panther after it had escaped from the menagerie, and Delebean nervously played along. Not wanting to actually kill a man, his intimidation attempt thouroughly falling through, Swindle had no choice but to let himself be shepherded into the vacant cage that once belonged to the winter wolf. From there, he watched the rest of the scene play out. After questioning where Swindle was (and receiving "oh...he uh...died, tragically. But we're all happy he's dead because he was the worst" as an explaination for his absence) explained that Swindle had stolen Maxwell from the shrine, and that he belonged to her family--reffering to him as an "it" and a "thing". Confused by this, Variel asserted that Maxwell was clearly a person capable of his own thought and exersized his own will--and that calling him a object that could be owned sounded an awful lot like some manner of slavery. Of course, Peony thought this was a rediculous notion, and mentioned that if they refuse to return Maxwell to her, that her men will arrest the entire caravan for grand theift and the vandalism of a holy artifact. It was at this point that Maxwell spoke up, assuring Peony that he has been able to fulfill his duties to Dol Arrah much more effectively now that he's been able to travel. He told her about the undead, and the allip, and how he felt that there was a divine reason for him to come upon all of this today--that it may be something he has been appointed to look into by Dol Arrah herself. He spoke on to promise that he would return to the Pharos Shrine when he felt his work out here was done, when felt his purpose had been served. He gifted Peony with his hammer as a symbol of his good word. Peony took the hammer into her hands with a brief moment of reverence for what the guesture meant--before instructing her men to arrest everyone and seize Maxwell. "Break his legs again, if you must." And so, a fight ensues, at which point, Swindle turns back into himself again just so he can refill Peony's stupid, ugly mouth with bees.And that's how Peony learns that Swindle is very much alive and well...and angry. The team was tired...and low on resources, and the fight was a slog that they were most certainly going to lose if not for some divine intervention. And that intervention came in the form of an elf cleric named Azalea. She tipped the balance of the battle into the party's favor, and when Peony saw that she was on the losing side, she turned heel to run. Swindle sent one last swarm of bees upon her, and it was enough to drop her like a sac of swollen potatoes. She was promptly stripped of her weapons and affects, and thrown into the Winter Wolf's old cage for safekeeping.
Azalea introduced herself as a Cleric of the Sovergn Host--which included Dol Arrah, and explained how she and Maxwell had known eachother for a long, long time. Maxwell addressed her like an old mentor, and Azalea treated him in kind. She continued to explain how she use to work for the shrine of Pharos, but found Peony too difficult to bear. Her opinion of this awful halfling woman seemed to be almost as abysmal as Swindle's. The caravan continued westward, with Peony in tow and Azalea travelling with them--and something about the cleric reminded him a great deal of Allswell...perhaps it was her gentle but assertive disposition, or perhaps her kindly nature or maybe--
In an offhand comment, Azalea suggested to Swindle that he take less time worrying about his outward appearances and vest some of that care into what he's been neglecting to nurture on the inside. This sent him into a spiral of self-pity and misery for a while, and he didn't really go out of his way to interact with Azalea much after that. That is, until the caravan arrived Blackbough. Blackbough was a hole of a town. Cold winds blew up from the sheer, stony cliffs, the salt battered away at the tar-blackened houses. The skies hung grey and dreary overhead, and the moisture in the air threatened rain that never came. The people here all appeared exhausted, with dark bags under their eyes, and no energy to spare for pleasantries. It didn't take long for the group to learn that no one in this small, dingy town was getting any sleep. (WIP)
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