Episode 6a: Cadorna's HeirloomVote resultsActive party votes:
* Sturm: Return Cadorna's heirloom
* Ritsuko: Clear Sokal Keep
* Jack: Active in thread, but no vote due to time travel
* Laharl: Sokal Keep
* Alex: The nomads, kill them all
* Max: Travel through time with Jack, abstained from party action vote
* Raynor: no vote
Roster votes:
* Lina: Find Cadorna's heirloom and keep it
* Gimli: no vote
: Time for me to leave, everyone.
: Thanks for helping us with the trolls, Jack.
: My pleasure. Go easy on me when I meet you for the first time. Max, are you ready?
: Yes.
: Since you guys don't have a map, how about Max and I make a quick stop in Phlan before the fall, buy one and bring it back to you before we return to my timeframe?
: That would be very helpful, thank you. How long will it take? We could all meet at the Inn in an hour.
: No, that won't be necessary. We'll come back shortly after we leave. Count to ten after we're gone and we should be back by then.
: Could we return to, say...right now, before we even leave?
: It's possible, but inadvisable. That kind of thing sometimes results in paradoxes that later need to be resolved. 5-10 seconds after we leave should be plenty of buffer to avoid any problems.
: I see. And after you and Max are gone to the future, when will we meet up with you again?
: Relax, it all works out.
: Hey, Kyon. Someone's knocking on your front door.
: Go ahead and let them in.
: Hey, guys. Kyon, where should we set up?
: Good evening, Lady. And who might you be?
: Don't call me lady. I'm Priss, and my band here is The Replicants. We're your music for tonight.
: Thanks for coming. Go ahead and take that corner of the room. Let me know if you need anything.
: Why exactly do we have a band here?
: Don't worry about it.
: Hey, Kyon. What was with that flash of blue light just now?
: Just Max and Jack leaving.
: Guess I'll start counting. One, two, three...
: Hmm? Ok, whatever. Got any beer?
: Sorry, no. Miss Misato drank it all.
: You still hang out with that lush?
: Occassionally.
: ...four, five...not that I'm one to defend Misato, but we do have a game to play. Six, seven...
: Right. With Max and Jack gone, plus Lina and minus Raynor, current party roster is:
* Sturm
* Hanz
* Alex
* Ritsuko
* Laharl
* Lina
: ...eight, nine...
: Action vote was psuedo-tied between clearing Sokal Keep next or going after Cadorna's heirloom, but with no consensus on whether to return or keep the hairloom. What would you guys like to do?
: SOKAL KEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
: We will not steal the heirloom.
: ...ten. Anyone see Jack?
: Who said anything about stealing it? I
hate thieves and bandits! We're going to
liberate it from the vile thieves who stole it from Cadorna.
: Eleven?
: No, we're not. We're going to Sokal Keep and that's final.
: I'm surprised, lady Inverse. I hadn't realized you felt so strongly about justice.
: And isn't that nice, but oh...how tragic that we're going to Sokal keep and so it doesn't matter.
: Of course! That's why they call me Lina Inverse, the bandit killer!
: ...fifteen, sixteen...guys, I think there might be a problem.
: I'm sure Sokal keep is positively swarming with bandits. Best be on our way.
: I'm glad we are in agreement. Let us go.
: ...twenty one, twenty two...still no Jack?
: Yes! GO! Right now! To Sokal-
: I hear the heirloom was kept in the textile house.
: Keep!
: Anyone know where that is?
: On Thorn Island!
: The textile house is just south of Podal Plaza, and west of Mendor's Library. To get there, go west through the slums to Norris the Gray's former hideout, then south to the library, the west to the textile house.
: We took a boat from Podal Plaza back to town a while ago. Maybe we could go the other way?
: ...forty, forty one...like I
mentioned a few days ago, the outbound boats are blocked until we clear Sokal keep. We really should do that first. It will save us a lot of travel time.
: Yes! Listen to Ritsuko! She's smart!
: Yes, damnit.
Listen to me. It's been almost a minute and Jack's not back with Max, or a map.
: He may have underestimated how long it would take to find a map vendor.
: I don't think it works that way. Like he said, if everything was ok, they should have been back within seconds of leaving.
: In any case, let's give them more time. I would prefer to return councilman Cadorn'a family heirloom, but if the rest of you would prefer to investigate Sokal Keep first, I will accompany you.
: Yes! We would prefer!
: Hey Priss, how long until the band's ready?
: Mackie still needs to bring in the drums from the truck, we have strobe lights to hang...give us 30 minutes.
: If you guys want to do Sokal Keep, you'll need to wait 30 minutes. That's probably enough time to do the textile house. It's up to you guys, but I need Priss ready before you head to the keep.
: Aww, man.
: It's not that far to walk. You've already cleared the slums and Norris' hideout, so you might not even see any encounters on the way.
: But...my fortress!
: It can wait. Let's return Cadorna's heirloom.
: Yes! Let's
liberate Cadorna's heirloom from those stinky, awful bandits!
: Following the council clerk's directions, you head south from Norris the Gray's former hideout.
: You mean my
current secret underground lair.
: Within a few minutes you see Mendor's library. It is a large building, clearly centuries old.
: That's probably a good place to look for information about Phlan before the fall.
: It also has 'dusty magic scrolls' written all over it.
: Turning west, you find a small alley to the textile house, and through a curious stroke of luck, the very first building on your left bears the Cadorna family crest.
: We enter.
: You see the chief of the hobgoblins: a huge ogre. As you enter he rises to his full ten feet of height; his head wreathed in the flickering shadows.
: Puny creatures, I allowed you to to toy with my minions, but now I'll crush the life from your limbs.
: With all three of Alex, Laharl and Ritsuko blanketing the field with sleeps spells, all but 3 of the hobgoblins are removed from the battle in the first round.
: Where's Lina?
: I'm coordinating the assault from behind this corner over here.
: We will protect you, lady.
: ...oooohhh, yes, that sounds like an excellent plan. *smirk* Save me brave warrior! *giggle*
: Outnumbered, the ogre soon falls, allowing you to easily pick off his sleeping minions.
: What?!?! Where's the loots?
: Yeah, I don't see anything in here worth calling an heirloom.
: Maybe the ogre hadn't found it.
: Probably a good thing, otherwise who knows what those monsters might have done with it. Let's look around.
: You find a recess in the wall hidden behind a painting. Inside, you see an iron box. Across the lock is the seal of the family of Cadorna. Opening the box will damage the seal beyond repair.
: I will carry the box. We shall leave the seal unbroken.
: Yes, a strong man like you should definitely carry the box. Kyon, this mountain dew you gave me isn't really to my tastes. Have you any wine in the house?
: Sure. I generally stock a couple bottles for special occassions.
: Sturm, oh noble protector of beautiful sorceresses, would you be a dear and fetch me a glass of wine from the kitchen? Sauvignon Blanc if you can find it.
: You won't find any white wines in there, but if you want something mild, I have some merlots that will probably do.
: Excellent. Sturm, if you would?
: Certainly, my lady.
: Thank you, kind sir.
: That was uncharacteristically formal of you.
: Kyon! Quickly while Sturm is away, I teleport the contents of the box into my knapsack. Anything good?
: Max would be proud.
: I expect a third of that.
: Me too.
: Grr. Ok, but I keep the gloves. And the copper, silver and unenchanted trinkets all go back in the box. They're nearly worthless and heavy, and if Sturm's going to try to turn it in for a reward there'd better at least be something in there. Oh...here he comes.
: Your wine, m'lady.
: Thank you, dear.
: I think I don't care enough to say anything.
: Excuse me?
: Nothing. Let's get back to town.
: On your return, two guards bearing the Cadorna family crest take custdoy of the box and escort you to Cadorna himself:
: Ahh, thank you for returning my family's treasure. I see that the seal is still intact. It's good to know that I can trust adventurers such as yourselves.
: Of course!
: Please accept this generous reward of 200 gold for your efforts.
: ...200 gold? For all that?
: ...erm, thank you.
: If I require the use of adventurers in the future, I'll be sure to remember that I can count on you.
: Slimeball.
: Ironic given that you're wearing some of what he just paid you to return.
: Hey, I liberated those things fair and square!
: No cat fights, please. Also, everyone pass in your character sheets. Let's see who's ready to level.