>>17991103

As you’ve been told, this half of Urgash was apparently more populous for being located in scrubland and not desert, but even here the citizens seemed to live exclusively behind the towering walls of magic-run city-states. The outlands were filled with raiding Orc tribes, magical oddities and pan-dimensional disturbances (likely from all the mages chucking spells at each other), so travel and trade always went abroad heavily armed- most of the adventurers in-house working as bodyguards to both. Protection of domestic investments and architecture generally came down to the arcane and divine more than strength-of-arms, circumventing local creature’s advantages of strength without sorcery.

Umbaya itself received most of its protection from the Divine side of the spectrum- most everyone here was religious in one way or another, and every religion present had to do something to contribute toward town’s defence or they weren’t permitted to set up shop. For most this was simply a tithe they paid the governing council…though others, much to your personal aggrievance, pay their way in wards and shielding- the favoured form of payment for the newer churches to appear on the block.

How annoying- if he were a year or two earlier you might have gotten away with that drop. Ah well.

As quick as thought you dress yourself (some tasteful half-plate) and briskly open the door to your room, hoping to take advantage of any breakfast that may be prepared for residents before the clamouring din of the adventurers assembled below made off with it. And in time you were…just early enough to see the last sausage go into a halfling’s mouth. Even better; a halfling you recognize from last night.

“Ah, Victor!” Allandro munched, beckoning you over to his table, “Sorry, w’s ‘ungry. You know how it is. C’mon don’t look like that, have a seat I’ll wave ya a drink over.”

>>17991130

“Yes, fine, hello Allandro, “ You sighing in irritable acquiesce, slumping next to the ranger, “You’re rather chipper for a man who drank half his bodyweight in liquor last night.”

“Thrill of the hunt, what can I say?” He laughed, gesturing to a pleasantly buxom wench with some strong tea, “You’re a little late but you haven’t missed anything, pretty much everyone’s here and we’re all going to push off as soon as the start’s official- right now it’s just the usual lying and boasting about how many everyone’s going to kill and all of that.”

“Lying, hmm?” You smile, taking a sip of your beverage (ICED tea? Well well…), “I take it you got all of yours out of the way last night? Something about half the heads’ll be on your pile?”

“Ahh, well, last night drink was involved…and everyone knows you speak the truth when you’re drunk.”

Smirking yourself, you sit back and listen in to everyone else (some thirty In all) declaring victory for their gods and giving ever more extravagant claims of racing to the tribal grounds and culling a hundred of them before the rest of the party. An impressive display of arrogance even by draconic standards; and this is even without the aid of alcohol.

Finally, Latif stands upon the serving table, bellows enough to hush everyone, then reads toward the details task at hand: Recovered bodies of dead carrier-birds with Orcish shafts in them, the location of the Orcs in question, and, most importantly, the terms of payment.

>>17991142

“A ‘head’ is recognized as either the full body part, a scalp, or other method of identifying a confirmed kill related to singular person. Fifteen gold a head for the warriors, thirty for higher-ranking Orcs, a hundred for any sorcerers they might have and two-hundred for the Chieftan; obviously with additional proof on the burden of the hunter. In addition, ‘loot’ is permissible behavior but only AFTER the contract has been fulfilled to satisfaction, which is the dissolving of the tribe, wherapon you can keep whatever you can carry yourselves, or-”

“-Women an’ kids?”

“-Ah,” He pauses, checking it over once, “Doesn’t say, though there’s a lump sum to be divvied out for total removal of the tribe- and no it doesn’t say how many there are either, which in our terms means ‘too many’; so expect a full purse or to be dead if you’re not careful. Contract’s open from now until completion, an’ you’re all to head ouuuuut…right now! So get your asses following Hasir over here and remember where to spend your gold first when you get back, alright?!”

>>17991172

You fail to be as enthusiastic as the well-fed others in the cheer that came after, choosing to lean back and watch as everyone followed the Ranger (vaguely remembered from that detention centre) out of the tavern and toward yonder prey, carefully sipping your frosty beverage. It was only sporting to give them a lead, considering you had more expedient travel at your disposal than ‘foot’…that, and once they’re off you can check out which way they’re heading and go on ahead of them.

Finishing your drink and standing to stretch, you lean out of the tavern door, hanging by the frame to peer into the town around you. Breakfast first obviously, then…perhaps visit a vendor for a weapon? If so, what kind? Chances are you’re going to need something plausible to say you’ve beheaded things, if beheadings are on the agenda.

Either way, there was time enough for a little spending before raking in the coin.

Awesome.

Personally, I'm inclined to pick up a scimitar to fit with the Arabian theme we're working with, or a glaive or similar polearm because those are badass.

Breakfast, weapon, then beating the mercs to the orcs ought to be the order of the day.

*******

To cut a long story short, Writer-Dude has handed this quest on, knowing he sadly didn’t have the time to end it himself and frustrated with certain aspects of it. As such, he gave me his blessing to carry on, and go ahead in the same universe in a different place: East of Mza past the mountain range, into the land of Urgash- a place of deserts and arid, rocky scrubland, ruled over by powerful city-states and warring Orc Tribes.

Other than that, it’s a direct continuation (complete with timeskip), and the quest runs the same as it did before…so if you will forgive me for picking up where a great man left off, I shall do my level best for y’all. On with the quest!

******

bump for DQ

>>17991270
I second the glaive idea. And we can clam to be a sorcerer to allow us to use some of our draconic abilities.

>>17991592
Also allows us to be as flamboyant as we desire and play it off as 'sorcerer', as well as making people underestimate our physical abilities.

Note: When we pursue the adventurers, let's do so stealthily.

>>17991689
Also might explane the char marks.

>>17991702
Well, in this case, it'd be 'frostburn' and cold-induced tissue damage.

Set the course.

*****

Breakfast went by quickly thanks to the discovery of ‘kebabs’, the portable food proving to be sufficiently delicious to buy more than three as you made our way around the markets. In comparison it takes an irritatingly long time to find a weapon suitable for your personage, having to trek deep into the religious portion of the city to find a store with wares good enough to sate you.

You’d thought from your brief sojourn around the town yesterday that you’d already spotted a number of choice items from the vendors toward the closer-end of the street, but for some inalienable reason they hadn’t put them out this morning. Finally, a rather scandalously clad (and most apologetic) priestess from one of the lesser institutions you’d noted pointed you over to a place that had what you were looking for, and out you’ve come emerged with your new glaive.

Well weighted and wrought, the wooden shaft has a peculiar feel to it, as if it were not wood at all, and the timbre was pitch-black. The blade itself pleasingly silver- a nice edge of fashion to round out its actual utility that certainly helps you look the part. It won’t, however, help you act the part of tribe-destroyer; not as much as some claws and teeth do anyway.

Walking out the front gates with an idle wave to the observation wall, you wait until you’re out of sight before transforming back into your natural form, casting a quick invisibility spell on yourself before raising into the air and scouting around the near horizon. Sure enough, the group a easily found, trekking north-east, and it doesn’t take you long to catch up with, then move past, the motley crew. They seemed fewer than before, numbering only twenty…perhaps another team had gone on ahead? You do wonder if you even needed them now though; the smoke trails from the of the Orc encampment were obvious even from this distance.

>>17991958

An hour later and you’re circling over the encampment, noting with some curiosity that these ones were not the only tribe in the area- there were smoke streams coming off on the far edges of your vision several tens of miles away in several directions. Was the smoke used as communication between them? Possibly, though there seemed to be no pattern in the straight columns. Perhaps this level of population saturation was normal for Orcs in this territory…though there didn’t seem to be much to live off for such a number of them.

Also, those ten you had suspected had gone on ahead were nowhere to be found anywhere leading up to these Orcs, which was…concerning.

Ah well. Disregarding your academic curiosity you turn to the task at hand, peering down to take a rough stab at their numbers. Hmm. Nomadic. With that many tents and that many guards on the watch…two hundred warriors? That seemed a little much for thirty adventurers to handle…but on the plus side, that meant a considerable amount of gold for their removal.

Mid-day was fast approaching, and in this heat (which you sorely feel) their attention would be lax- attackers would be seen coming from some distance, and most would strike at night or in the dawn, as the band you tailed had planned. It almost seemed too easy, despite bitty logistical problems like how to carry so many scalps. But this is, you remind yourself, ease from a Dragon’s perspective…or the now-twenty adventurers on the ground, these odds would be quite unfortunate. And where the devil did the other ten go? It doesn’t strike you as a venture that should have happened with such little intelligence undertaken. Lucky you were here to ‘thin the herd’ a little.

Or a lot.

Or all.

Tactics time. Oh dear.

It's a pity, but I presume strafing runs void our invisibility?

Let's attempt to identify and eliminate any outlying scouts without alerting the main encampment. Secondly, let's try landing on, say, the chieftan's tent with lethal intent. (We ought to be able to recognize a sufficiently fancy pit of cloth, and he's less likely to have a family or children in his.)

I think perhaps we should wait to figure out what the outlying encampments are first, though. Just in case. Probably won't affect our course of action.

If we're particularly lucky, we can greet the adventurers with a nice little pyramid of skulls, Genghis Khan style.

Keep up the good work. Am going to sleep now though, as need to get up early.

>>17992085
Scout a bit, then just srafe

we're a dragon, we dont' give a fuck

avoid non-combatants if convenient.

My natural paranoia lead me to think that the missing ten are hidden and watching, and will see us if we dragon it up. Or try to claim credit. Or try to use blackmail to do both.

>>17992329
I fear it too, but if it happens, one, we're a dragon, and two, we may be good, but that only means we'll take an even worse view of blackmail.

>>17992361
Swoop over the outlying scouts and get a better look. A few eagle dives here and there, and soon there will be a nice opening for the adventurers to enter through.

How the hell are we going to explain it when the groups shows up and sees us chipping scalps off frozen orcs in a trashed camp?

>>17992479
Well, they have to find those bodies, first. When they show up, we'll have around a dozen or so scalps ready; that doesn't include the tens of frozen corpses hidden around the camp.

Am I the only one who thinks we should have a chat with the orcs first?

Play our cards right, we can get us some minions.

>>17992652
Orcish minions? Disgusting.

>>17992961
Pretty much this; what would our sister and Bahamut think?

*****

Frowning as best a giant magical beast can, you decide to hold off a direct assault and instead scout around the area first, sweeping in a little lower for a better view of the land. It doesn’t strike you as impossible that the ten who’d gone missing from the party had flown or teleported ahead of the main pack, and if they saw you going to town on the tribe in your dragon form, then something tells you they would be ill-disposed to giving you a bounty that was meant for adventurers.

However…no trace can be found of another presence, even when you land and decide to sniff around a little. Just loose, sandy soil and prickly bushland. The Orc ahead-positions do not seem compromised, which you’d expect if they were planning on sending a force ahead, and if there are trails or tracks which they left behind then they did an excellent job in covering them. It *has* been several hours since they left though, so perhaps such measures had been taken.

Sweeping back up into the air for a quick fly around, you give a cursory check to the other Orc encampments around, doing a sweep as quick as you are able. All seem too far away to get involved with this tribe, and equally ill-prepared for a strike. Well good for them, not being on the menu today. Your chosen tribe, however…

>>17992979
Redirecting their destructive tendencies towards productive ends could be a good thing.

>>17993058

Smiling, you circle back over their positions lazily, looking for the fanciest tent in which the chieftain must surely reside…fancy in this case being a lighter shade of brown- a testament to the Orcs keen eye for modern decoration techniques. Spending just another minute to keep tabs on their lookouts (who you note are no threat regardless, being armed only with axes) you loop twice in the air; long, broad circles that build up a frightening amount of momentum before- finally- building to a crushing plummet right on top of the chieftain’s tent, smashing the ramshackle construction utterly and announcing your presence with unholy shouts of terror and broken timber.

The next while after is nothing you would call ‘work’. After taking back off and resorting only to your breath weapon, you find that there is, literally, no resistance they can offer you; only once did an axe manage to find its way up to you from your chosen height- an impressive feat that rewarded by a more personal touch from you: a swooping grapple for a free, once-in-a-lifetime view of the surrounding landscape. They seemed woefully unprepared for any kind of airbourne assault, and you suddenly wonder if the odds would have been so long for only thirty or twenty men if they just kept their distance from these people.

After the initial yells, screams and curses it almost becomes a chore, and you take to alternating breath attacks with variations on your initial dive, flattening the entire tribe with your back, front, legs and arms, leaving your tail free to whip out and destroy the ramshackle lookout posts the Orcs had been using- for all the good they served them.

>>17993080

In short order unity against the threat you pose crumbles, and you’re left to spending the last hour flying low over the ground, hunting down those few warriors trying to flee toward the other tribes in the area to summon help. None of them were Orc women, and on recollection, unless they were within the tents, you don’t believe you’d seen any children in the camp at all. A purely military machine, then, for some warlike purpose…or maybe the Orcs here breed in seasons. No matter.

Finishing up and resting back on your (slightly bloodstained) chieftain-tent covering, you note with some satisfaction the earlier blasts of frost already beginning to melt in the heat- between that and the naturally chilly nights, you feel confident you can keep your draconic form a secret…well, providing that it hasn’t already been blown by scouts or any such nonsense. There was still time to check on both them and the advancing party- the evening had not set in yet, and the group would no doubt still be trekking toward this position. Still…there were bodies that needed collecting and skulls that needed to be taken- it would take you the best part of what remained between now and late evening to get through the task, thanks to how far-flung some of the corpses were- and not to mention the time needed to search and secure whatever loot lay in the tents you’d taken good care to iron-down.

…Yes, this *was* easy, wasn’t it?

Huffing another gout of frost you crane your head to the side to look at an extinguished fire and the meat they’d left to cook on it, tearing a chunk off.

Hmm. Gamey.

****

No non-combatants means that this camp is just a small part of a larger horde. This could be the start of something very, very bad.

I don't suppose there's anyone left to question?

>>17993119
Make sure we aren't being observed any longer, then dawn our human form and get to scalping. Once we get a few numbers, including the chieftains head, then we can go and wait out the ensuing battle for a little bit. We can even show up at our earliest convenience to possibly save the other adventurers.

Also, prepare our bodies to sleep on gold...mmm...gold...

>>17993155
Scalping might be easier if we do some decapitation while in dragonform.

Let's not be here when the adventurers get here- They'll be upset we stole all their kills, and we don't want to share our money.

Gold, though. Gold we want.

BTW, there's an IRC channel on IRCHighway, Channel #dragonquest. Feel free to hang out.

Hmmmmm okay so are we just taking our kills and heading back? Or taking our kills and joining up with the adventurers? Or we gonna be A BOSS and await their arrival?

I'm sure we could spin it as being a great sorceror or something.

>>17993272
Why risk it? We can head back, turn in our bounties before they get back, collect our gold, and GTFO of town before anyone can object.

If they show up, they're going to object to how we got there and did the entire job for them, basically stealing their money.

>>17993295
I thought we wanted to partake in the local intrigue after we had some gold under our belt? In addition, aren't we searching for our sister around here?

>>17993313
True.

Alright, maybe we can send them out after the 'escapees' who seem to have fled. We can also inform them of the columns of smoke we saw, which would be more kills, should they so desire.

>>17993295

As I understand it, we can't cash in until its been confirmed we got rid of them and that can't be proven until- well we have the cheiftan's head but I'm thinking that official leading them has to be official with it.

>>17993351
Alright. Still, they probably won't be too happy to see us.

bump

****

Craning your neck up to make sure the coast was clear, you morph back into your human guise and stalk around the camp, deciding to generously leave the skulls of those who you’d hunted down for those bothered to find them, keeping those in the main camp for yourself. Removing the tops off of the tents, you found more women than you’d thought were in the encampment, but still no children that would suggest this was a ‘natural’ tribe.

Lucky you, it seemed some enlightenment was at hand- from no less than the Orc Chieftain himself. Rolling back the top of the tent, you found him staring at you with unmatched hatred…even if that’s all he could manage in his current state.

“Well look at you, still alive!” You smile, unfurling the rest of the tent cover off so you could justly appraised his smashed limbs and crushed ribs, “Well, at least until I cut off your head for reward money anyway. Ah yes I probably should introduce myself; I was the dragon that just flattened your mobile base of evil here. Oh no, don’t get up on my account.”

A long wheeze issued from the giant of an Orc’s throat, suggesting a certain disdain for your person that, normally, would churl you. Considering the circumstances though, you admit his anger might be slightly justifiable. Well, if there was a threat in that burble, maybe you could poke for more than that off him. Some bluffing and lying seemed in order.

>>17994277

“…N-Nah…” He grit his teeth into a rough, mocking smile, “…N-Not them…We…del-gation…represent… tribe. Kid’s’ll …be aft…”

“Ah, some kind of inter-tribal meeting? Say no more. As for your kids revenging on me, well, they’ve got to find out who did this first,” You tut, bouncing your glaive off your shoulder, “And though there might be a paper trail, I’m afraid it won’t be leading to me.”

He earned some small amount of respect from you by managing to raise his arm just before you added another two hundred gold to your purse.

By night’s end you’d managed a fully hundred and ten scalps to yourself, along with what you suspect to be a few thousand’s worth of gold in magical weaponry and pillaged jewelry. You lacked the means to store it all on yourself currently, so went back to your dragonform and dug a pit to dump it all in, moving a boulder over to secure it from over-inquisitive people like Allandro. Night being over, you makeshifted a tent of your own to spend the night it, determined to be fresh for the morning gloating, when your likely annoyed ‘peers’ would be arriving to pick up your scraps.

…Except, come dawn, they didn’t arrive. Nor through any of the morning. Finally, in late afternoon, the party turned up. A party of one- Hasir, the Ranger from Internal Security who’d been leading everyone in.

>>17994321

He seemed about as speechless as you were perplexed, his expression contorting between amazement, gratitude and anger. You are secretly thankful you disassembled your throne of skulls and scalps from the morning, or else you believe it would’ve just been three different forms of anger. This wasn’t normal though…he wasn’t jealous. He was haggard. Pain in his eyes and blood on his hands. Something was amiss, and his lone appearance required an explanation.

“Where the hell were you?!”

As, apparently, did your absence.

“I decide to come just for a once over to replan, and what the hell do I find?!” The ranger shouted, deciding to settle his anger issues first, “The jumped-up sorcerer who almost killed himself through a flashy entrance having- what, killed the whole tribe by himself? Actually, no, I don’t give a shit about that, good job even, what I want to know is WHY WEREN’T YOU WITH US YESTERDAY?! Maybe then there’d have been more than six of us crawling back to town with nothing to show for it if you’d bothered to stick around and share, you selfish shit!”

*****

"Pardon me, but I doubt that was the case. Simply put, from sufficient altitude, the orc camp was visible; your party was not. I couldn't find you; I suppose that could be considered my fault for leaving late.

That said, seeing as you did not pay in advance, there was actually quite little I was obligated to do. I would also request that you first, take a more civil tone, and second, fill me in on what occurred."

Maybe not these words exactly, but the gist of it is, we had no contract, and while he might be upset, we did our job. Deal.

That said, if they just had us slaughter a delegation, I will be most irked.

>>17994427
Clarification; the contract was to procure proof of extermination. It was not specified that we had to protect seasoned adventurers, or do so as a cohesive group.

This is starting to stink. Something's up with this town.

We really should have talked it out with the orcs BEFORE skipping straight to killing.

As for the ranger, fuck him. We're not here to hold his hand.

>>17994528
This. We got hired to kill orcs and take scalps. Not guard fools who signed up while drunk.

Silvers are nicer than reds, but we're still arrogant as fuck.

>>17994628
I'd add a corollary; We're good, but we have limits, and this town has insulted us repeatedly. We may be doing grandfather a favor, but our patience is limited.

>>17994662
They didn't just insult us. They nearly killed us just for flying vaguely near them.

>>17994681
Indeed. Completely outrageous.

He's probably going to try to kill us so that his group can take the credit and get the reward.

>>17994707
if he attacks us we'll defend ourselves. there's little he could do to meaningfully harm us at the current time.

>>17994681
>>17994690
Technically, we were trying to circumvent customs-equivalent and infiltrate the city, possibly with a hostile agenda.

That said, they were still most rude. We'll do good, but I can see being a bit less polite ourselves.

>>17994707
I wish him luck. If he does, maybe we should give him a very stern talking to about politeness and banditry. Then warn him that if we see him again, he won't live to regret it.

>>17994745
> Technically, we were trying to circumvent customs-equivalent

We weren't aware of that. They should put up warnings before skipping straight to wards that try to outright kill you. That's like skipping right to murdering someone for stepping on your lawn.

>>17994738
We're in squishy human form. He could just stab us, and that would hurt a fair bit.

>>17994791
Well, it's more like skipping to trying to murder someone who's climbing over your twelve-foot wrought iron walls and carrying an ominous-looking backpack, but essentially yes.

>>17994813
legal in texas.
Still pretty rude of them though.

>>17994845
Exactly.

>>17994813
No, because the person climbing over the wall at least knows there is a wall there. They left no such warning in place. They tried to kill us without any warning, without any indication that we were doing something forbidden. It's more like just murdering someone for breaking a law whose very existence has been kept a secret. It's ridiculous.

>>17994855
Well, I mean, the city does have walls, you know.

That's generally the purpose of walls, preventing people from entering except through approved of means.

>>17994866
We didn't even make it to those walls.

>>17994875
...We kind of did. In fact, we flew over them and tried to descend into the city.

Hence the 'climbing over the wall' metaphor- they zapped us while we were trying to climb down on the inside.

You know what, fuck these people. They nearly kill us, insult us, and then when we go and do a job for them, they get pissy about that too.

And this is on top of all the shady stuff going on in the town. It's pretty obvious that the people running the show are up to something. I think we're on the wrong side.

>>17994889
Since when is flying toward a city a crime punishable by death? And on top of that, as mentioned before there's the entire fact that they didn't bother to put up any warning.

>>17994923
Again; we put down some carpet and were climbing over their twelve foot, barbed-wire fence. They assume people who don't use the doors are hostile. If you aren't hostile, why not use doors?

Besides, exposition near the top did seem to indicate a near-constant threat from mages or wizards or something.

>>17994866
> Well, I mean, the city does have walls, you know.
> That's generally the purpose of walls, preventing people from entering except through approved of means.

A wall is generally to keep an army out, or a similarly large attack. A couple of people with the right equipment can circumvent it pretty easily.

>>17994948
Well, yeah, but they aren't supposed to. Generally, you get fined/imprisoned/killed if they think you're sneaking around where you aren't supposed to- This is the same kind of thing as getting arrested for being found in someone else's house, just a bit more proactive. Relax a bit. We've still got plenty to hold against them.

>>17994946
> They assume people who don't use the doors are hostile. If you aren't hostile, why not use doors?

If we knew that there was something, anything, in the way, we probably would have.

That's what I've been trying to say. Fuck, a simple sign would have probably been sufficient. But no. They skip straight to trying to kill us.

>>17994963
> This is the same kind of thing as getting arrested for being found in someone else's house, just a bit more proactive.

No, because they skipped straight to trying to kill us. They specially said that the wards they put up mainly just kill people. And they kept them anyway. Hell, they kept them because they killed people effectively.

>>17994992
Exactly as stated, "just a bit more proactive". They happen to make the assumption that people attempting to circumvent their doors, guards, and inspections are hostile- We have nothing to go off of about whether this is occasionally, frequently, always, or never true. It's possible we're the tenth innocent person they've accidentally killed this week, it's possible we're the first in three years that hasn't meant harm.

Belay that, OP of last thread specifically said (albeit from a biased, rude, source,) that people who try and get in this way are usually not friendly at all. I can't blame them for putting up the wards- Hell, maybe there was a sign, we just didn't bother to look.

That said, we will endure their terribleness only as much as we have to. If they want our help, they really ought to shape up, or at least pay exorbitantly for it.

The ruling body of Umbaya is obvious intensely paranoid about threats to their power, particularly magical ones. They've been manipulating the local market, disappearing anyone who digs any deeper, add to that the current suspicious set up with the orcs, and they're definitely up to something.

And they mentioned spies trying to infiltrate the city. Whose spies? Who gives a flying fuck about this town out in the middle of the desert, with next to no trade from the looks of it, enough to actually try to insert spies via magic, as opposed to just paying some guy on the street some money to keep them appraised of goings on around town? There is something going on in this town that someone wants to keep a secret, and they're willing to go to extreme lengths to make sure it stays hidden.

So, why are we helping these people? Honestly, I doubt they're even going to pay us. They're worried about threats to their power, particularly magical ones. Well, we're a sorcerer, new in town, capable of wiping out an entire orc detachment ourselves. They're going to try to kill us.

****

You steeple your hands, wondering how best to handle this delicate matter. He’s obviously rather upset for some reason, under duress and lashing out, so this must be taken into account. It certainly seems he’s not lying.

On the other hand, aside from the fun you had at the tavern last night, you’ve been rather badly handled by the authorities of the town and it is beginning to grate on you. Not least because you’re now being accused of something you had no business being involved in. There’s patience and understanding…but there are limits. You have nearly reached yours.

“I don’t believe the contract stipulated I needed to babysit you,” You stare levelly at him, “And I would’ve thought seasoned adventurers such as yourselves could handle a walk through some bushes.”

“Not when those bushes turn into Sand men and Rust Lords and Shambling Mounds!” He countered, booting his anger into a rock.

You find yourself mildly surprised from his outburst. A shambling mound? In this climate? That doesn’t sound right at all.

“So you were attacked, then?” You ask, hoping the blunt obviousness of the question wouldn’t spark up any further aggravation.

“Soon as we left the bloody town,” He scowled, rippling his hand over the hilt of his sword as he started to pace, “Every hour or so something new would come at us- come the halfway point we didn’t even have enough people to take on fourty Orcs, let alone…how many scalps is that? Hundreds?! Well whatever, keep the bloody things. Anyway, I called it off, sent the remainder back, went on ahead myself to see what we’d need to shift the numbers here- had to kill a half-dozen phase spiders and some giant hunter-wasps to get here.”

>>17995363

He paused for a moment, looking around grimly, making a determined effort to bring his mind into the present.

“…So. That’s it? Tribe’s gone?”

“Some stragglers may have made it to the encampments,” You squint, “Not that you’d know anything about those, I’m sure. But yes, this tribe has gone. I’ve fulfilled the terms, have I not?”

He snorted and shook his head ruefully, not in denial but as if there was a joke he just wasn’t getting, that he could have led so many people nowhere and for absolutely no good reason, now that the prize is all yours.

“Yeah, sure” He half-laughs, taking a small gem out of his pocket, “I’ll send a missive over to the department so they’ll have it ready for you when you get back. You’ll get your gold just fine. Just fine. You need help getting back or will you just do that on your own too?”

“I think I’ll be fine.”

“Great. Bye. I’ve still got to look around. Security business, you understand.” He quickly waves off, eager to see the back of both you and the entire mission.

You frown yourself and turn to pack, putting the scalpels and skulls that still remained of your throne in the bag. You didn’t much like those answers, aside from the one promising payment.

You like who is giving you the payment even less.

>>17995363
There is no good reason for even half of those things to be out in the middle of a fucking desert. This was a setup. They're trying to dispose of potential threats.

After we get payed, come back while invisible and tail the guy. I think something's up.

Might just be a culling of a not-really-evil orc tribe, could be the gathering of bodies for a necromantic horde.

In any case, we'll have cash.

>>17995385

“Well set me in a garden, if it isn’t Mr. Frygias!” Domburas Welskin laughed, rocking back on his seat, his office about as cluttered and grubby as you’d expect from the man, “Or Victor, as his friends surely know him! So Victor, come on in, my *lovely* assistant here will count the scalps, I’ll count the gold! Now ain’t that grand? Isn’t it grand, Baha?”

“Yes, Mr. Welskin.” The much pained-upon clerk sighed, stiffening noticeably as he slid over and cinched an arm around her waist. And bust.

“Oh come on now, be a li-ttle-bit-more enthusiastic!” He tutted, gesturing to you, “We’ve got ourselves a bonafide hero here! Killed hunnnnndreds of nasty orcs- though I won’t need to tell you considering you’re going to make the headcount. Nor you either, right Viccie? Haha, gave ‘em all a good hiding, I’m sure!! You better believe as soon as I heard that you were the man who’d won the day, why I simply HAD to bring you in here and give you your reward myself!”

“So if you’d be so kind as to hand your bag over to my companion here, maybe you’d like to have a bit of a good ol’ chinwag with me?” He winks, starting up his pipe to puff, “C’mon, pull up a seat, don’t be shy. I’m sure a sharp man like you must be noticing some of the...peculiarities...that are lying around in a town like this...and the opportunities too..."

Definitely a setup. The orcs were both more numerous than advertised and composed entirely of combatants. The adventurers were ambushed along the way by creatures that have no business being in a desert, and were likely summoned. The goal being to kill anyone capable of threatening the powers that be in Umbaya.

>>17995434
I really, really want to kill him.

>>17995289
>intensely paranoid
And they aren't the only ones...

>manipulating the local market
What?

>disappearing anyone who digs any deeper
Deeper than what, and what are you basing this off of?

>Suspicious setup with orcs
Granted and agreed.

>up to something
Could be, but there isn't a huge amount of evidence. I'd advise attempting to figure out why, say, the dwarves left, and what the recent local history is when we get back.

>Spies
You know, from other city states? Any other power? Anyone deciding they want a foothold in the city?

>next to no trade
That does seem to be a recent development

>spy as opposed to random schmuck on the street
Reasonable point. I'd counter that they may mean something more like 'agent' rather than spy.

>something going on that someone wants to keep hidden
You're extrapolating quite a bit off of quite a little. It's entirely possible, but you don't have that much to go off of.

>helping these people
Because our grandfather asked us a favor, (check up on this town, it's apparently under his influence/allied with him) and presumably either has enough credit with us that we're down with helping the old guy, or paid for it.

>doubt they're going to pay us
Oh, they will, one way or another. If all else fails, we'll wring money out of that obnoxious gnome.

>Worried about threats
Most people are

>particularly magical ones
Neighbors were described as mage-lords. I would be too.

>sorcerer; new in town; capable
We've certainly just made a name for ourselves. It is something to be worried about, but again, I think you're going off of nothing.

>They're going to kill us
Again...

I would advise dropping in on the IRC. More effective and rapid conversation can be undertaken without clogging up the thread.

>>17995434
I feel so sorry for that clerk. Also the conspiracy is strong with this one.

>>17995469
Read the last thread. It's been mentioned that the people who look to closely into the people running Umbaya tend to disappear.

>>17995488

Well if the council are looking out for themselves, then maybe that's...tradition?

Ridiculous I know, but they have set up a killing shield over their town.

>>17995467
>>17995470
Seconded on both accounts. But we must desist until he gives us an unimpeachable reason for it.

I'd vote for a duel for the good lady's honor, but she seems like she'd be even more embarrassed by that, and I doubt we'd get away with doing so to this worthless gnome.

Still, she cannot be being paid enough. Like ourselves, in that regard.

>>17995512
There's "looking out for themselves" and then there's "murdering anyone who tries to figure out what the fuck is going on in this town."

You're being absurd. There is obviously more going on here.

>>17995584
Your opinion has been noted.

>>17995613

As has your insistence on remaining in denial.

>>17995434
We should be frigid in response. He's busy mocking us (not to mention the fine lady who saved our life,) and taunting us with data regarding this damn city. If he wants our help, he'll tell us, and if we can, we should get a detect lies/truths spell going surreptitiously.

>>17995640
Excellent. We seem to have effectively communicated.

holy shit dragon quest. haven't seen this around in a while.

i'm liking the detect lies/truth ideas, since this seems a little suspicious, maybe some sort of detection thing would be cool too in case the paranoid guy is right and we get attacked.

in terms of conversation, lets be calm and polite-since-i-could-crush-your-soul to the gnome.

>>17995778
er, threat detection, i mean.

Dragon quest?

> hours and hours between posts

Yup, dragon quest.

Let's make sure to express our sympathies to that poor cleric on the way out.

“Now then, I know that look,” Welskin chuckled, tapping the end of his large nose ad giving you no chance to reply, “That’s the look that says ‘This Welskin fellow is right on the money’, am I right? Indeed I am! I mean take these here Orcs f’instance- s’cuse me Baha-“

Another quick grope later and he’s got a scalp spinning in his hand.

“-Now while you’ve been heading back, ol’ Hasir, good boy that he is, has been doing a bit of snooping. A little snoop here, a little snoop there...found a suspicious boulder, but I’m sure that’s nothing to do with you, right? Anyway, what was interesting, and that you may have noticed this, was that hey! No bows or arrows. Very peculiar. Verrrry peculiar indeed, when they were supposed to have shot down and killed messenger birds. Even more peculiar to those in the know was that the birds aren’t a part of Internal Security, they’re part of the military. So why’d the council see fit to fob it off onto the taverns and us? Any ideas Baha?”

“Well sir that-“

“-Not made ya lose count have I?”

“Well sir I’ve been-“

“-Ah sorry, you best start over then. So yeah, adventurers. Maybe the Military didn’t want to be seen having a hand in killing the Orcs. But wait a minute! Hasir says that they were bein’ picked off on the way TO the Orcs. The information they gave out was scant, but enough to get enough people together to do the job. So did they want them dead or didn’t they?”

Welskin leans back creakily into his chair, taking a long, sobering suck on his pipe, fingers strumming on his chin.

“Hmm. A reeeaaaal puzzler. Wouldn’t you say so Baha?”

“Yes sir.”

“Yes indeed. Seems there’s a lot of that group attacking going on lately...say Baha, who was assigned to the Dwarf case?”

>>17996066

“That...that would be me, sir?”

“You?!” He starts, frisbeeing the scalp back on her pile, wrecking the in-out order, “Well how about that. How’s that coming along?”

“Well s-”

“Ohhhhhh that’s right you can’t leave to check the hold due to how dangerous the path there’s gotten, I understand,” The gnome nods sagely, giving you another wink, “I guess hard trekking’s no good for a woman on her own, eh? She’d break a nail! I’m sure, though, if it’s off the books and for a LARGE sum of money, someone might be willing to escort a lady. Maybe even keep her warm during the desert nights eh? Haha!!”

“...” You just about see the daggers she’s glaring before they crumple up into another “Y...Yes sir.”

“Atta girl. Now scoot, the boys’ve gotta talk business.”

“But sir I haven’t finished counting-”

“Ut-ut-ut...scoot,” Welskin tuts, miming a walking action with his fingers, “Don’t worry your pretty head over the numbers, I already counted them for you a minute ago. Just go out and be beautiful for me, would ya? Maybe go stamp some paperwork.”

Keeping her head bowed with a ‘sir’, she manages to mumble an ‘excuse me’ as she moves past you, virtually clinging to the wall as she slips around and recloses the door, leaving the two of you alone. A silence hangs for a long moment as Welskin smiles at you over the top rim of his glasses, looking eminently pleased with himself.

“...Well? This room’s sound and scry proof,” He informs you, “No-one’s going to be eavesdropping on this chat. So if there’s something you want to say before we get down to the nits...”

>>17996086
"Believe me, I am interested in getting this over as quickly as possible."

>>17996104
Add

"By all means, get down to your... 'nits'."

>>17996086
"Hm; lovely girl. Anyway, about my payment..."

>>17996104
>>17996113
>>17996144
Combination of these three. The most important thing is that we get paid for services rendered. That is how it works. Second, we should not be encouraging this creature at all. Lastly, we are willing to listen to his information, and take the job if it pays suitably, but only if.

>>17996086
I'm hesitant to tip our hand too much, considering that we don't know if this guy is an enemy. Given his affiliation with the town and its council, there's a decent chance that he is. Aside from that, he's just an unpleasant person.

>>17996266
No hand tipping at all. If we get exorbitant sums of cash, we'll do it.

Besides, though the bastard did mention it himself, dat priestess.

You look over your shoulder, seeing Baha’s hazy outline blur into obscurity through the clouded glass.

“She’s a lovely girl.” You remark, keeping your voice just shy of accusing.

“Mmm,” Welskin nodded, “One of my best.”

“Believe me when I say I want this over with as quickly as possible,” You turn back to him, trying to keep your upper lip from curling, “So by all means, get down to your...’nits’.”

“Well then, I won’t dawdle. Simply put, I want you to escort our dear lady Baha toward the Dwarven Hold of Hajar Karim, and let her investigate undisturbed- find out what’s gone wrong. Regarding payment, it just so happens that after the Dwarvern stalls were shut down, my department managed to wrangle them for ‘evidence’ away from the traders. Now if Baha does her job right, we won’t need to keep hold of...well, pieces like this.”

He reaches beneath him and hefts up a mace, plonking it on the table with a thud. Adamantium, flecked with rubies and runic carvings. The piece was easily worth five, maybe ten times the amount to be gained from the pithy deal you’d walk in to collect on.

“So instead of paying you the gold due for the Orcs, I give you a choice collection of all of these here acquisitions. Sound good, Vic?”

>>17996419
When some one offers that much there is more going on. Please inform me of it, think of it as a show of faith for the deal.

>>17996419
There is definitely something shady going on here, and he's trying to buy our future cooperation. While I think we should go along for now, we need to do our own investigation into what the hell is going on around here.

>>17996419
Examine the mace with some feinted marvel. We want to appear easily amused.

"A fine weapon..."

"Now, I'm no jeweler, but this looks awfully expensive. More than any of the scalps I pulled in."

"You sure that's all there is to this?"

>>17996419
Point out that this promise of bigger payoffs further down the road doesn't really hold up, given that he hasn't given us the payoff we already earned. Money exchanged for services rendered! We did our part, he does his!

Provided he pays out flawlessly, then explains what has gone on so far, AND is willing to leave us with our choice of the evidence (Ideally >=10,000 gold, but I'm ballparking here) THEN we are willing to play his obnoxious little game.

And either way, apologize to Sahhi on our way out- she should not have to put up with that thing.

Is anyone else worried that we'd be walking around with what is, to the dwarves anyway, essentially very valuable and noticeable stolen goods?

>>17996474

Don't you mean Baha?

A lotta girls getting abused in this place.

>>17996502
Yes, sorry. Looking at the last thread too much. That would mean she isn't the same priestess that saved us. A pity.

Giving a curt smile you reach over to give the weapon a cursory examination...only just resisting the urge to give it a more through one by applying it to the Gnome’s head.

"A fine weapon..." You say, and note without truth, "...Now, I'm no jeweller, but this looks awfully expensive. More than any of the scalps I pulled in."

You place it down top first onto the desk, impaling a few papers onto the dulled spike at the end of it.

"You sure that's all there is to this?"

“A lover of wordgames,” He smiles, “Always nice to meet a fellow player. So what are YOUR terms, Vic?”

“My terms are what are due to me; payment for those scalps and an explanation into what you KNOW is going on. I’m not going to be dragged into your world for anything less.”

“The payment I can do,” Welskin puffs away in consideration, “The explanation...well I thought that was self evident for a smart lad such as yourself, Vic. That you’re holding IS all there is to this. No-one gives away stuff like that if they aren’t expecting the price to be high. I don’t know what you’re going to be findin’ over with Baha, but I assure you it ain’t gonna be no chicken walk...and I just know how much you love the coin.”

He pauses a moment, then adds.

“Afterall, you sure went above and beyond for just a few hundred scalps. I’m hoping the same can be said for a few thousand coins.”

>>17996704
He's a damnable bastard.

Let's get some actual specifications of what our pay is to be. (And it is to be several thousand at least, yes.) No 'vague promises' bullshit.

That done, we can get the heck out of this city and maybe even enjoy it or Baha.

So he wants to employ what he sees as an extremely competent adventurer to deal with a difficult problem.

I'm game. This is the stuff quests are made of.

>>17996704
Please don't over estimate me I know enough of word games to know I dislike playing them. Now could you repeat that?

“I know enough of word games to know I dislike playing them,” You tweak at his phrasing, “Now could you repeat that?”

Welskin tuts for a good ten seconds, slowly exhaling a cloud of disappointment...though you notice he’s still got that irritatingly playful twinkle in his eye.

“Oh Viccie, I can’t be more clearer! You want numbers? Well ‘I’m no jeweller’, but I’d say our collection looks awfully expensive. Plenty of stuff as good or better than that. You get your pick. Might even be hundreds of thousands in it. Who knows? Point is it’s a straight arrangement. Services for cash.”

He leans back sharply, using the momentum when he slams forward to spring up, offering his hand across the desk.

“So we got a deal or don’t we, Vic?”
*****

We'll end here tonight- whatever the answer is for the deal'll decide on next weeks OP (Again starting at 11PM GMT, FRiday)

Send me e-mails for questions or get on IRC. Hope you've enjoyed getting your hate on!

>>17996903
Yes. We aren't shaking that hand if our life depends on it, though.

Archived here;
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=dragon+quest

Don't forget to vote, and be back next time.

We'll take the job, his clerk, and as much of his money as possible, but we're giving him as little respect as possible.