Rumors at the Elfsong.....

[blessedone]

The Elfsong is known for the gathering of adventurers and sellswords. Wary travelers seeking a room for the night as well as it being a very popular watering hole for the locals. The night had fallen and a trickle of rain begin to fall from the skies as the crowd slowly begin to grow within it's walls.

Adventurer's and locals began to put away the ale one tankard at a time and slowly the tales began........

"I fought off nearly 4 Gnolls just tha other day near that wretched stronghold! Dey would've got me too if I had not found this blade in those ruins not far from here....been the best find in a long time I tells ya! Stupid Kobolds did'nt know how to hide it good enough!"the scarred man boasted as he takes another drink from his mug. "BAH! Ya could't fight yourself from a freakin' wooded cage ya fool! Sides, those dog faced 'tings ain't no fight! Ya need ta be facin' a durn Giant! Now that is a fight!" the dwarf belted out with a hearty laughter as he began to tell his own tale......and so it went as the tales grew louder and slowly became nothing more than a steady murmor to the server's of the tavern........

Time passed on and as the alcohol flowed freely from tankard to mouth, a common story began to emerge from several mouths. Stories of a man who has been hunting thugs, bandits and petty thieves in the region and doing very well at it......

"Did you hear about that crazy Paladin on some Holy Quest to cleanse the whold durn region of thieves and bandits? They say he was sent by the Church of Tyr itself after all the murders round here." one began. "Ya fool. Ya would believe anyting ya hear won't ya? Ain't no durn Paladin huntin' bandits roun' here. Tha Fist got their hands full yeah, but ain't no one doin' that. Tiss a rumor spread by the Church ta scare ya mate. Nuthin' more." the shadowy man said as he shook his head to dissmiss the idea.....

"Well, Church propaganda or not, my sources say that there is indeed a man doing such as this and doing it very well." began another. His voice was smooth as silk and he spoke with an air of confidence about him. "Although, my sources tell me that this man, is no Paladin nor a sell sword. He apparently is a Vigilante gone mad. They say that his father who served in the Fist was killed by one of those......" and he pauses for effect and looks to the others..."strange attacks long ago when many of the Fist had fallen at the hands of those silent and invisible killers. Not that I care mind you, but, that is what my sources say." as he smirked and took another sip from his glass of wine.

At a few other tables the same story was taking place about this man hunting down rogues in the region and a debate as to whether his motive was based on revenge or coin or some Holy Quest of the Church. Either way, this man is slowly making a name for himself with his actions and making enemies as well.

All the while, one in particular was standing at the bar sipping on their own drink and they never had to turn around to know of whom they spoke. This one smiled on the inside and raised the goblet of wine up to their mouth. Finally, they had found the one they were looking for after such a long journey and countless hours searching. The figure casualy placed the goblet down on the bar, tossed a couple of coins to the lady and turned to leave the Elfsong.......




***ATTENTION - Feel free to Role Play here on this thread any actions you have with this series.....I encourage it!

[blessedone]

A tenday has passed and the man hunting bandits and thugs has grown in his deeds and bold in his actions. Citizens feel that a hornets nest will be or has been stirred amongst the underbelly of the city. He has been putting small timers away with ease as he finds them and more than the good citizens and Flaming Fist of Baldur's Gate have now taken notice..........

********************************************

Night falls upon the lands and the Elfsong of Baldur's Gate is once again slowly filling it's chairs with patrons who seek to end another hard days work with a dark ale or beautiful mead. The murmur of the crowd takes hold of the quiet air of only an hour or so ago. Patrons put away the ale and wine as if it were water quenching a thirst of the desert and the laughter and tales begin......."Ol' Joe got caught again by that durn Paladin!" he belts out as he laughs a hearty laugh. "Joe? Again? Durn fool! He shoulda learnt tha first time not ta be doin' such on tha road....in broad daylight!" as the man joins him in his laughter. "Yes, well, that fool may never learn anything which is why he will continue to get caught as he does...." says another as he takes a look around at the gathering. "And it seems that he is not the only one who needs to learn a lesson in subtly. Thinning the herd this one is." and those gathered at the table take a slow look around and take note of some of their own missing from the crowd.

One of the men lifts his mug to his mouth and misses it completely, the other two chuckle a bit and as the ale dribbles down his chin onto his chest he shakes his head, "Yea, well, if'in I be seein' this one...he's gonna be meetin' tha end o' me blade with some swiftness. I ain't lettin' him get tha drop's on me I tell's ya.." as he wipes his mouth. "You will take no such action!" the other scolds and he quickly calms himself and regains his composure. The other two seated with him sat with a bit of confusion upon their face. "B-but.." he began, and the look upon his comrad's face was more than enough of a promise should he finish his sentence. Instead, the three sat in silence and all understood that the next conversation to take place was not for the Elfsong ears and so, they enjoyed their drinks and cut their eyes to those gathered at the Elfsong.......


The other tables of the Elfsong did not seem so interested in the happenings of one single fool on a quest, besides, he was doing the Fist a favor and making it a bit more safe right? No, his news was becoming stale now and slowly being written off as another foolish adventurer and commoners began to look to the next grand story or new happening in the region. Some were not even interested in that. No, instead, they had stories of adventure and great danger of their own. Braggin rights as it were amongst themselves. They were the adventurer's of the region known for their daring feats and near foolish courage and sometimes, known for a wonderful act of kindness........

[blessedone]

The day seemed to start quiet and his journey was slow. The man enjoyed the decently cool breeze of the afternoon winds and he soon found himself near the fireside of the caravan South of the city of Baldur's Gate. His beautifuly shined shield was layed upon the bench and he looked to those gathered, "Good evening." he began so as to not be rude to the gathering and finally a name was put to the face of the man who hunted these rogues. Derek Caliimire. He recieved some hello's and such and the conversion did not take long before it moved to the threat in the region. The threat of bandits and thugs along the road to Beregost.

Apparently only a few gathered had known there was even a threat along the road at all, for, they had never seen the activity and this made Derek smile with pride. He fully believed that it was directly related from his actions that the thugs began to lay low. Little did he know, in the darkness not far from his sitting place, three had stalked him for some time and finally had a chance to sneak upon him. They were not after the adventurers, no, they were hunting the hunter of their own kind.......

Bad luck hit one of the three and a twig snapped in the darkness and Derek was to his feet. The adventuers wasted no time either and in a flash, three bandits rushed forth from the darkness to take this hunter down. Fools they were! Those gathered near that fire rushed in to aid the good Derek and they easily dispatched a couple of them and one took off running. Derek was in hot pursuit.......

It did not take long before he captured the running bandit with the aid of the adventurers. They escorted Derek along with this bandit to the very gates of the city to then take him to the Fist where he would be locked up for his actions.......all the while, in the darkness not far away, a stalker in the shadows kept watch of it all and slowly nodded with an evil smile upon the face. They know had placed eyes upon the one they seeked and this was good.........yes.....this, was good.........

[blessedone]

Bandit activity has once again picked up even as the Fist have increased patrols in the region. The man known as Derek has continued his pursuit of hunting down these bandits and the hornets nest has been stirred it seems. Not a tenday ago Derek and a group of adventurers routed a sneak attack near the campfires South of Baldur's Gate and captured one........


The trip to the city was a short one and during that time, the hunter of bandits attempted to pry any info. he could from the bandit only to be spit on and pitful attempts at being assauslt while tied up. None the less, one thing did ring in Derek's ears......"Ya tink ya can play wif fire an not get burnt!" and for some reason that did not sit well with this man.....

[DjnTech]

As Derek's activities continue Toy adds up recent info gathered from various warf rat and tinners

Eventually her patience will pay off and this fellows patterns will give her all the info she needs to act

She sets to passing out word to continue observation with plans to act soon

[blessedone]

Several days pass by and those days turn to tendays and little does Derek Calimiire know, he is being watched. Slipping from shadow to shadow are those who wish to see an end to the hunting of their own kind and send a message and so close they stay. Many times over they watch the tactics of this man as he locates and chases down random bandits and one thing they see that is common with every single chase is that......they are the weaklings of the herd. The fools who are barely getting started and worth nothing to the underworld yet. They find that the skills of the man were no where near what the stories had set up. Rumors, it would seem, have bolstered this man beyond his skill. Still, a hornests nest has been stirred and they are ready to sting.......

They find that he usually travels alone and on a couple of occasions, he has been seen with another believed to be his Knight in training. A squire as it were, though, confirmation as to who it was cannot be made for Derek has not been seen with that one again. None the less, the game is afoot and hunter has become the hunted.........

***********************************************

The winds blow upon his fare face and the sun prepares to set on the horizon as he travels to his usual hunting place. The Tradeway South of Baldur's Gate near that foul Temple where the Gnolls roam. Not far from his location, two thugs folllow from a distance and nod as they see that the man they follow is indeed the one they seek. Patience pays off for the two as they wait for the precise moment to bait him and strike they did. *clink* was the sound as the arrow carelessly bounced off of his armor and in a flash his shield was up and sword was drawn. He catches the movement of the two and rushes forward and the chase was on! They easily outran the armored man, but, they served their purpose and he was in the Cloakwood hunting them down, alone and no one close by.........this, was a tenday ago.........



((Thanks to those involved with this....))

[blessedone]

Stale news would be an unusual situation for the folks of the Elfsong Tavern. Always was there an adventurer coming in and going on about their last grand adventure, although some seemed to go on forever about this and that and beat the proverbial 'dead horse' on some subjects, but, the talk of the common folk and the secretive thieves of the city was not stale at all this evening. No, this was something out of the ordinary and contraversial at best.......

The crowd gathers and the alcohol flows once more into the night at the famed Elfsong Tavern and Inn. Seems the tales that come and go in this place are something of either greatness or exaggeration at best! Still, the stories were always in great supply and the ears to hear them were as well. One particular table spoke of one such story.....The shady looking man leans in close to the others at the table gathered and speaks in a low voice, "Well, yous two hear bout that durn Paladin fool huntin' down all dem bandits Souf o' here?" and they shook their heads yes as he spoke. "Well, werd on tha street's is.....he ain't gonna be no problem no more." as he gives a slight chuckle.

One of the two gathered at the table had a look of confusion upon his face as the words slipped from the man's mouth. "Oh? Tis' so eh? Well, dat ain't wha I heard at all...." as he took a mouth full of beer from his tankard. The shadowy man looked back with an expression of confusion himself. "Wha? Tis a good source mate. I ain't fer lyin' here now. Dis' ain't no joke, but, wha ya hear eh?" The other man gave a slight smirk as he thought himself above this man now since he had the most up to date information in their world....."Well, you remember ol' Joe who got caught by him a couple of times yeah?" and they nodded yes as they waited. "Well, he ain't caught dis time. Nope...he is dead an I ain't talkin' just dead like, he was killed in self defense. Nah, seen it wif me own eyes. Dat so called Paladin has gone mad I tell ya. He killed ol' Joe even though ol' Joe threw up his hands an gave up."

and with that he took another swig of his beer and waited for the reaction. The other two sat in silence and one furrowed his brow. "Ya mean ta tell me, dis so called Paladin killed ol' Joe even though he be givin' up an all?" and the man with a mouth full of ale nodded a yes in return. The other two still sat in dissbelief and had nothing to say at that moment in time. Shock was upon their face as the three of them begin to look around and cut their eyes to the various patrons gathered at the Tavern........

Finally the silence was broken with them, "Somtin' ain't right wif dat now. I mean, ol' Joe ain't ne'er hurt no one. He ain't nuttin' but a petty thief mate and ne'er even carried a durn blade ya know. You sure it was that braggin' fool, would be Paladin? Cause, he should'nt even be roun' still from wha I heard an a coward at that was he..." and the other smirked, "It was him alright. He made sure to tell the rest o' us who were fleein' that his name was indeed.....Derek Calimiire cause he screamed it at us like a mad man" and again....they sat in silence........

Something indeed was not right with this picture, but, they sat in silence none the less and sipped on their beer as they continued to look about with a refreshed state of paranoia..........

[DjnTech]

A small figure sits in the corner carefully reading the room. She has had practice at this many times over. Picking up on subtleties and learning how to pick up the topic of a conversation through key word shifts in conversations near by and body language. Worried and curious folks tend to be that way. Letting their eyes shift where they don't intend.

This topic wouldn't take much to twist with a proper phrase or two.

The small figure gets up slowly and makes way for the door. On her way she lets go a phrase or two in passing the table.

" Hear say says that pally Derrick has a list of names he is hunting. Scratchin them off one by one in blood"

" Only one place to seek help for their kind. God pray hell don't get ehm first"

The figure strolls from the tavern and slides into the shadows of the night air

[blessedone]

The three gathered at the table go silent as the figure walks by and drops them with such wisdom and unknown knowledge. None of them dare to speak a word after they realize that they have been heard like fools. Each of them begin to dart their eyes once more and quickly down their ales and leave the establishment to follow the figure.....only to see the shadows of the night........


Well, what do ya make o' it all? A list o' names to be taken?" as they look to one another in silence....."I ain't fer knowin'.....but, I ain't fer likin' it either.." and the three of them quickly find a safer place to talk.

[Sel]

*Another man sitting in the far corner try's to listen carefuly about a paladin who seems to be a fallen one.*

*Yet,.. after the words that was spoken by a little shady character which had put the three men on their toes, he was left to wonder who's names where on the list that is being scratch off in blood?*

*Feeling his close to empty purse and looking down at his poorly crafted weapons he whispers,* "Who would give the biggest reward?"

[Tarot]

Tarot smiled both on top and beneath his uncannily-crafted mask. Uncannily-crafted, because this mask was not made from any physical materials gathered together, but rather was the mental projection of a particular stereotypical persona, which Tarot had spent almost two decades creating and perfecting, so that all would buy into it.

Sitting at the bar, he did not speak, but rather listened as he imbibed water (alcohol would most surely ruin his concentration, during his real work) and appeared to be fixated on a piece of literature, certainly not on eavesdropping. It had been a few days since the small one had scared the three who sat down at a table into a state of sobriety generally unheard of.

Perhaps more could be gleaned this evening about this paladin and his fall from grace. He remains silent, hoping that his name is dropped by the tavern's patrons and his newest exploits are made known to him.

[blessedone]

Days pass by and the Elfsong continues on in it's merry little way night after night and day after day. This one evening in particular, a small figure strolls on in with a heavy look upon his face. He looks down to the filled purse of coin and just shrugs and sighs. Finding a seat, the halfling orders up his usual......

"What'll it be fer ya?" the server asks as he looks to her. "Spose I shall have my usual." he says to the lady. She has a look of confusion upon her face, "Look, der be a lot o' people in an out o' this place...I ain't fer knowin' what ya be havin' ther little one......." and the halflin sighs. "Very well then. I'll be takin' me sum roasted potatoes wif onions and bacon and a taknard of ale please." and with that, the server went to her duty.

At a table nearby, the hin could overhear a conversation taking place. One that normally would not have peaked any interest at all until he heard a name pour forth from the lips of one.....Derek Calimiire. That, got the hin's attention right fast. He turned about to hear a tale about the Paladin gone mad and he knew right then, he was not alone. The halfling got out of his chair and walked right to the table with a frown upon his face. The man telling the tale stopped talking and looked down to the hin, "Yeah?" he asks as he looks to the hin. "I heard ya mention a name...Derek yeah?" he says to the man. "So. What's it to ya eh?" and the hins face has anger upon it.....

"Well, that durn fool killed two of my friends and attacked a few others on that Tradeway too. Then, ran off like a scared little chicken. Ya know where we can find him?" he replies as his ears turn red. "Well, ain't fer knowin' ta be honest wif ya. But, ya ain't alone I tell ya. I heard he killed an unarmed man not long ago. So, ya might want ta tell tha Fist...." and he chuckles as he does. "But I doubt they gonna believe ya. Sides, not likes they do anything anways." and the table shares a bit of laughter. "Bandits be one thing Mr. but we ain't no bandits." and the laughter stopped. "Might be wise not ta be so bold in here little one....yer mouth may cost more than ya got's..." and those gathered nodded in agreement as they stared at the lone hin with such a purse of coin. Feeling a bit sheepish at that moment, the hin goes back to his table to grab his food and drink and keeps to himself......



((Thanks to those involved in this...))

[blessedone]

Night falls upon the region and slowly a man makes his way to the city Gate. He is beaten badly and holding his ribs as he winces in pain from the slow trek back. Blood trickles fom his lips and one eye is swollen shut from the beating he has recieved. He enters into the massive East Gate of the city and the guards take notice.

"Hold there citizen. What has happened to you?" one of the guards begins as the man stumbles slightly. "I sir, have been attacked...and only by the blessings of Tyr do I stand before you to give his name..." and the guards move to his aid. "Attacked you say? Do tell, what is his name?" one of the guards begins as they lean him upon the wall. The beaten man coughs a bit of blood out of his mouth and looks with his one good eye that is not swollen and a name steps forth....."Derek Calimiire...." and the looks upon the face of the guards let's the man know that they know well who this man is......

"So, you know of him then yes?" he forces through the pain in his ribs. "Aye, we know of him alright...." and the two guards look to one another and then the man. "But, did you see his face by chance?"one of the guards ask him. The man shakes his head no, "No, I did not. He had on a full faced helmet and I could not see his face. Though, he had the armor of a Knight and the symbol of Tyr upon his shield....though, he is no follower of Tyr I assure you." the man says through gritted teeth of pain. "For I am a follower of Tyr myself and know of his ways...he is no follower of Tyr..." and with that, the man makes his way to the Temple of Tyr......

The two guards stand there for but a moment and both of them think the same thing....the rumors appear to be true that the once, good heart of Derek Calimiire, hunter of bandits in the region, has gone black........word is sent to the Chain of Command for the Flaming Fist about the sudden change of heart and to now seek him out for his arrest.....


(((Thanks to those involved.....))

[selhan]

*Booming laughter and thundering jests, a familiar man with a familiar hat has been often seen in the Elfsong. Ever so comfortable when in a tavern with drinks aplenty*.

"HA! I say I do miss the ol days, when would be adventures would come in here a single man with a depression on their face,... only to leave at nights end soon to be a husband with an empty coin purse and the look of being struck by a curse! That must by why there's a shortage of barmaid here! Oh Lady Alyth, what is that sound? I swear I heard some singing, but I don't even see a bard here?"