Whitehill - 002

[spiral]

With most of you courteous and thankful for the refreshments, Gerdie and her daughter are receptive to your questions. At mention of the Bard, Gerdie raises an eyebrow and looks at her daughter, who then asks you about the man. How he looked. How he was dressed. Where you saw him. The rest of you chew on the honeyed rolls as the man is discussed. It turns out the Bard was husband to the young woman here, Linelle. Apparently he left because he didn't like living by the swamp. You get the impression Linelle leaving her mother was not an option either.

There is a long pause after talking about the Bard, and Shay is about to politely mention the mountain again when Gerdie speaks.



"Dragon Mountain, yes, I know of it. Though it was known as the Vanishing Mountain long before anything inhabited the place." She sits back further in her chair now, as if beginning a long story. She strokes her cat from head to tail, it looks up with each rake of its fur, and squints its eyes with pleasure. You're sure it is smiling at you.

"Yes, yes, she loves me so much more than any of you. Oh yes, see how she loves me! Puuuur!"

"It appears once every twenty years, and it's here now I suppose, yes, that would be about right. It usually stays for around a month, and you need to find it. For the treasure I assume? There is little else in the mountain to risk one's life for if so inclined?"

When no answer comes, and it is clear you do all seek the treasure of the mountain, she continues.

"Maybe you have a chance at it, I suppose," she says, giving you all a hard appraising stare, "but if you are worthy, you can prove it to me first. I have no need for money of trinkets, so I ask no price for myself, but the villagers of Whitehill are good people, and are suffering hard times of late. You'll do something for them?"

Nobody frowns or objects. You were all expecting some kind of trial.

"This is not some pointless task, I'd like you to know it. My days of playing games are long over. I let you find my home because you looked like you could get this job done."

She pauses and checks you all over, just once more it seems. Does she doubt you? Whatever it is she wants doing, you wish she'd come out with it. There is little you could not deal with in these lands, you know them like the back of your hand, there is little challenge here, it's the mountain you want.

"A Hydra has recently moved into the swamps here, a big one."

..and that is a shock, true enough. You know of no such beasts anywhere near four week's ride of Cambridge. What with the surprise of finding Gerdie here in Whitehill, and now legend of such a beast close by, you are wondering if you ever knew your lands at all.

"It plagues the village. It has taken people, and burnt crops. I can't deal with it, I am old now. So before I tell you where you can find Dragon Mountain, you will go into the swamp and defeat the Hydra in its lair. It has treasure. You will bring it all to me, for the villagers, to replace what they have lost. In its lair you will find a blade and a ring to which you are entitled to keep for yourselves, so long as the Hydra is killed. Do you understand what I want you to do?"


{If you agree to the task, you may stay the night at Gerdie's first, giving magic-users in the group time to study/pray for a suitable selection of spells. Good luck!}

[at]

"A fire breathing hydra", muses Crom, "is a poor challenge"
Glancing over at Goran "A blade of frost would likely make short work of such a creature"

Apparently deciding that he prefers the swamp to this place, Crom rises and looks first towards the door, and then towards Dalien "I would have use of that ring of yours"

Crom checks his weapons and prepares to leave, he seems confident of victory regardless of Dalien's answer - either that or he simply wishes to be elsewhere.

[Wicksy]

Matrox give Gerdie a respectful nod and removes his spellbook "Madam, if you would not mind, i would humbly ask for a few minutes by a table and candle for some study?"

{ok, will update spells for combat with a hydra}

Before settling in to read over his spellbook, Matrox once more approaches Gerdie "Madam, may i ask of you a few questions? This Hydra, is it resistant to magic in anyway? Do you know of any specific weaknesses it may possess? I would assume a weakness to cold but is there anything else we might know? Can it regenerate like a troll?"

[prime9]

Elthar looks forwards to some honest work, and useful to the people. He retires to prepare his spells

{no idea if I should be changing spells I have, so far all I did was to swap out call lightning for protection of fire}

[TheUdjat]

"Knock yourself out," Dalien says, procuring the ring of fire resistance. "But if you're taking it, I'll stick around here. My jewelry disagrees with large quantities of fire." He glances at Shay. "You should leave your new necklace if you're planning to go."

"Besides, combat's never really been my forte." He finds a seat and relaxes, hands folded behind his head. "I'll probably just get in the way."

[at]

Crom looks a little disheartened as he sits back down to his bread to wait for the others. He peers over at Elthar's silent companions, then settles to attend his weapons.

Lost in thought he flicks Dalien's ring back down the table. Perhaps there was more to this than the witch would say, and if there was magic here it would not be wise to split their strength ...
Crom looks from Dalien across to the witch and her companion ... and perhaps it was not wise to leave friends here.

[TheZebraShakes™]

Shay takes off the necklace.

"Why, will the fire blow it up or something? That'd be some way to go out. You're right, I probably shouldn't risk it." he isn't quite sure of what to do with the magical piece of jewelry, so just lays it down next to the ring that Crom places on the table.

He is bored and impatient as the others sit and memorize their spells. It took forever for wizards in 2e to prepare spells, so he has not much to do but try to strategize for the upcoming fight.

He takes out a book with all sorts of monster pictures, trying to figure out which one was the hydra.

"It's this one here, with all the heads, right?" Shay confirms with Dalien. "So what's it all about. Do you have to cut off all of the heads separately. I think I've heard something to that effect."

Shay looks around the house, still pondering how it could be bigger on the inside than it appears outside.

After awhile, he approaches Dalien once more, raising the issue that's been on his mind.

"You think this place is made of the same stuff as Bags of Holding?" he whispers, not really sure of what to do with himself during quiet times like this and letting his curiosity get the better of him as usual.

He does express some interest in the red haired girl now that he knows that she's back on the market, but he doesn't approach her, not wanting to end up having to live in the swamps with her and her mom.

[Rojito]

Goran sits quietly, remembering all the dwarven tales of Hydras and their ilk. He also keeps checking on his Frostbrand, it would prove useful in the upcoming fight.

[Wicksy]

Matrox chuckles and replies to Shay "Those necklaces can give you the type of power i possess. But it does come at a price. If the necklace gets damaged they'll all go off at once. Imagine a dozen of my fireballs all centred on yourself....Keep it safe if we go against the hydra"

Matrox withdraws a a quill and a vial of fine deep sea squid ink and begins to sketch the inside of Gerdie's house he has seen. A rough estimate would have to suffice for now. He would also have to opace out the outer walls of Gerdie's hut for completeness. There could be powerful magic at work, which could solve the real estate problems at Castle Cambridge's laboratory. Always worth studying these things.

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OOC: Wouldnt this be funny if it was Baba Yaga's Hut? ;D

[TheUdjat]

[I meant to make this joke earlier, but we should've checked to see if this 'hut' is just a little blue police box.

Incidentally, what would indicate what one knows about hydras and how to kill them? I have no idea.]

---

Dalien translates the wizard's words. "Fire blows them up." He scoops up the necklace and his ring, since Crom has put it down. He takes it as a sign that the barbarian would like him along after all. "Yeah, Hydras have all the heads. Don't remember all the details--what's rumor, what's not. Maybe genius knows more," he nods at Matrox.

...who is walking around, sketching out the place, mapping it. Dalien scowls. "Hey, do you think you could stop sketching pictures and get back to preparing your magic? Waiting sucks. Should've had a good set of spells ready in the first place."

Never known for his courteous or charismatic nature, Dalien glares at the other wizard, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against something that doesn't look particularly dangerous. A clear space of wall, hopefully.

[Wicksy]

Matrox doesnt bother looking up from his sketching "How you choose to conduct yourself is your affair and i will conduct myself as i see fit. There is much to learn...."