The City-State of Osprey Bay

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

The snow turns to slush, and the caravan arrives at the gates of Osprey Bay. It's grandest structures tower over the landscape, shining bright white, blue and gold. The city gate, emblazoned with the emblem of Osprey Bay, swings open to accommodate the caravan. Captain Ironfunderson leans over the bow. "Ther' she is. I ne'r get tired o' gazin' at her". The caravan moves through the streets, eventually ending a few blocks away from the open Market Square. The captain helps each adventurer depart, waving a cheery good-bye to the group as you all wander towards the Market, as per the captains suggestion. On the way, you realize that your company's rogue has suddenly gone missing.

[Darkside]

"This place looks amazing" Rauru states out loud to no one in particular

[Taji]

Taji glanced over her shoulder to where she had left Miko outside the city's gate. It pained her to be away from her friend, but they both knew it was for the best. Osprey Bay didn't react well to monsters. She snuggled deeper into the shadows of her hood as an afterthought. Her poor mood worsened as she realized that the representative group of her clan was nowhere near the market, and deeper still as she noted Neji's dissapearence. "Where is the little one?" she growled, looking around discreetly.

[Takahiro Kurosawa]

Takahiro had never seen a city as splendid as the one that now laid before him. Gleaming spires shot out into the sky like man-made stalagmites. The cleric couldn't wait to see what Osprey Bay had to offer. So enamored was he, that he hadn't noticed the missing rogue until they had made their way into the market. Hearing Taji's question, he answered, "I don't know. She was with us on the caravan, wasn't she?"

[Darkside]

"She must be laying low. She did say she had a pretty bad past here right?" Rauru said to the party

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

Kashu, being instantly overwhelmed, has done nothing but gaze in wonder and awe at the buildings and the people of Osprey Bay. His eyes are welled up with tears as he is overwhelmed by an urge to wander the streets forever, exploring every inch of the wondrous city. He does, however, note a discreet figure in black observing them. Long black pants, a long-sleeved black shirt and a vest with silver embroidery are the figure's main adornments, but also about their neck is a silver medallion, upon which is written a mysterious symbol.

[Takahiro Kurosawa]

The tengu, noticing the bard's wandering eyes, turns to Kashu and asks, "What are you looking at, friend?"

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

Kashu turns to the cleric. "I don't quite know. Do you see the fellow in black?" He turns to point, but the figure is gone. Kashu turns back to the cleric "I swear he was there a minute ago. I think he was watching us."

[Taji]

Miko shuffled around a bit after his mistress left. He wasn't distressed as much as simply restless. Taji always kept him occupied, even if it was just to keep a watchful eye on her. Grubbing at the dirt with his massive fanged snout, he detected a worm and sucked it out of the ground. It wasn't a very substantial meal, but his instincts told him to find food wherever he could. Just as he went to pull another one out of the ground, he heard a strangled croak from nearby bushes. A rumble started in Miko's barrel chest, and he thrust his head into the bush, fangs bared.

A raven laying on it's side raised a weary head and blinked at him. There was no fear in this bird, and it seemed as though it had accepted the death that it's obviously broken leg foretold. Miko retreated a few inches. Though he didn't understand very much of the human/tiefling culture he had been raised in, he recognized and respected bravery. He slowly approached the raven, moving the worm still dangling from his fangs toward the weak bird. ' Eat it,' Miko offered the raven. It regarded him suspiciously. 'Please' He added.

The raven made the strangled cry again before half-lunging for the worm, catching and swallowing it. She panted from the effort for a few minutes before turning that bright eye upon the dire bat again. 'I will withhold my thanks until I know what it is you want, dire bat. Your kind does nothing without a fee.' Miko shuffled his giant hindfeet in an embarrassed gesture.

'Perhaps we are not all as monstrous as the stories say. Perhaps I am gentle.'

Ooc: I know this seems weird guys, but I leveled Miko up as a druid. He gets an animal companion!!

[Takahiro Kurosawa]

"Watching us?" Takahiro turns his gaze back to the now empty spot and furrows his brow. "What could possibly make us worth watching?"
OOC: I think Miko is turning out to be the most interesting character in this campaign.

[Neji]

After remaining uncharacteristically quiet for the whole trip, Neji decided to nap huddled between some cargo barrels. When she awoke, the ship had borded Osprey Bay's port and her group was no where in sight.

They must have gone already! Oops! I better run fast and find them! It won't be hard in this place I'm sure!

Neji leaps off the ship and runs up the bridge towards what she assumes is the main market street.

[Taji]

Taji growled again as she looked for the figure in black. She didn't like mysterious things. "We should keep a sharp lookout for that fellow. My instincts are against him."

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

Kashu suddenly spots the figure again. "There!" he shouts, pointing directly at the figure. The man is standing close enough that Kashu could identify them as a man with pale skin and a neatly cut triangular goatee. His gaze under his hood seems to be intense, but not focused on the group as a whole. He seems to only have eyes for the tiefling. Kashu walked over next to Taji. "Careful friend. I believe there are some in this city who would take an interest in you".

[Darkside]

Rauru asks the party "maybe someone at a bar or something has some information on this black figure you saw"?

[Neji]

Wriggling through the legs and feet of the bustling citizens, Neji finds a tall booth and begins to climb it. To the merchant's dismay, she ignores his shouts and looks about her. She can see over the heads of the crowd and gathers the layout of the street. It is wide and runs in a North-East to South-West direction. There are smaller residential streets that intersect the main street.
Out of the corner of her eye, Neji notices an oddly swift movement. I black form moves just out of view. There, just past the place where this figure disappeared from was the tall and noble stature of Raru. He was impossible to miss.

"Hey!! Guys! I'm over here!!"

Wait, there is no way they can hear me over this din. I have to go to them!

The merchant below stuck his head out and was cursing the little Gnome just as she absent-mindedly leapt off his bald head as she made her way to the ground.

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

Kashu immediatly perks up. "Excellent idea my samurai friend!" he exclaims. "Onward, towards the holy place of ale and merriment!" he begins to proudly stride towards what he assumes is the direction of the nearest pub, not haveing the least idea of where he's going.

[Taji]

The raven gave a wheeze that passed as a skeptical laugh. 'As you say. Like it or not, I in debt to you, bat. Feed and guard me, and I may recover. Name your price.' Miko was taken aback as this. He had always been a servant- born into it, in fact. To have something pledge itself to him was a shock. He shuffled more, uncomfortable.


'I have no needs,' He grumbled. 'I shall, however, tend to you as well as I can. Mistress will have final say of course, but she may not return for many nights.'

The raven inclined her head in acknowledgement and weariness, and slid out of consciousness due to the pain in her leg. Miko scooped her up gently with one wing and curled around it, looking for all the world like a giant grotesque cat with a winged kitten. Detecting no current threat, he rested his head and waited peacefully.


OoC: Yeah, I'm digging Miko :] He's more well-rounded and a better person than Taji!

[Taji]

Taji spat on the ground. "If the interest is in me, then why skulk like a coward!" She threw her hood off defiantly. "If I am wanted, I am right here." Her reaction to fear was often to smother it with anger, and it had now become second nature.

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

The crowd that had been milling about was suddenly halted as those around the adventurers saw the tiefling in their midst. However, rather than reacting with fear, they seem more curious than anything. Murmurs could be heard throughout the crowd, mostly to the effect of "is that an ifrit?" "I thought that they were extinct" "No no, that's a tiefling" "What is she momma?" "Devil Spawn!". A crowd soon begins to form around the group, as if waiting for Taji to do a trick.
"

[Darkside]

Rauru felt no danger here, but in reaction to the crowd just in case he put his hand on his katana. He wanted to be ready for anything.

[Takahiro Kurosawa]

Kashu's unwavering enthusiasm and confidence, despite the fact that none of them knew where anything was, made Takahiro smile. His good mood was dampened by the thought of the man in black. What would someone want with a tiefling? His robes made him look like a man of religion, but the cleric couldn't think of what sect the man might have belonged to. Undaunted, he followed Kashu in the random direction, happy to simply enjoy the sights and sounds for now. "Yes, on to the tavern! I'm eager to see what sort of people frequent this place."

Unfortunately, just as he was pushing aside those thoughts, the townsfolk extreme reaction to Taji brought him crashing back down to Earth. He looked around at all of their frightened faces, hearing their hushed whispers and suspicious intimations. He looked to Taji and said, "It seems you're the woman of the hour."

OOC: Would it be possible to do a Knowledge Religion check to see if I can glean any information from the man's dress? Just in case, I rolled a 8. Plus 1 is 9 total.

[Taji]

Taji looked around with practiced disdain. "Companions," she drawled, "meet the dullards of Osprey Bay." Turning her attention to the crowd, she continued, "Dullards, companions." She quickly scanned the crowd for signs on the mysterious dissapearing man, but saw none. To Kashu she huffed, "He now seemed to be the only one not interested."

She then turned to Takahiro, adding, "The only place I am such is with my own people. Here," she gestured around, "I am cheap entertainment."

[Neji]

Fighting through the crowd was getting Neji nowhere. Remembering her woodland days, Neji climbed and began running across the various roofs of merchant booths and tents. As she neared, she spotted Taji.
Taji had thrown her hood off in a hasty movement. This was perplexing to Neji, since Taji was always one to remain hidden under the safety of her hood.

Neji stopped in her tracks as the large crowd formed around Taji and the group. Fearing the wall of people would permanently separate her from the group, Neji lunged forward and began running on the top of the crowd. Though she was a light weight, she left a trail of disgruntled and surprised onlookers rubbing their heads and shoulders.

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

OOC: I'm just going to assume that, as long as it's not a secret religion thing, you know what's going on. You recognise the symbol as a mark signifying a cult to the north-west that worships powerful demons

[Kashu Torikkusuta]

The crowd becomes agitated, as nothing has happened. Before anything unfortunate could happen, Kashu springs into action "My Lords and Ladies! Children of all ages! Might I present to you the Northern Adventuring Team, those proud heroes who have fended off both foul goblins and fearsome zombies of the frozen north, and have not simply lived to tell the tale, but have thrived on such adversity! Yes, we are adventurers to our cores, and will fight any foul creature who dares to rear it's ugly head!" The crowd, not really knowing how to respond, began a round of half-hearted applause. Kashu immediatly launches into his rendition of "In the Goblin's Cave", a song he wrote about your first adventure as a team.

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