The Barons' Game

[Magikeeper]

The rider looked towards Jebidiah, utterly shocked by the man's words.

"Do something?!  Sir.. t-tell me, have any of you ever been to Fovaros before? Done a job for the barons? A-accepted any of the gold being handed out down the main road today?" The rider's eyes darted around the group, quickly eyeing the various weapons and other gear the group possessed with eyes that dared to hold just the faintest trace of hope.

OOC: As blathered in the cbox, No/No/No are the answers to be giving here. I mean, I checked folk's backstories and confirmed such things ahead of time but please, feel no need to decide you've done those things after all :-P. It's convenient that basically everyone RP'd themselves coming in from a side path / the woods.

[Agnes]

"I am not in the habit of accepting hand outs." Agnes narrowed her eyes at the man, the triangles that made up her pupils becoming slightly more acute at their inner points.

[Jebidiah]

With a chuckle Jebidiah replied to the rider. "We are all just meeting for the first time. Your city is lovely I must say for seeing it for the first time. Although if there is free gold to be had, I could certainly use some for my medical practice. Please, elaborate."

[Nathaniel]

"Yeah, I am Nathaniel Urusade. But why are you welcoming me riding this huge animal? What's so important about this message that someone like yourself has to come here?" Nathan says with all thoughts of secrecy thrown out the window.

[Heulen]

"I'm just making my way here for the first time from the mountains, at least I'm pretty sure I've not been here before. Is there something wrong with people from this place?"

Heulen looks at the large beast, wondering if he could maybe kill one if he had to. This land was full of strange creatures.

[Magikeeper]

The man looks to one person and then the next, almost responding each time. He's starting to look more than a little overwhelmed, to be honest. But! He takes a deep breath and sets his mind to the proper order.

"I do indeed wish to speak with you about the task, and part of the reason I was in such a rush was that I believed Mr. Urusade met all of those qualifications. Another part to it, of course, is the Mr. Urusade's teacher is a good friend of my lord and he wanted to have you greeted properly in the first place. In fact, the man turns toward Nathan "he wished to sincerely apologize for our current inability to properly show you around our town. Things have grown quite dire, you see." The rider's eyes widen. "OH! Forgive me, I am Monsieur Chandler. Please, call me Bruce. I am my lord's valet. As for the letter, well, my lord IS interested in the contents but, again, circumstances have.. occurred."

[Agnes]

The woman with the stern faced and the messy hair sighed loudly, calling to mind the image of a bird rustling its feathers.

"Excuse me sir, but could you try to be more vague. We are perilously close to inferring what you're talking about." she said.

[Supermouse]

Darby dusts himself off and steps back out from the tree, since the Equiphant was no longer charging. He feels a tad embarrassed because he was the only one to run and hide from what turned out to be a non-theat.

"Jeb, Heu, this guy clearly just wants Nathan, he doesn't need all of us. Let's take Crossbow lady into town and leave those two alone with their business."

[Magikeeper]

Bruce's face turns a bit red, but is quickly replaced with stark terror. "WAIT! I beg you, please wait. I..I do not make a habit of talking about the matters of the lords, but today is no ordinary day!"

He moves a bit closer to the group. "Every 50 years my lord, the Baron Cyprien, and his friendly rival, the Baron Desmarais, hold a game where both sides arm themselves, build a fort, and protect a flag from being stolen. Although they take it quite seriously, it's always been a rather joyus occasion in the past." The man sighs. "That's when my lord's youngest daughter, Mademoiselle Arielle, and Baron Desmarais most aw- youngest son, Monsieur Hadrian, convinced the lords to let them handle the game. Along with a bet!  If Arielle wins, Hadrian is to renounce his heritage, lash himself thirty times, and willingly exile himself from this city, forbidden to so much as step foot before Arielle or the other nobles for a period no less than three hundred years.  If Hadrian wins, Arielle will...will" Bruce struggles to hold back the contents of his stomach "..will marry him."

Bruce shakes his head "The additional conditions on their bet were that the players would not be anyone that had ever worked for the lords before nor visited this city.  It was a strange request, but Arielle is close friends with the leader of a very elite mercenary company that met those requirements so she agreed.  But just yesterday Hadrian revealed he had given them a job three years ago! He'd done so under a disguise, but he could prove it was truly him. Even her friends had been unaware... it turns out he'd been preparing this trap for over half a decade.... our every backup cut off by a disguised employer with a loose coin purse... which brings us to today."

Bruce motions towards the gate. "Even now Hadrian's troop is out passing out gold for any traveler willing to 'keep an eye out for suspicious activity', just to ensure we don't come across any groups in these final hours.. the game begins tomorrow morning!"

[Agnes]

Agnes scowled as Bruce explained the situation, her face souring more with each detail.

"I suppose we can't just deal with this Hadrian monster directly?" she asked, hand resting on the hilt of her blade.