"The realm of mankind, as some like to call it," Helen Garland declares as the sun approaches noon, "tends to be larger than people think. There are spaces where great evil persists, that much is certain, and always they seek to expand their influence in all its stripes. But, overall, I'd say civilization does a pretty decent job around here. There's ways to improve, that much is certain. But, bless Aurora and bless Solaria, they can happen. And when evil rears its ugly head? It falls to the likes of, well, us, to protect the innocent and save the day."
Eira shrugs. "A trio of adventurers, armed with a few kinda unusual tricks up our sleeve, but still up against… Well, um. We don't actually know how big the force is, do we?"
You shake your head. "Nope. No idea. But, I'm comfortable saying this much… The journey starts here."
A Succubus, a thief, and a Paladin. One of the weirder trios to visit this land, most likely. But now, you know of a threat to the region. And, hopefully, you could handle it.
… Maybe not right away. Not after, as far as most of the world knew, several days of traveling nonstop, both day and night, to outpace as many cultists of Echidna as possible.
You, of course, had a couple big advantages on that front. Like an extradimensional apartment that could be stepped outside of time, sort of. Of course, the more you used that, the sooner you'd have to be
working again. Like, your former life's day job.
Dianna, your HR Rep, at least was a big help in things. Gene King ("MBA, PMP", your brain autocompletes after his last name), your boss… Apparently had caught wind of your death before the meeting, which was
awkward to say the least. It'd actually taken you shapeshifting, on camera, to your past life's look to get the point across that you were still, in fact, Sean Calvers. As if being able to log in wasn't proof enough! (Okay, it wasn't, but
still.)
And, once again, he had to swiftly remind you of the
exact kinds of stupid he was. Switching to referring to you with 'she/her' pronouns? Instantaneous. Using your reborn name? Not so much. "Sean" shouldn't be so grating to hear, right? No sign of transphobia so much as pure dumbassery, though, so give it time maybe.
Then again, he wasn't
that stupid. The instant you brought up three weeks of paid leave for medical purposes, i.e. recovering from being
hit by a goddamn truck, he had Microsoft Project up, and in thirty seconds he had your project work redelegated. However, he also was clearly paying attention when you mentioned not having immediate injuries due to being reincarnated, and having had ten years emotional separation to help mitigate the trauma a bit, and did insist you do some meets with others on the team to keep them up on task.
You weren't willing to protest, proving Helen's point of your responsibility addiction yet further. At least that got him talked out of the idea of trying to project plan fighting off a cult of unknown scale and intentions in an undermapped region with capabilities rather tangential to modern military operations, which he didn't have experience PM'ing anyways.
Trying to keep the lanes separate was a good idea, overall.
You've only gone through about 40 hours of Earth-time in the duration you've been traveling. Still, you're
eventually going to need to get back to work, and in the meanwhile need to make sure your skills do not atrophy - assuming you want to keep the job, which you
did declare intent to.
But there was a more immediate fate in your hands first. And the center of it was now finally coming into view.
Arnstey Keep lay on a mountain of stone, steep enough that the road to it had to wind back and forth for your average cart to make it up there. It was a border fortress of the most typical sort - well enough removed to be a 'bastion' of civilization in otherwise less-tamed lands. Not
untamed, as the occasional farm would tell you, but certainly much, much
less so.
And, of course, somewhere nearby was the collection of space that the cultists of Echidna called "Chaos Mountain". And probably all sorts of trouble, both directly caused by and unrelated to the cult. Life-threatening danger, with your team not being highly experienced or honed yet. Still… You were convinced you could do this.
The region around Arnstey Keep was forested, mountainous, and all-around kind of on the rugged side. Still, you'd made it up the cliffside road, and to the main gate to Arnstey Keep - and to a pair of guards, one cat-like Ubastim and one Human, both male and both wearing chainmail in decent condition under a blue tabard. Behind them, the portcullis for the gatehouse is closed, but the drawbridge over a rather vicious-looking ravine is down.
"Please halt", the Ubastim declares, his tone firm but not particularly angry. "I do not recognize you three, so name and business, please."
Helen steps forward. "I am Helen Garland, Paladin of Solaria. I and my companions, Senaz-" - she motions to you - "- and Eira-" and then towards your floofier companion - "- believe that there is a grave threat to the region, which we seek to bring down."
The guard pauses. "Well, that's. Eminently believable. Haven't heard of Solaria-"
Helen immediately looks a bit downcast at that, before the guard continues, "-but Lord Ferec's orders are 'welcome potential adventurers who don't seem to be working for the cult of She Who Must Be Abjured.'"
Okay, that's a phew moment. The guard shouts a codeword you don't quite catch, and the portcullis raises fairly quickly. "Go forth and cause no trouble within this keep; we've quite enough of it as of late already. And to be clear, that means
don't draw your weapons. The town's on-edge enough as-is."
You nod, and let Helen lead the way in through the gatehouse… Which is pretty solid granite and clearly prepared for some pretty serious defense, what with the towers on either side having arrow slits, and the gatehouse passage being able to be fired into from all directions. It makes the purpose of the Keep perhaps more starkly obvious… And the guards are definitely on alert, within the town and along its battlement.
The town itself looks… Well, better than you might've been afraid of. Not a shining city, but things seemed functionable enough. Everything was within the walls, which severely limited space, but it was enough for one Church - probably for multiple of the gods - one Inn with attached Tavern, a general store, smithy, trade center, small bank,and… Well, another guardhouse blocking the only way to the other half of the keep. Probably where the actual host and the town Lord is, for one. And probably blocked off to random newbie adventurers like yourselves.
Eira sighs. "So, we've got three things to work on first."
Helen pauses. "Lodging, information, and some downtime before we act on that information?"
"Yup, close, and not exactly what I was thinking," Eira responded. "We need
opportunities. Like, if we find properly offered jobs we can fulfill, that'd be good for building cohesion and funds, which we'll need more of if we want to expand the team."
You nod. "The question, then, is what we do for lodging."
---
The answer to that question very quickly becomes clear. If you're going to want to sleep inside of the Keep, you either have to talk one of the families of the already rather crowded apartments to let you stay with them, or you have to take space at the inn - at a somewhat spiked rate, given the crowds, of 1 gold a night for rooms that'd typically go for half that. Still, it'd give you privacy to use your significantly better accommodations.
The cheater route, unfortunately, isn't as handy - the buildings are so packed as to have no alleys or other real quiet spots, other than one field in a corner. In other words, if you place your door anywhere outside, people are
going to notice. Your collection of tales happens to call that someone with an extradimensional space that large is
way better off and probably more powerful than you are right now, so that could give people Very Wrong Ideas that could be inconvenient - especially if you want to keep the whole 'divine reincarnation' thing hidden as long as possible.
So, that has to be kept in mind. But you don't need to decide immediately.
---
The Tavern next door, known as the Stretching Goat, on the other hand? Is your natural element, even when not immediately using nigh-hypnotic charms on people. You are a bard with beyond-human-limits charisma, and with you already having a girl on your arms in the form of Eira, and a freaking
Paladin taking a corner table quickly but clearly with you to allay suspicion, you can get to talking to people fast.
Fortunately, the Tavern, while it's the only one within the keep, isn't taking advantage of its position as such too much. The food smells excellent, the drinks unwatered (if a bit costly - probably there's no brewing within the keep walls right now - not enough barley handy, maybe?), and the barkeep, generally seems attentive. No wonder why even now, before the end of the typical business day, there's already twelve people around.
Just as important - okay, moreso for you, but just as for Helen and Eira - is the fact that people in taverns tend to talk to each other and even strangers. If you want to get information about the surrounding region, this is absolutely the place to go to.
---
In front of the Inn and Tavern is a large, gushing fountain… And around it, several different typical market stalls. Some buying and perusal might just get you some information, done right. Also, there's various fresh produce - convenient, given you've run through a lot of your frozen stock at the apartment. It's a bit costly, though, indicative of how far it has to travel to get here.
Eira can't help but note that the fountain, powered by simple gravity, is still potentially functionable as a start for a sewer system; Helen doesn't disagree, but notes that the pipes are likely lead (bad idea) and powered by gravity (limits the range intensely) - though a citizen notes that it's actually powered by some light persisted magic, developed by a Wizard on commission from Lord Ferec some years ago. Which immediately gets Helen lost in thought about the potential for using magic in place of technologies - something you've pondered on a bit, but probably nowhere near as deeply as a former starship captain who used a divine wish for a cheatbook on technological advancement.
Still, you do notice no one's drinking from the fountain, which probably means stagnant water.
---
The blacksmith, a slightly old human named Ghor, looks pretty good at his work - he doesn't have any armor for sale, but there's a couple basic weapons you could probably talk him into selling.
---
The chapel is of a sort typical to smaller towns around the region - one large room, with altars to several of the Fourteen gods. Which also means it's holy enough that you feel a bit uncomfortable being here.
Not enough to not go in, though. Not when there's several different faith leaders to potentially chat with - all of whom are likely not happy about the servants of She Who Must Be Abjured being even possibly active around here.
It turns out the local Divine Cartel (as your queen likes to call these arrangements) isn't a monopoly, though - there are occasional visiting priests, and one particular one has rented one of the apartments along the south wall. Could be worth talking to him.
---
There are quite a number of trade guilds in the greater region, but in Arnstey Keep, there's nowhere
near enough space to let all of them have a local hall… So, basically every major guild has a base here.
No, there's no "Adventurer's Guild", this isn't Eitherys and don't go looking that up if you don't know what it means unless you want a major spoiler for a currently popular canon. But there are multiple merchant's guilds, craft and artisan guilds, bakers, and others, and they get organized here, with four local clerks - all women (a human, elf, dwarf, and tiefling) - handling the fees and administration for every guild they're aware of - and there's probably books in there for several who aren't.
Traders pay guild dues equal to 5% of their merchandise, unless they are regular members of the guild house already. Craftsmen pay a few gold when entering or leaving the area. In return, they're protected by a dedicated guard, can use the facilities of the guild house - and societal protection via guild influence. Crossing the clerks could go poorly, but they do not (yet) have reason to be interested in you.
---
And then there's the second guardhouse. Arnstey Keep is split in half by an inner wall - a fairly common extra defensive tactic, and given the ravine, probably a pretty solid one. Two sets of battlements, and another tunnel with murder holes, though this one only has two portculli, no drawbridge.
A quick conversation makes clear that only the guard, those invited by Lord Ferec, and those with special permits can pass. Of course, you could try to sneak in with your flight… But they also patrol along the top of the walls, so that'd be potentially tricky.
---
[ ] (
Inn) Accept the risk of discovery if you use the apartment, and
don't stay at the inn.
[ ] (
Inn) Go cheap by sleeping in the common room (1 SP/person/night)
[ ] (
Inn) Rent a proper room so you can use the apartment while keeping it a secret. (1 GP/night)
[ ] (
Tavern) Talk Bumbo into letting you use the stage for a bit. It's tiny, but the acoustics in here should be adequate for your lute. (Performance Check to make a bit of money - but more than that, ingratiate yourself with people cheap and see if you can learn more of the town's situation.)
[ ] (
Tavern) Go around buying drinks and food for people along with Helen. (Will cost 3 GP, but will get both you and Helen's Persuasion checks
at advantage to learn more of the town's situation.)
[ ] (
Tavern) Just start talking. (Will get you all three girls' Persuasion checks, but no advantage and less respect.)
[ ] (
Tavern) Try the previous plan of charming people into giving you information. (Hopefully Helen's disapproval won't be violent, but your stratospheric save DC makes this really likely to work… As long as no one's detecting magic.)
[ ] (
Church) Let Helen lead the conversations here - she knows the Auroran faith fairly well, given the connections between Aurora and Solaria.
[ ] (
Church) Go in and get talking yourself - it's unlikely anyone will recognize you as a Succubus, and even if they do, Helen can probably calm them from going all smite-y.
[ ] (
Church) Skip the church, you know where you're better at seeking info.
[ ] (
Independent Priest) Yeah, go check him out.
[ ] (
Independent Priest) Nah, no need to chat with him.
[ ] (
Guild Hall) Steer clear for now.
[ ] (
Guild Hall) Try to hobnob with visiting guildfolk for information.
[ ] (
Guild Hall) Try to hobnob with the clerks for information.
[ ] (
Inner Fortress) Try to charm your way in. (Even with magic, this will be difficult.)
[ ] (
Inner Fortress) Try to fly in - probably under cover of night. (
Hoo boy the issues if the guards spot you, but it's your best odds of getting information.)
[ ] (
Inner Fortress) Leave that side of the city be for now - you'll just need a reputation worthy of being allowed in!
Additional vote topics may be added based on questions asked by the audience.
***
Those who've done the
Keep on the Borderlands adventure before, first, please don't spoil things for people - and keep in mind you are already aware of at least one significant change before this post, and there's a couple things I've tweaked as well. Never mind the opportunities to create bigger changes.
Be aware I haven't dove into detail on several facilities on the south side of town - if you have questions on these, ask:
- The gate towers and several other guard towers around the keep, all in active use and many equipped with ballistae and catapults. One near but not at the main gate is specifically used by the town Bailiff.
- The stable and common warehouse near the front entrance.
- The bank, which seems to be fairly typical (loans up to 5 GP do not require collateral, gold/gems can be exchanged at a fee, and storage of gold is free if it's going to stay over a month.
- The Provisioner and Trader (as you'd bought equipment before coming here) - the Provisioner doesn't do a lot of weapon sales, but will buy equipment at half-value if in usable condition. The Trader is mostly interested in scale goods like salt, spices, etc., but also deals in armor and weapons (and, in theory, horses and the like, except he doesn't have any in stock).
