CAMPAIGN: The Unburning (D&D5e)

"As for the test..." Lady Kari glances at Sharn "Maybe Test is the wrong word. Let's call it a Practice Exercise"

"I want all of you to take this equipment, and take it to the Smokefields. Go to the Outer Bakak Fine Meats kitchen complex, and ask for Provincial Pilsbury. He will be managing the exercise, and he will tell you what to do next."



"Provincial will be waiting for you all in an hour and a half"



Ms Zest stomps upstairs and makes noises of amazement at the wet floor "What in all the sand are you doing up here? There was water dripping through the slats in the kitchen ceiling! I swear I thought the Rain God had died!"

Sharn rolls her eyes. They may as well have offered her a hundred gold. She had heard it all before. Tons of gold, she never sees. All she had to do was rub this or wear that. Why would anyone hire a bunch of no bodies on the spot. Maybe they were going to try to kill us. To eat us! Sharn had heard of shadowy nobles that invited the poor to dinner. Only they were really the main course. Maybe this is why only a dozen people showed up for a free breakfast. Maybe all this water was some sort of marinating. Sharn pushed the thought out of mind. She was doing it again she knew.

The cloak seemed magical, so she took it and crammed it into her satchel, getting food all over it. She didn't even consider putting it on. She wasn't going to wear their little outfits... Not this time.

Petrol picks up his jaw after watching the display of the magical bucket. The spell to create water had seemed interesting earlier, but this was far more impressive than that. Nevertheless, he would stash away one of the pamphlets. There's plenty of situations where it would be useful to summon water out of nowhere.

Before heading out though, Petrol would examine one of the red helmets. "Hold on, what about these? Is there anything special about these helmets?"

Bobo is so delighted with the prospect of making money and getting to use the magic bucket, that forgets all about the food. He says loudly and gestures theatrically around the room:"WITH THESE PEOPLE AND THESE BUCKETS WE WILL DESTROY ALL THE FIRES! TO THE SMOKEFIELDS!"

To Petrol, Bobo says, "Do not worry about silly unfashionable hat. Buckets have all magic we need."

Endless buckets? A nice party trick indeed...

Evangeline looks around, and waiting to see what everyone else is going to do and waits to leave.

"Oh, the helms? I am not sure what those are for, honestly." Says Lady Kari with a shrug. "Perhaps just protection from flying embers or falling debris?"

"I have high hopes for all of you" says Lady Kari. "Preventing another fire tragedy is a hard job, and we don't have much precedent to follow. I believe the diverse experience and viewpoints represented in this group will help us find creative solutions to dangers we have not even anticipated."

"This meeting is now adjourned"

She sits down at her desk, but makes no move to rush anyone out if they still have questions or want to finish breakfast.

Five gold pieces?! A week?! "Mondieu! I 'ad no expected so much!" nor had she expected the location of the test.. she had vaguely expected they might be asked to throw things into the buckets or demonstrate some kind of skill. "An 'our and a 'alf ees plenty of time. I know of thees place." she informs the others.

She claps Bobo on the shoulder. "That ees the spirit!" Cece tries to imagine herself in the strange cloak and helmet.. a strange vision. But less strange than running around on fire. She'll keep eating and see what the others do and take a set if there's one left.

Kailyn considers this, it's not bad, but not excellent. That, and there's certainly something up with this lady. Kailyn's an old cheat and swindler, so he can tell when someone's trying to not lie by using other, less-false truths.

"My fair lady, I do have a few questions. My friends here look elated at the offer, and as it's no paltry sum, a few things come to mind. Now, call me suspicious but, you could pool that money and surely hire more professional than we, so my curious little mind can't help but think you view us as expendable, meaning you only expect to pay a fraction of us as the rest might be... well, not quite around to benefit."

He makes a sweeping gesture towards the others in the room. "Look at their beautiful, innocent, and eager faces. What guarantee do they, my dear and close friends, have that they will ever see any of that money they are to risk their lives for?"

He strikes a pose, with hand to his heart and voice oozing sincerity. "I find my heart, no, my very soul torn. I wish to do this most honorable of duties for the greater good of the city as it is a righteous and noble endeavor, but I find in my deepest of hearts that I must also stand by the fine bond of friendship and camaraderie that I have forged with these poor unfortunate souls in the raging fires of trial and tribulation. As such, I would not see them lose out."

He leans in closer to Lady Kari and says with every ounce of smarmy persuasion at his disposal, "I propose, my lady, a solution. Might you give them an advance on their pay? Say... A week's worth. To ensure their loyalty and also as a sign of trust and good faith on the part of this fine city that we are more than gust expendable matches to be thrown at the flames in a bid to quell its wrath. Of course, as compromise, I shall forgo this advance payment, that the financial pressure on the city treasury be eased. I shall suffer this lack of reward that my friends here may benefit and that our relationship may further be strengthened. What say you, my fair lady?"

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

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Normin chimes in, "If they see fit to waste their lives, let them." He butts his staff against the floor once, "We're all volunteers in the end, hmmhm."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"Rasvim agrees with the tiefling. Rasvim thinks Mistressssss Kari is hiding something from usssss..."

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Caldon is floored. "Kari, these buckets -- a single one must be worth more than most houses! Does the mayorship truly wish to entrust them to--" Caldon stammers. "--to our group?"

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Kailyn glances at Caldon, then looks at him. A rather fine-looking lad he is... but that will have to wait until later.

"My good friend here is right, such items are certainly worth a great deal. Some less scrupulous, none in our group I assure you, might steal such items and sell them off out of fear of never seeing a single copper piece of the promised wage. So I urge you, can we not have a show of good faith?"

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

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Caldon looks at Kailyn like the man has horns growing out of his forehead (and only partially because he does). "Oh, and I suppose you have character references for this good group?" He waves a hand towards the front of the room. "I don't presume to be a perfect judge of character, but when I look across our brave band, I see varying degrees of scruples. Not to mention all those less scrupulous than our group that we might come across in this merry little 'adventure.'"

Caldon taps a finger to his temple. "Vigilance, my friend. Can I count on your assistance in seeing that each of these buckets makes its safe return to the High-Mayor? Anything less is a black mark on you and me both."

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Super Penguin Chef
Wizard Blocks

Mindfully, an endless bucket would be nice...but Evangeline isn't crazy enough to steal one for herself. She does agree though, she has no idea what the others could do. They all seem to be in varying states of destitute.

She eyes the silver tongued devil with a mixture of disdain and curiosity.

"My my, you seem to be rather passionate for people you've just met. I do admit, your bleeding heart philosophies are rather inspiring. What brings a man of your fine grace to be taking a job like this?" Evangeline says, putting her knuckles to her chin.

Lady Kari smiles not impolitely at Kailyn's suggestion.

"You will all be payed at the end of the day."

To the other's concerns, she answers "Yes this is dangerous work, and no I do not consider any of you expendable."

"Your job as Arcane Firefighters will be to try to extinguish fires, and to try to save lives, and to try to prevent tragedies... but none of you is expected to die trying. If any danger seems too great, you are not obligated to continue. You should only take the risks that you believe are worth taking."

"And yes, dear Caldon, the bucket is priceless. Just this one." She points at the magic bucket. "And yes, I am entrusting it to all of you, whatever your character may be. This is indeed a matter of trust. I am trusting you with this priceless artifact, and you must choose whether or not you wish to trust me that this whole Guild endeavor is worth pursuing-- that it is something our city really needs."