The Church of Alvis

Welcome to the land of Orus, a realm of peace and tranquility, which is occasionally broken by periods of incalculable horror due to the outbreak of war.

When we first met our band of intrepid adventurers they were just learning of their history, being descendants of ancient heroes of Orus who were forced into exile to end the Planeswalker War with the Outsiders. Having learned of their legacy of greatness, and the prophecy that required them to return to Orus, our heroes agreed to put aside their lives on their home realms and return to their ancient homeland to save it from darkness. Our heroes very quickly found that this darkness is more horrible than they could imagine as within a day of arriving on Orus their host, an extremely powerful wizard named Teringal Tormud, along with their trainers, were attacked by fiends and appear to have been vanquished. Our heroes were able to escape however thanks to the foresight of their host and his preparations. But now they find themselves alone in a strange land, with only each other, whom they just met, to rely upon. The only help they believe they may have are from some cryptic instructions that were left with Apprentice Jalaal. Go to the Snuggly Duckling Inn and ask for Eugene...

As we approach Redford (I believe that was the name ), Maeve will take note of any farms, crop types, snd general agricultural setups surrounding the town. The lake obviously is a source a fish, but I'm looking to get a better picture of the overall farming scene here.
Perception +4
[Roll]1d20+4 [/roll]
edit for actual tags becaus eI wa stired and on my phone last night when I typed it.
[dice]0[/dice]

Alrek does his best to put up with Maeve's constant agri-talk, farming is soooo yesterday, and he was trying to process the new sensations and images that bubbled to the surface of his mind. He would occasionally scratch at the scaly patches that had now formed on his arms, but only when he thought no one was looking.

Quawff will act as caravan guard on route as that is a roll he is familiar with. He was also show genuine interest in both Alrek and Maeve in the small talk along the way.

As the group walked toward Redford they notice that the few fields that are close to the city seem to be fairly well tended. The closer you get to the city the better tended they are. There are no buildings outside the wooden palisade. As you get close to town you notice little gaps here and there within the palisade. And as you get closer still you can't help but get the feeling that it was built rather hastily, and not very well either. As you pass through the gate you notice the guards there don't pay you much mind. They don't strike you as being very good. Their armor is not very high quality and is rather ill fitting.

"Excuse me guardsmen, might you tell us how we might find the Snuggly Duckling?" Maeve says in a warm tone.

The guardsman looks up and grunts...

"Down that way, take a right at the cobblers and it'll be on your left."

He jerks a thumb down the road you were walking in on then goes back to ignoring you

Quawff smiles and says to the guard that spoke. "Thank you Friend. Looks like you have and some trouble here recently?"

"Well, you're an observant one aren't you." the guard sneers without looking at you

"May the gods bless and protect you and may Chauntea provide bounty at your table." says Maeve smiling before tugging at Quawff's arm gently indicating the need to move on.

To Maeve "My Lady, I hope we will be well away from this death trap before trouble comes back", and moves along following Maeve and Alrek.

"Now Qwuaff, when a tree bears sour fruit, no need to become sour yourself. I pray that we are greeted with warmer scenes ahead." Maeve says to Qwuaff as they follow the guards.

Perception check now that they are in the town. Particularly interested in general attitudes of people and whether anyone looks malnourished or hungry.

[dice]0[/dice]

Alrek turns to Quawff, "Whatever's troubling them can't be worse than what we just left".

To Alrek We shall see, we shall see

To Maeve and Alrek, in Dwarven Should we ask right away for this fellow, or should we have a look around first. Find out what is ailing these people first?

"As night is falling I think it prudent to find our contact and settle down for the night it possible. Obviously look around and try to get a sense of the field before us, but diligence to task should be top priority in my estimation." Maeve says.

As you make your way down the street in the direction the guard indicated one of the first things you notice is that the town seems crowded. A little too crowded in fact. As you pass different alleys and side streets you begin to notice that many of them have wagons parked in them. Wagons loaded with personal effects and other household items and often times there are people milling about those wagons, sometimes people even camped out and resting underneath them.

@Maeve - The people don't look overly hungry or malnourished currently, but assuming that the rest of the village is like this there is no way that the fields outside the city and even the lake could possibly support this level of population long term.

"Gents I think we know the reason for the sour mood at the gate. The refugees apparently are putting strain on the village. And unless I miss my mark people will be worried about food come harvest given the fields we saw walking here." Maeve says softly to her comrades.

@Furiel any signage indicating a temple (I assume if it does exist here it would be small and multidenominational)

Alrek nods in understanding, "All the more reason to find this 'Eugene' character so we can get on our way, no need to add more mouths to this town's problems"

@Ourgroup in Dwarven You are probably right.

Qwauff walks over to the nears group of milling about people, Smiles, non threatingly. How are you all managing in this town? Was it a frightful journey from your homesteads to hear?
Persuasion check (d20+4) [dice]0[/dice]

There aren't really any groups milling about per say. But I think I get what you're going for.

Quaff walks a little down a nearby alley to engage the people there...

An older man who's working on a wagon wheel responds...
"We're managing fine lad." The man looks up and pauses for a moment. "You all aren't from around here are ya? No, of course you aren't or you wouldn't be asking such obvious questions..."

To the older man; smiling and laughing. You are correct. We just arrived in this area this morning. Must by my outrageous accent! So could you answer the obvious question of what is going on around here?

"Goblins you say. Hmmmm. Are they getting into town here? I think my arriving here is not a coincidence." I reach for the pendant around my neck and kiss it, bow my head "Thank you, Ulaa"

Looking puzzled Maeve asks the man "I'm sorry, but you just said you 'haven't seen one of you in almost 20 years' do you mean dwarf or paladin?"

@Qwuaff "Goblin's ain't got in yet, but they were raiding the outlying farms, which is why we're here. Better to let the crops sit for a few weeks until the Nine get someone out to deal with them than to take a goblin spear to the gut."

Then he turns to Maeve "Wow, you really ain't from around here. Maybe it's normal where you're from but the Dwarves 'round here haven't left their hold but to trade in my lifetime."