Norian and Rah descend the stairs presently, and after giving you a moment to greet each other Aldus makes his way over to your group "I do apologize for the rush this morning. The Guards are just trying to make the townsfolk think that they're actually doing something. Don't mind them too much. They're mostly harmless."
He leads you to the door and unlocks it. Aldus pokes his head outside and says "Those heros you wanted to see are ready now." With a nod to you, he walks back into the Antler and Thistle. You can easily tell the Guards have not slept well. They are a bit gruff with you, and perhaps a bit apprehensive of the tales of your slaying an Ogre. "This way!" is their command.
They lead you towards the centre of Brindol, and you begin to see the damage the town went through a bit better in the light. Quite a few houses are charred, and there's more than one person mourning the loss of a loved one. The majority of the people you pass are human or half-elf, but there are more than a few dwarves helping to repair damaged walls.
After a few minutes your steps lead you to the council chambers. "They met earlier, but since you couldn't be bothered to wake up a bit earlier, you'll have to deal with Troyas one on one. Wouldn't want to be in your shoes." The Guards smirk in your direction and beckon a page to direct you to his personal chambers. The council chambers themselves aren't terribly impressive, but considering the town is barely more than 5,000 strong it's quite a large building. Through the massive entry, two lefts and a right lead you to the doors of Councilmember Eoffram Troyas' personal chamber. The page ventures to quietly say "Be careful, he doesn't take too kindly to jokes." before knocking lightly and announcing your arrival.
Skill Challenge: Eoffram TroyasCouncilmember Eoffram Troyas is a tall man, with a slender body. His slightly pointed ears indicate his elven heritage, but his cheeks are too full to be of pure blood. A half-elf, then. He greets you solemnly, making eye contact with each of you in turn before indicating the five chairs he has set in front of his small desk. The room seems a bit cramped with so many people, but Eoffram isn't bothered by it, so why should you be? He waits quietly until you've each taken a seat, finally clearing his throat to say "Thank you for meeting with me. I am considering something, and I wished to speak to you about it in person - and in private."
His gaze moves deliberately along each of you, taking in the effect of his statement.
Skill challenges are perhaps one of the more debated changes in 4th edition D&D. I'll make this one as simple as possible, and hope that you can pick the rest up from there. I don't have to include them, but let's be blunt: it's basically free experience if you can succeed, and who doesn't like free experience? Also, there are both rewards and consequences for your actions in these challenges. Think of it as roleplay with a twist.
The outline of a challenge: Basically, you're going to have to choose a skill to use to attempt to succeed in a challenge. You can use a skill more than once, and you can support your fellow players as well. When you choose a skill, write up a description of you using it, and roll d20. If a player wants to assist, write up how you'll assist. You also roll d20. The players helping will add +2 to your roll if they roll higher than 10 (this is really 10+1/2 character level of person you're assisting, but that doesn't matter yet). Up to a maximum of 4 players can assist one action, for a maximum bonus of +8.
For example: I have Bluff [9]: "I have five aces. Beat that!". d20 = 15 + 9 = 24
Player 2 says "Holy crap, I forgot that I added another four aces to the pack!" d20 = 13, total = 24 + 2 = 26.
DC = 25, you succeed in your check for this round.
If that assist FAILED, though, the player would have a -1 to their action, as you'd distract them.
Feel free to use IRC or email to coordinate.
You continue with different (or the same) tactics until a certain number of successes or failures have been reached, and the experience and results ensue.
You can use ANY skill that you can justify, but there are certain skills that will be better than others.
In this Skill Challenge, the best skills to use are: Diplomacy, Insight, History.
Be VERY AWARE: If you ONLY support, or DO NOT attempt to participate in this (or any other) challenge, you will gain no experience, even if it succeeds. You have been warned.
