The trail along the Yonna river is an old one, worn smooth and straight over centuries of use, but of late, it has been all but forgotten.  The Huns use the road along the eastern bank of the river- coming as they did from the east, they have always assumed the east was “their” side.  Along the west side, travel has all but ceased.  Aside from the hoof and paw prints of random animals, it seems that neither man nor Orc has been this way in a while.

That changes as they get closer to the town.  Now they can see the heavy bootmarks left by Hun patrols, and the footprints of Human serfs, on their work assignments around the town.  Nothing that would indicate any travelers, though.

As they approach, Calatin’s bird circles above.  It becomes more agitated the closer they get- such creatures do not like congested masses of people.  Agendincum is quite congested.  The town is a rough oval, about three thousand feet east-west and half that north-south, along the east bank of the river, close to a bridge.  The town has large walls, but only on the three landward sides.  Facing the river, it has only a short wall.  The far side of the bridge isn’t guarded- without any real traffic, it would be a waste.  But there is a guard post on the town side of the bridge, which acts as the gate into the town from the west.

“They’ve seen me before,” Marcellus says.  “They might be full of threat and swagger but they won’t really trouble us, I’ve brought Redscratch’s payment, and they know there will be problems if he misses any of it.  But… ah, here’s something I’ve not seen before.  Human guards with the bridge guards?  It’s always been just Orcs.”

Indeed, at the bridge landing, along with a half dozen Orcs, are two Humans in black splint armor, one riding on a horse.  They appear to be having a discussion with the Orcs guard, as the party arrives.

Beyond theme, you can see that the town is laid out along the perfectly straight grid line streets laid down by Roman and Dwarven engineers, who felt that any curve to accommodate nature or esthetics represented some sort of architectural defeat.  The main street through Agendincum, Decumanis Maximus, divides the town.  Most of the commercial activity is laid out along this street, and it’s north-south partner, the Cardo.  The houses here look old and sturdy things that have passed the test of time- this is a town of brick and stone.   Age has also made this place heavily built up. Away from the main streets, the town

Down river from the bridge there is a riverside port, with small boats.  It looks very quiet, the boats mostly dragged out on shore.   Further into the city you can make out the roof tops of several important looking buildings, the spires of one large temple and two smaller ones, and the curved upper wall of an amphitheater.

There's a small piece missing at the end of the second to last paragraph, sir.

Calatin instructs his hawk to stay perched on the back of the horse, then turns toward his two companions. "I'll follow your lead, Marcellus. Square cities full of people and mentally diminished domesticated animals is where I'm least experienced." He pats his horse's mane as he says this, as if apologizing for his remark.

Althoug Raz is very much ar home in an urban setting, a city occupied by Huns does not make him fell comfortable.

"We need an excuse for snooping around the houses of the head Huns." He tells Marcellus. "Who can loitter there without raising suspicion?"

"Without suspicion?" Marcellus asks.  "These are Huns, they are suspicious of everyone.  Well.. Except slaves and children and people like that."

He looks down the street.

"I've gotten us this far," he says quietly.  "But I am no.. well, whatever it is that sneaks around and finds things.  I can only be your reason for being here.  The rest will depend on your skills.  The Huns allow the Humans to keep their businesses, here, if they pay enough of a tax.  It means a lot of the shops are open, but they are all poor and desperate regardless.  And Humans must not carry weapons.  Or at least.. don't be seen carrying weapons.  As my guards, they will let you, but once they are away from me... be careful.

"You're going to need a base of operations.  Do you want to stick with me or separate?  Of you want to separate, there is the old boatman's tavern..." he points out a place along the river.  "Saro there will rent out rooms for travelers, small and dirty and cheap, but it's close to the river for... escaping.  If you stay with me I can provide a little more comfort, in the heart of the town at our conservatory caretaker's home."

"I'd rather not put you at risk if they somehow find out you're working with us. I'd suggest the boatman's. We can bother with comfort when the job is done."

"Syanthus guessed that one of the Hun warlords took the lamp." Raz said, "So we should start looking for it wherever such warlords might reside. Marcellus, which part of the city might that be? I guess it doesn't matter where we stay, and Calatin is right, it's best to try and reduce the risk for you. Even though... well, if your guards are caught stealing, you'll have a lot to explain wherever they stay. Not that I expect this to happen, but be cautious and alert."

He goes with Calatin to the boatman's tavern and takes rooms there. Once they have some kind of privacy, he casts Clairvoyance to scan the area Marcellus indicated. He is not looking for anything specific - he wants to learn what life is like there; what illusion he should weave to help them go unnoticed.

Calatin would remind you that casting divination magic is detectable at the location, and to take that into account, and be careful.

"I am planning to use divination magic to locate the lamp." Raz tells Calatin. "If they can detect my Clairvoyance spell, they will most definitely detect my object-locating spell. So its best to test the water now, while we can easily escape and devise a new plan. But I don't expect they will. As I've told you, I've done something like this before, and as far as I could tell neither the Huns nor their demon-creatures noticed my magic.

That's one perk of not being a true wizard. Simple magic is more difficult to detect."

Marcellus notes that all the "official" buildings are on the east side of the town, further from the river, on higher ground.

The east side, though, is difficult for Raz to see, being almost a half mile away.  The best he can do is to set his "point of view" high up in the air, and look towards it.

There are certainly official buildings over there, mostly in a cluster in the northeast area of the town.  Several are... that's odd...


Once they are settled in, though, Marcellus has to leave.  "It will look odd if I stay with you," he says.  If you need me, find me at the Conservatory- go to the square and then north along the Cardio.  We're across from the Temple of Apollo."

The Common Room of the River House features plain wooden tables, fish stew, wine, ale, cheese, pickles, bread, and lots of locals, mostly fishermen, farmers, and boatmen.  None of the Orcs are here.  But everyone gets a lot quieter when a pair of burly men in black armor appear.  There is some tension... but it appears they are just here to drink.  And observe.

To make things easier, here is a general guide to Agedincum and what's in it, the sort of things characters would easily observe or learn through casual questions.

http://europa512adgame.pbworks...working%20Agendincum

After making sure they're out of easy ear-shot of the men in black armor, "Alright, what's the plan?"

Calatin feigns a smile as if he's asking about something light-hearted, or maybe joking.

"Snoop around." Raz replies. "I can make us appear orc-like. Lets figure out where orc soldiers hang out, and see if there's anyone who was at the battle where the lamp was lost. If we can get them talking, we can figure out who of the head figures in the battle lives in town, and where. We would then need to search the homes of these suspects..."

If Calatin agrees, Raz does his best to make them appear like Huns using mundane means, and then augments their appearance with illusion magic.

When chatting up the Huns, if he is unable to deflect questions at himself, he will assume the identity of the orc he charmed a while back to answer. In addition he will cast Glibness to make whatever he says sound plausible.

They stay clear of the black clad men in the river house, retiring to their room, to make plans for their investigation.

Speaking to the local Orcs presents a dilemma:  Which ones, and where?  Agendincum is not a huge place, but it's big enough so that "The Orcs" do not form one block, and Calatin and Raz have learned already that the Orcs here are of somewhat divided politics.

Figuring out where Orc soldiers hang out, on the other hand, is not hard.  A small group is always posted at the gate, and others patrol the walls and fortifications.  Some can usually be found at each of the "key" places that Orcs favor, such as the weapons shop, the Temple of Juno, the Magistrate's court, and similar locations.  But in those places, there are often the "higher ups" as well, and Raz does not know if his disguise would fool them all.

Some can also be found at the Amphitheater, generally, because when it's not being used for "entertainment" or "Punishment"  (often the same thing, for Huns) some of them use it for practice.

Finally, Huns are notoriously lazy.  With the exception of a few "noble" occupations that are military related, the consider work to be menial stuff left to Human slaves.  So often, Orc warriors can be found in small groups watching Humans at work, jeering at them, often drinking, and sometimes interfering in the work, just for kicks.

From observing locals and listening to them, Raz can pick up one thing:  If they goe to one of the "official" buildings like the Magistrate's Court, they'd best have a purpose for being there.

Calatin, in his usual calm and logical tone, seems somewhat apprehensive.

"Someone very well might notice the illusion at some point. If we shouldn't have been skulking around the streets as a mangy mink and a starved-looking dog, I don't think we should attempt to pass for orcs. Moreover, a species can most readily identify one of its own. Not only would we be vulnerable to magical detection, but an especially scrupulous orc, if such a thing exists, or other person may become suspicious.

I'm also not certain my orcish is not without accent, and I'm an awful liar to boot.

If you did want to pursue that route, and I don't disagree that it is a good way to begin here, I'd suggest you do it alone and that I remain close-by to keep watch or provide a surprise or distraction should you be discovered or suspected."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Thu 28 June 2012.

Raz follows Calatin's advice, and goes on his own to join one of the soldier-gangs who jeer at the human workers. He tries his best to appear one of them, and so is careful not to mix up mocking with jeering. Whenever a witty remark crosses his mind he is careful to let out nothing but a very orcish grunt.

He presents himself as a soldier, and tries to talk about battles. For his part, he recounts the tales he heard from the charmed orc. At the same time, he exhibits interest in the battle for the Ardennes. He is disparaging of what the soldiers tell him, as orcs usually are towards their peers, but when it comes to this battle, he reluctantly admits that it was a victory like none of those he participated in. If any of those presents were at the battle, he tries to learn who of the warlords at the battle lives in town. Otherwise, he tries learn if they know any soldiers who fought there, and where they might be found.

OOC: he uses change self to appear an orc, and glibness to appear convincing.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:53, Thu 28 June 2012.

Calatin will stay on the streets near Raz's position, taking the shape of a somewhat-emaciated yet stout dog matching the breeds that seem to be popular in the city. He'll make sure to roll in the mud or some rotten fish heads to maintain the appearance.

Take the shape of what is essentially a riding dog if they're that large, if not, some kind of small-sized dog is fine. Whatever fits in most.

Calatin makes a discovery he didn’t expect.  Looking to take the form of a common dog… what common dogs?  There seem to be.. none?  Is it possible?  Dogs are near universal.  Every town has dogs, guard dogs, herding dogs, hunting dogs, rat chasing dogs… the lack of dogs in Agendincum might be unnoticed by others, but to a Druid it is unnerving.  It is certainly deliberate.  Such a thing could not happen by accident.  He thinks back to the other Orc-held place they passed through- the outpost town of Nemaucum on the way here.  And… he doesn’t recall seeing a dog there, either.

But there are a lot of pigs.  They are grunting and squealing and making other bodily noises in pens and yards.  And no one really takes notice of them, so Calatin has an easy solution for finding a non-descript animal that “blends”.

Raz, for his part, has picked the least dangerous part of the local Orc population.  The small gangs that sit around watching the Humans at work generally aren’t the brightest of the Orcs, and they are not the most powerful.  They are just the run of the mill drudges, the crude and ignorant lower end of the Orcish social ladder.

Raz's boasting is met with the some laughter- EVERYONE wants to go the Ardennes!  But the chicken-hearted clan leaders don't like sending their troops off, because then they are weaker!

They talk about the next muster, when Redscratch will gather the clan leaders in the "Maggot Court" and assemble the next group to march out.  It's coming soon.

Redscratch, it seems, has at least a half dozen clan leaders under him.  Even though some are close relatives, that means nothing- they are always competing for power and influence, and it seems the clan leaders have figured out that the more warriors they send off, the weaker they are.  So the game is to get the other clan leaders to commit more troops.  Of course these low end grunt-Orcs don't see it, but as they talk it becomes obvious that this is what is going on.

Raz picks up on their opinions of a few of them:  Nosecrush is a cowardly suckup who steals from other Orcs, Uggavore is a stupid slob who gets tricked by Redscratch, and Spleendip will send troops because he's got too many now and Redscratch will need to get some of them killed.

The obvious question emerges:  Which clan does Raz belong to again?

Oink.

Raz mentions one of the clans none of those present belongs to. As long as it's plausible, he'll use the background information from the orc he had charmed a while back for his own.

He tries to learn specifically about who was at Beda when it was destroyed. Was Redscratch himself there? And Nosecrush, is he as bad as the stories say? Would he really steal from the emperor himself is he had the chance?

The Orcs are momentarily baffled.  This warrior doesn’t know about what went on at the battle of Beda?  How could anyone here… and then, they piece together the clues.  They’ve never seen this one, he doesn’t know what they did at Beda, and he’s presenting himself as a veteran warrior.  The answer is obvious.

One of the Orcs snorts and says; “You’se wantin take up wiff a better clan, an run outta yer ole wun!  Ha!  I knew it!”

The Orcs talk about this for a bit.  Apparently, it’s not that uncommon, because many of the Orc “bottom ranks” are happy to vote with their feet when their current employment seems wanting.  But the powerful Hun lords aren’t happy with the practice.  Yes, some of them can benefit from attracting more expendable peons, but at the cost of giving choice and free will to those peons, and that is very dangerous.

So “warrior poaching”, the deliberate recruiting of warriors from  warlord to another  without compensation for the losing warlord, is almost never done, and running out on warlord is a serious offense.  Provided, of course, one is caught at it.  A warlord gaining a new recruit in this manner will often ignore it, and not punish the Orc.

The Orcs talk a little about Beda.  Of course many from this place went.  Hundreds.  Half of them did not come back.  Their mission, as they saw it, was to secure and escort the captured treasures of the Elves that were the property of the Emperor.  The Emperor’s own troops did not take part in the battle, it was give over to the Hun warlords in the Rhineland, but he had been promised some of the loot, and sent about a thousand Orcs to make sure he got it.  Many were from here.

Nozecrush and Redscratch led them personally.  Along the way home, they ran into a greedy dragon at a river, and they lost some of their treasure.  The Emperor didn’t really trust that story- no Orc fully trusts another Orc- and for months, a small group of the Emperor’s Priests looked around in the “Maggot Court” and other strongholds of Redscratch and his allies.  They looked hard, but didn’t find anything, and reluctantly concluded Redscratch was telling the truth about the Dragon.

Raz plays along with the Huns conclusion, though not in an obvious manner. He clumsily tries to deny it, but at the same time asks: "If I was looking for a new clan, who would be better? Nosecrush or Redscratch?"

He also asks for advice on how to go about joining them.

Eventually he thanks them, and leaves. He then looks for a hidden place to drop the illusion and disguise, and returns to the inn to meet with Calatin and tell him what he learned.

If the black guards are there, he strikes up a conversation with them. He sticks to their cover stories - Raz and Calatin were hired as guards, but are interested in lucrative employment opportunities.

Will let the DM answer his previous questions before continuing.

Raz senses he's starting to lose a little of their confidence. The Orcs he is talking to are getting a little suspicious.  Orcs do not "ask for advice".  That's a cowardly, feeble, Elf thing to do.  They tell him that both are seeking to expand their warrior ranks, in preparation for another journey to the east.  They expect to be assigned the same task- bring back captured wealth.

They are also hoping for captured Elves.  Those are lots of fun.  Joining, for an Orc, is easy- just show up and grovel.  Groveling for some boon from the powerful is an important part of Orc life.

Just as they begin to get the idea that there's something funny with this Orc, who asks the most bizarre questions, Raz cuts it short.

Raz and Calatin reunite back at the inn on the river.  This time, the Blackguards are not there.  This means, for the locals, that it is safe to talk about them.

They overhear random bits and pieces.  There is some sort of petition to the Emperor going on to allow some clerics to work in the town again.  Killing them all was probably a mistake, because the harvest was pretty bad.  So the Blackguards are going to Lutetia Parisiorum, to petition to have clerics of Ceres and Venus set up here.  They are also going to be checking local "volunteers".  Daughters of the upper class families may well end up drafted into the service.

"I heard them say Apollo", one tired looking young man says.

Another patron answers.  "Don't be ridiculous.  The Blackguard, trying to set up a temple of Apollo?  I didn't hear anything like that here."

"Wasn't here," the young man says.  "I was cleaning up for them at the Amphitheater. I heard them say that something would stop, if only they would appease Apollo, and they should get a priest."

"What would stop?"

"Don't know.  When the Blackguards are worried about something you don't stick around to find out."

Finding their own private area out of easy ear-shot, Calatin begins speaking quietly.

"I don't think the impersonation plan should be our main angle. There's no way it's going to hold up very well around any orc of intelligence, not to mention means of detecting magical subversion.

What do you think the next step should be?"

"I agree." Raz replies. "And the fact that the emperor's priest couldn't find the stuff the clan-leaders stole from him makes me skeptical that my own divinations would work better. Though one might hope that initially they hid their loot away from town, and after they were cleared they brought it home. I don't know. The only thing I have to go on is what was said to me at the orrery. This is something I should be able to do... So how about this - maybe this Nosecrush or Redscratch employ human guards. We've seen some humans at the gate, right? Maybe we don't need to pretend to be orc to get in. Just offer our services, as humans."

"Well..." Calatin opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped.

"I guess that might work... I guess."