And The Devil Will Drag You Under (Inactive)

Game Master nightdeath

My posting will be slowed as I shuttle from Work, Home and Hospital.

Has everyone 'purchased' what they need to get?

I'll post in your 'grand' departure soon.

I totally understand. Sounds a bit like my life. Sucks when a parent has to go through tough times, not to mention the burden it puts on family.

Yep, I'm all set. Thanks, looking forward to continuing.

I'm set!

I'm good

There! I setup the post.

My posting will be affected as I shuttle from Work, home and the hospital so I'd like to let all of you know first.

Again thank you all for your well wishes and kind Understanding.

Great! I should be able to post within the hour.

He was a cook dammit! Not a bilge swabby...

"Dammit Jim! I'm a cook, not a bilge swabby!"

Nice touch. ;D

So sorry everybody. Shuffling between work, home and hospital is killing my time.

I'll try to post as often as I can, if I'm holding up the game, bot me as needed.

I don't think we can bot the DM. Pretty sure it doesn't work that way :)

Ahem, I hate to be the one to suggest it, but perhaps finding someone willing to act as a replacement would be in order? It sounds like your life has gotten really, really complicated recently.

I'm personally not in any rush, however, and am ok with the sporadic posting.

One option would for us to do some round-robin GMing. Each of us handle a book.

I don't think we can bot the DM. Pretty sure it doesn't work that way :)

Shhhh!

"Ahem, um, you all find a HUGE treasure chest filled with all the weapons, armor, and magic items you ever wanted... and it makes you all level up too!"

;D

Ahem, I hate to be the one to suggest it, but perhaps finding someone willing to act as a replacement would be in order? It sounds like your life has gotten really, really complicated recently.

I'm personally not in any rush, however, and am ok with the sporadic posting.

One option would for us to do some round-robin GMing. Each of us handle a book.

I am open to a new GM, though I too am perfectly fine with nightdeath taking his time. Whatever nightdeath deems most practical in his life situation.

As for round-robin GMing, I am not able to GM right now myself as life is very busy for me too. Possibly in the future though, I'm open to the idea.

lol I just read the post I made and it's pretty funny. Yeah Can't bot a DM.....

I'm expecting my mum to be discharged this thursday so th previous weeks have being pretty hectic for me especailly when I'm also a GM for my local Con and Mike Brock is coming so all in all RL left me reeling for a while.

What's worse is that the hospital's wifi is ermm not very strong...

So then. First, I'm glad to read your mom is being discharged tonight. :)

Regarding the game, I wanted to share my thoughts. It appears we'll be sleeping with the fishes if we don't make them sleep with the fishes first. Reijo thinks a good strategy is to be there when one of their cronies is alone, kill them quickly and silently, then throw their body overboard to leave no evidence... take them out one by one, instead of open mutiny.

First question for nightdeath is, how many are with Plugg, how many are with us, and how many can go either way at this point?

Second, do we have an idea of both the schedule and behavioral patterns of the cronies? For example, say one particular crony likes to get a particular drink before hitting the bed, while another likes to spend a few minutes alone on deck before hitting the bed... the first could be poisoned, the second could get gagged from behind then pushed overboard.

Third, we're down to four players and I would be more comfortable with at least one more crewmate, if not two. If nightdeath remains understandably busy, perhaps we the players could conduct recruitment ourselves, sharing the burden until nightdeath is ready?

Did Mike drop out when I wasn't looking?

Doc is still here. I posted earlier this week; I've just got a lot of games going on right now and with how slow this one is moving it's not always my top priority to keep up with every day.

So I believe that makes 5 ;) Remidax is around; he's just the strong, silent type.

Ah but this is where the fun starts!

Yes you guess it right, this is the part where you get to own a ship though how you do it depends on your actions.

For your information, I'm posting who's supposed to be on board The Man's Promise:

Treat the last part with Terry as if he has told you all. I'm assuming that all infomation is shared unless you're Reijo who keeps things to himself. :P

My mum has being discharged so things are looking better now.

I think 5 players for now? I'll need to count.

Glad to hear it nightdeath.

Ah, I forgot to include myself actually when I said four... something Reijo usually does the exact opposite of, lol. Nevermind...

Yep, Remidax is around....being strong and silent.

:)

So nightdeath, regarding the below quote, anything we know? Reijo may be slightly mad... well, maybe more than slightly... but he is also very cunning. He won't just wantonly slay a random crony without planning out a way to get away with it (e.g. do so without observers, and erase all evidence).

Second, do we have an idea of both the schedule and behavioral patterns of the cronies? For example, say one particular crony likes to get a particular drink before hitting the bed, while another likes to spend a few minutes alone on deck before hitting the bed... the first could be poisoned, the second could get gagged from behind then pushed overboard.

Will updated the next post to give the party a slightly better idea how to proceed.

Checking in. Hope all is well, nightdeath.

I hate Pazio for now.... My post....all that typing..and I didn't copy it.....

I'll get back to it say on Sunday or so....It was quite a long post...

I've found it is always wise to save before submitting anything significant on the paizo boards, due to their timeout.

I feel your pain, lol. Yeah, this forum's timeout really sucks.

Along the lines of what Nolwazi wrote, what I do is select all and copy before each and every time I hit the Preview or Submit button. Easier to do on a computer, though (which I usually post from). If you post a lot from a phone or tablet, maybe there's a notetaking app to make it easier? Or use a website, like Google Docs? Copy and paste into Paizo when done.

Bribes! Awesome...

Do we intend to make a move today, tonight? We could grab a few key sections (helm, foodstores) and maybe box in the officers into their cabin if we put our minds to it. They might have a few folks locked away that they would use hostages.

Agreed! By all means, sacrifice away nightdeath. ;)

So let's think of a plan here. First, I think we have Plugg, Scourge, Fipps, Aretta, and five (?) guards to worry about, right?

Attacking them at once might (?) be too difficult. Scourge I think has a set of pistols on him, and he and Plugg kept the best gear during the last fight.

Reijo's been thinking of knocking off one at a time. Maybe put something slippery on the ground where Fipps usually relieves himself, give him a push if needed, and swiftly send him swimming with the sharks. "It was an accident..."

Also, I think the plants might be for a druid to entangle someone when they're alone. Or something along those lines... maybe they release a gas to sedate us when they desire to make someone disappear. Definitely not for our viewing pleasure.

You already know that some people have already disappeared and some may not be who they seem to be. The Soldiers on the other hand all seem loyal to Mr Plugg and Master Scourge.

The other crew members have already taken sides but things may change. The gold given is partially as you;ll coming to a trading post and you have little or no gold to spend. Doesn't mae sense to me especially as wat comes forth from the next encounters makes you all meh.....

It just occurred to me, Grok is not on the ship with us? Is there a place to buy stuff?

Also, how many soldiers are there again? 5 are permanent guards... but do you mean all 45 of the Rahadoumi are soldiers loyal to Plugg et al?

Heh Heh Heh. Copied and Bolded to highlight some clues

Everybody gets 200 gp due to GM peeves. An additional 200gp for waiting so kindly. Another 300gp because the forum apparently needs some form of sacrifice.

With careful observation no doubt aided by the rest of the crew who have decided to throw their lot with you, the behaviour and patterns of the rest of the crew seems unchanged.

Master Scourge is always with Mr Plugg and they're usually either in the captain's cabin or with a cohort of five Rahadoumi sailors and their underlings. Rare is that they are alone and you know that the officers cabins are barred from entry. Opened only from the inside as confirmed by Rattsberger.

Aretta & Fipps share the same room and are usually found together in the stores acting as quartermasters and usually in charge of the manifest duties for the day. Fipps has an almost regular habit of finding time to himself at noon to relieve himself. The crew almost relies on him for time.

Jaundiced Jape seems to have fallen out of favor with the rest even though he's the helmsmen, besides being seen with the rest, he's usually alone with the wheel. He's even being spotted sleeping beside the wheel wrapped only in a thin blanket. He can never be found during meal times and doesn't interact much with the other crew besides the occasional chatter. He's also the only one you note who doesn't seem to have an officer bunk. He's also seen curiously holding his nose and has obtained a peg to clipped his nose shut.

The rest of the Rahadoumi besides their various ship duties can be found at pretty much a regular routine for them. With five of their own as permanant guards for the officers, the rest can be found scattered around the ship on duties, resting or simply whiling time away. It should be noted that these sailors seldom drink and if they do, it's usually small amounts.

Owlsbear has not being seen since he's boarded the ship and the others assume that he's being kept below decks as a guarddog of sorts.

Maheem has being keeping to himself and is invaluable to the rest of you for his incredbile ability to keep himself unseen and unheard as he moves along the ship. He's also proven himself to be a capable unarmed fighter.

“Ratline” Rattsberger admitted to being a poor fighter with his skills mostly focused on the opening and crafting of locks in all its forms. He's also still shaken from the fact that his buddy, Crimson got taken out.

Kroop as a cook ironically has being reduced to just helping to serve the crew and he vehemently complains about Aretta & Fipps making a mess in the kitchen.

Sandara notes that for some reason, Mr Plugg has kept sweet smelling plants she could not identify around various parts of the ship particularly the crew's quarters and places where they are usually assigned their duties.

Of Rosie Cusswell, there is no sign of her.

Of Crimson “Cog” Cogward, other than Rattsberger and Conchobhar being his bunk mates and possible friend, no one has seen him since the first night. From the battle before, he is also another capable fighter possibly the best on the ship. A fact Maheem readily agrees. Though he has a temper and has no love for either Plugg or Scourge, he doesn't go all out to antagonize him.

Of Conchobhar Turlach Shortstone, he maintains that he is a gambler and the stakes in this endeavour is high, though he sees no options other than to place all his bets on you. He's an illusionist of note though he claims that without his spellbook, he's next to useless.

Any Plans yet how you would like to proceed?

I lobbed out a proposal, waitin' for a reaction from people.

Apologies, I've joined one to many games for the time I now have available, lol. I will post soon.

This goes out to all my games.

The worst has happened. The event that I've being dreading has occured. I'll be unable to post as I deal with the loss of family, namely my mother. I'm sorry for the lack of posting lately and truly am sorry for springing this upon all of you.

I'll be back once things have settled down more.

My condolences for you and your situation. Stay strong.

Sorry to hear that man. My condolences.

Wow. You have my sympathy as well. Take all the time you need, we'll be here.

Sorry to hear that. My condolences.

Am Back. Shall we continue where we left off?

Let's go!

Sure, I'm happy to carry on.

Honestly I'm a bit confused at the moment at unfolding events. Your earlier hints about the Rahadoumi not drinking, the quartermasters and Rosie were not something that shed any enlightenment on the situation.

Great. I'm ready.

I am a bit confused as well. I attribute it to the combination of the infrequency of play and my suboptimal memory.

I surmise that Rosie and the other missing crew members are more likely captured and hidden somewhere than dead at Plugg and the gang's hands. I'm going with them being killed only to play my character, who was looking for any excuse to enact violent vengeance against his kidnappers. :o

I don't know why it's important that we know Aretta and Fipps are quartermasters, or why it's important that we notice the Rahadoumi seldom drink. Except to rule out poisoning their drinks as a plan, perhaps.

It is handy to know about Jape being on the outs, though.

Here's a further hint.

Aretta and Fipps are quartermasters, they give out drinks (rum)...........

The Rahadoumi seldom drink but there really is no reason not to drink.
They come form the land of the Living God. So they actualy have different religion from the rest.

The plants seem unusual yet they are placed there. They don't seem harmful either.

Rosie is an NPC that has become important to Reijo or so he believes.

Jape being on the outs is well another clue.

I would say that the party needs to get together and figure out this puzzle. Knowledge checks would come in useful or plain intelligence checks. I'm bit of a lover of some puzzles so if it's just to confusing, I'll scrape it.

Oh okay. I didn't know who gave out the rum rations. Guess the Rahadoumi don't care so much about the fates of Fipps and Aretta then.

Do you mean the Rahadoumi don't drink on account of their religion? Or that it's just weird they are not drinking? Not that Reijo would probably know about their religion. All he knows is that this leaves more rum for him, lol.

Reijo is now thinking that Rosie is not the important person he initially thought, but rather the shapeshifter is that person? This would explain why she did not resemble that person physically, only their expressions, mannerisms, and the trinket (e.g. the shapeshifter took Rosie's form). He saw the shapeshifter on the ship recently, so he is not expecting the important person is missing, but rather the actual Rosie... though, I could be wrong. Lol.

I love puzzles. Please don't change a thing. :)

Alright, the proverbial s&!t has hit the fan. Is anyone else nearby from the party?

Hmm I'll hold to see if there's anyone else before I post the results of Fipps getting flipped......

Would Reijo want Bellamy on lookout?

I can be on deck if you need, but I'm probably not as good a backup as Bellamy.

Random conspiracy theory time:

1) A doppleganger, or multiple dopplegangers (or something like them) are on hand (or maybe a parasite?)

2a)Something is in the rum that they are feeding us
2b)The critter(s) are susceptible to alcohol

3) Jaundice Jape knows *something*; he's avoiding the other officers and any smells - perhaps related to the plants?

4) Whomever threw the body overboard (probably Crimson?) did so in a well coordinated fashion. A group, as opposed to an individual, is implied.

5) Maybe the plants are covering up some sort of unpleasant odor? Maybe the smell of decay or rot?

...that's off the top of my head.

EDIT: the wackiest thing I could think of off the top of my head would be an infestation of mindslaver mold, although I think you can usually see the mold. Or: a Penanggalen liberally using charm person; might have an issue with light though, at least when the head's detached.

Of course, there could be a mundane explanation for some things.

Penanggalen?

Sorry no Asian malay vampires running around here. Interesting idea though...I'll run it through my home group. Heh Heh Heh.

If they complain, I'll ask them to look for you.

1) Is a suspicion so far guessing to be one.
2) Possibility
3) You could ask.
4) Definitely
5) Checks will be needed.

Lol Bellamy. Actually, I was thinking more in terms of, in case I fail to get him off in 1 round (not 100% confident about the 15 I rolled), and to prevent him from yelling for help, might be nice for someone to get my back if they have another idea for silencing and/or pushing him off deck.

Interesting ideas, Nolwazi. Hmmm...

You know, I am wondering why the scent of musk on Fipps might be important. Two stray thoughts occur to me, neither of which I find probable but, here goes. First, the signs are not really there, but there is this. Second, a search of teh gameplay thread reveals no other instances of "musk" or "musky," but I recall that our former companion Terry was magically seduced by the shapeshifter and smelt of perfume or something as I recall... no way for any of us to know this in-character, however... yet, I hope I didn't just try to throw the important person overboard, lol.

Close but no sugar.

You might want to check out the other crew? A simple Perception rolled in this dicussion thread might reveal other things as a sort of retro, in uncovering clues.