DM Jesse's Kingmaker PbP (Inactive)

Game Master Jesse Heinig

Cassandra sniffs and determines that he's gone somewhere to the west, though you're not sure exactly where.

You hear the shaman muttering more incantations as Tartuk casts another spell.

Perception DC 20 to pinpoint that location by hearing.

Then the shaman suddenly appears behind you! Startled, Mikmek nearly jumps out of his skin - but he doesn't have a readied attack, as he was watching you fight.

Feel free to ask for clarifications before you take action.

Round Four

The devil within her minds eye begins to fade as it reaches for her. Taking quick breaths, she looks around, somewhat confused. "Ha... Ahm... Wh-where did the sh-shaman go? I-i'm fine, where is he?"

Bluff: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10

She quickly looks around, wary of what may happen next.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Telmarni then snaps her head towards the direction of where she heard Mikmek shout.

Well, she may have just pinpointed where Tartuk is. But she also heard that the shaman appeared behind them in the passage. Hm...

Round 4

Although Korinne can hear the sound of Tartuk as he casts another spell, she can't quite pinpoint the direction the sounds are coming from. But when the shaman suddenly appears from behind them, she smiles.

"Ah hah! Hold reeeeal still...!" she says as she steps forward and takes aim. "Watch out Mikmek!" she cries as she heaves the small stone towards the shaman.

Attack (Thunderstone): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

She'll try to lob it behind Tartuk, but anyone in a 10 foot radius from here it hits needs to make a DC 15 Fort save or be deafened for an hour. She can't make that Perception check, sooo...yeah.

Hitting a particular square is only AC 5. Don't roll a 1!

Hmm, let's see what I got.

Kavalina rushes forward with her glaive at the Kobold Shaman. As she moves forward she shouts out more rhetoric. Now with him reappearing she could continue to press the attack.

"Thy enemy hides and cowers. They shall not escape our righteous might. Shall my blade to forth and smite the!" Bringing her blade down to strike the Shaman.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 1 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 = 10

Round 4 of Sermon

Kava rushes the shaman and brings her glaive down in a perfect arc - which passes through him as if he's immaterial or a ghost.

UH-OH!

With Telmarni's perception earlier in the thread, could she know where the spell casting was coming from?

Based on various factors it's DC 30 to locate the actual square. Based on your Perception roll Telmarni can tell that the spellcasting came from somewhere to the west of your group - not at all where Tartuk appears to be (and was unsuccessfully struck by Kava) - but not exactly where.

Ah, thank you DM. I will make sure to act accordingly when my turn comes to pass. But I think he will move again before that happens. >.<

Round 4

"It's a trick. He's over there," Cassandra says pointing west. Her nose could not be fooled by an illusion. That was nearly impossible to fake. Cassandra heeds her own advice and advances tot he west, trying to sniff out the exact location.

Move two, possible three, squares to the left and as a move and use another to try pinpoint the square. I think only Carrina could respond at this point though.

Ayup. No scent from the Tartuk that Kava just struck.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

I'm also a bit confused... on the map, Kavalina is between the chief and Korinne, and Tartuk is behind Mikmek. Kavalina hit another illusion or is she in the incorrect place?

Kavalina just wasn't moved on the map.

Cassandra points out his exact location if she can find it.

Cassie moves a short distance to the west (2 squares), then stops and sniffs the air. "There!" she shouts, pointing at nothing.

Note that while Cassie has pinpointed the real Tartuk, he's still invisible - concealment still applies. But you can swing at the square he is in!

Yea sorry for not moving her. On my tablet I can't access roll20. Whose turn is it?

Carinna felt lost when the shaman disappeared and once more when he reappeared... just to be hit by Kavalina and be discovered to be just an image. This combat wasn't what she considered a honored battle but she fully knew that 'honor' wasn't always the case. When Cassandra pointed to a direction, she did not think twice before bolting forward and slashing.

Attack (dueling sword): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Concealment (<50%): 1d100 ⇒ 78 hit
Attack (dueling sword): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

"Ha! I think I got it!"

Carinna leaps and lashes out at the air, and her sword meets resistance. Strange black blood gouts from nothingness and covers her blade, spatters her arm, and even gets in her hair. A moment later there is a soft "thump" but the kobold shaman remains invisible. The image of him over by Kavalina flickers out of existence.

COMBAT ENDS

Mikmek raises his small spear and cheers. The other kobolds slowly filter in from behind, watching wonderingly.

Chief Sootscale plants his spear, then realizes that he needs to make an address, so he lifts his spear, turns to face his tribe, and plants it in the ground again. He says,

The chief doesn't seem to have a great vocabulary, but he sure commits to it.

The kobolds give a ragged cheer.

Chief Sootscale continues,

Then he addresses the party, saying,

Chief Sootscale smiles a toothy smile.

Having been given the all clear to go through Tartuk's things, you find:
* A large pile of garbage like broken weapons, fragments of armor, pieces of dirty cloth, and chunks of worthless but shiny rock
* One small masterwork cold iron sickle
* (Magic) One wand

Defeating Tartuk is worth 200 xp to each party member!

You are free to keep talking with the kobolds if you wish, or leave quickly to count your loot. You could stay for dinner if you like...

Remember as well that one of your goals is to remove the kobolds as a problem, either by eliminating them, forcing them to move away, or forging a treaty with them.

"Oh...I get it now," Korinne responds as Carinna's sword draws blood and the visible image of Tartuk winks out of existence. "A diversion, probably to try and get away. Clever!" Then a brief look of regret crosses her face. "A shame I wasted that thunderstone on an image, though..."

As Chief Sootscale gives his address to the gathered kobolds, Korinne cheerfully translates. "Well! Now that that bit of unpleasantness is done, hopefully now we can finish working out some sort of deal so everyone can get along in the future." She looks at the others, particularly Carinna and Cass. "I think you two might have the best ideas on what sort of agreement to shoot for. An alliance might be nice, but some sort of uh...'we don't bother you, you don't bother us' arrangement would probably work too."

Then, she turns her attention to the small pile of gear and other objects found within Tartuk's quarters. "Ahhh...let's see what we have here..."

Spellcraft (Wand): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Spellcraft (Bracers): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Spellcraft (Bolts): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Spellcraft (Boots): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Spellcraft (Dust): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

After poring over a few specific items exuding magical auras, she looks up. "Wow, Tartuk had quite a haul!" she exclaims. "This wand shoots Magic Missiles, these bracers make the wearer a little harder to hit, and anything hit with these bolts is likely to wind up burned." Her face falls. "But I can't quite figure out what sort of enchantments the boots and this bag of dust have."

Sense Motive DC 20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Carinna is caught between the feeling of cheering for the defeat of the shaman and the urge to clean herself from his blood. It is even in may hair! She breaths a couple times to contain herself before addressing Korinne. "I believe it will be better if we first secure a non-threatening agreement with them before we strike a bargain that we could regret in the future... it could be also a good idea to make an arrangement that in any case of conflict or trouble, we would be the ones to talk to them, like some sort of emissaries... Mikmek could be theirs... do we have anything that could work as a 'peace badge' to give him?"

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Blood always smelled oddly appealing to Cassandra. A remnant of her mixed heritage she supposed. She was pragmatic. She knew the dangers of raw meat but sometimes she wanted to give it a try. She looks down at the scrawny, scale-covered kobold. He would not certainly not test her will in this case. Blugh.

"I can't even understand them. And the ones I do know are...different. Several of them are his color," she says pointing at Tartuk. She could at least gather that the word was the kobold's name the way the chief spoke. "But not evil like him. So I think non-aggression is a good place to start though. Is there are any, like, small sharptooth statues? That could be a good symbol. Otherwise, I don't think I have anything distinguishing."

And since she couldn't communicate with them, Cassandra busies herself going through the less obvious items. Broken weapons could be fixed or smelted back into iron. Armor scraps could be turned into patches or strips. She also takes the bolts, wondering if replacing the shaft to make an arrow would negate the magic.

Can I attempt to use Craft (Bower) to turn the bolts into arrows by replacing the shaft? From what I understand, bolts are shorter and thicker. But if the enchantment is on the head it might be possible. I don't think anyone has a crossbow.

Bolts are too short. You wouldn't be able to get enough draw length to use them in a bow.

Standing quietly against the wall of the cavern, Telmarni tries her best to regain herself after that frightful encounter. ... I am simply not used to such things. My past still haunts me in my mind, so how can I overcome such fears... Steadying herself, she takes a couple breathes and helps gather the items around Tartuk's lair.

She quietly checks the two items that Korinne was not able to figure out.

Spellcraft of Boots: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Spellcraft of Dust: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Looking at both of them, Telmarni was able to discern what the two remaining magical items were. Pointing them out to the group, she describes them. "These boots are Boots of Elvenkind, they assist in people doing acrobatics and such." She then points to the pouch of dust. "This contains Dust of Illusion. It helps in disguising oneself, or a creature you sprinkle upon them. Both of them are rather potent I think, but I think the boots are a bit more valuable then the dust though." But once she states what they are, Telmarni goes back to gathering items into a sorted pile.

With talk of what to do about the Kobolds now, Telmarni looks up from the chore she decided to do. "Um, Non-Aggression would be a good idea. And considering the chief's reaction for the statue at the entrance, we might want to think of something other than something similar to that sharptooth statue."

With gathering all done, she helps carry the various items back to the horses and such. But if anyone inquires about what happened to cause her to go into a frenzy like that, Telmarni sighs and replies; "I will talk about it later. Just not now, okay? I... I am still a bit on edge I guess you could say." As she timidly states.

Chief Sootscale says,

Korinne nods as everyone seems to agree upon on a non-aggression pact as a good starting point. "Okay, non-agression it is! Oh, but...we should probably try to figure out some borders too, for their space and ours right?"

She turns to the Chief.

Carinna nods to Korinne. "I believe borders are important but just not now... we are still scouting the region and it seems to me that we'll still spend months, even years before we are fully settled... I believe we should wait a little longer, try to evaluate the whole picture before striking such rules with them."

"Hum...I guess you're right," Korinne responds, her face scrunched up in thought. "Funny, it seems like this would have been easier if we'd run across the kobolds after we'd scouted more of the region...but on the other hand maybe there would've been more fighting between the two groups if we hadn't."

She shrugs. "I guess this way is probably for the best."

Vance says, "Gonna depend if'n people move out t'these parts. Y'get herdsmen raisin' sheep or goats out on these hillsides, then it'll be a problem. If nobody sets up a shack out here, 'tisn't an issue."

After Korinne says her piece to Chief Sootscale, he shouts to the kobolds that the fighting and the hard times are over at last.

You spend a few hours with the kobolds, who have a small victory celebration. (The fact that they are celebrating that you murdered their shaman doesn't seem to bother them.) You discover, much to your chagrin, that kobold cuisine does not mesh well with the human palate: Not only do they forage for grubs, insects, and worms, but they have little sense of cooking, and they are as happy to eat organs and bones as to eat meat from the small creatures that they catch with their traps - mostly groundhogs and rabbits. Anyone who isn't used to survival in the wild finds the meal rather difficult to choke down. (Cassandra and Vance have no trouble.)

After your "victory meal," you are ready to head back out into the wild - or perhaps back to Oleg's, since you have at least a non-aggression deal worked out and you've recovered Svetlana's ring.

This also allows you to finish exploring the hex with the kobold lair, for another 100 party xp.

Where to next?

400 left to go. So close. Need Point Blank and Precise.

Bugs? Fine. Insects? Okay. Worms? Slimy yet satisfying. Raw rabbit? Monsters. Did they not know how to make a good rabbit stew? They lived underground. There was plenty of roots and mushrooms one could throw in and a Cassandra distinctly remembered seeing some herbs on the walk to the cavern entrance. They even had some basic cooking utensils. Time to be diplomatic in her own way.

Survival: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30 Every 2 beyond 12 is food for someone else. That's 9 people. Explorer doubles that to 18 people.

With little explanation, Cassandra leaves the table with a single parting "Nope," and comes back after some mild scavenging. Well, not really mild. She comes back, arms laden with plant life. She snatches a few choice hares before the kobolds can continue this blasphemy any further and sets to work. Working quickly, she has a mouth watering stew cooking in the washed out cauldron Tartuk used to own within minutes. "Raw rabbit? Barbarians. I am starting to bought this agreement," she says half-jokingly in common.
-----------------
After the meal and goodbyes are said, Cassandra cracks open the map to go over the next stop. "I think we should head west and then up the river. Jhod's looking for a temple to Erastil and the Fey said there was a temple in the forest up here. And we have plenty of food for a few days."

Suggest we explore along the river into F10 then up to E9 and eventually over to D6.

"I'm not sure about you but I could really use a bath right now... If I'm correct, the Shriek river is a bit south and from there we could move west..." Carinna suggests, still trying to take the dried blood out of her hair.

We could go F10 -> F8 -> E9 -> E7 -> D6 -> D4 -> C5 -> B6 -> A7 -> Return to Oleg's... I believe we have enough rations for that and we'd be able to explore the J, I, and C spots before returning!

Cassandra looks at Carinna confused, then sniffs once and reels back. "Right. Bath."

The river goes north west from F10 to D8. Pretty sure it is too big to cross unless we find a crossing.

You are probably right so remove F8 and E7 from my previous itinerary if we don't find a crossing!

I have a feeling we aren't getting that far are we DM?

Depends on whether anything stumbles across you. Also, if your goal is to reach level 3, remember you get quest completion xp for returning the ring and forging a truce when you get back to Oleg's.

"Weeeee should probably go back to Oleg's," Korinne says slowly. "This is pretty important so it'd probably be a good idea to let Oleg and Kesten know about it."

"By the way, you were a lifesaver with that stew," she whispers to Cass with a friendly nudge. "The grubs weren't that bad...sorta tasted like chicken. But the raw meat..." she shudders.

End Sermon, 4 Rounds Left

"While I've had better," she grits her teeth in a unsettled fashion, "I admire the effort."

Will post Saturday. Wish me luck

"Maybe," Cassandra concedes. "That radish patch we found those kobolds wasn't far from Oleg's. I wonder if they were the same tribe though?"

"Hey...that's a good point, I'd forgotten about that," Korinne responds with some surprise. "Good memory, Cass! Telmarni or I can ask Mikmek or the Chief about it before we go. Maybe if they're all from the same tribe we can work out some sort deal with the radishes too...if the non-aggression thing goes well, I mean."

Telmarni quietly participates in the celebratory feast and is glad Cassandra manages to prepare a suitable stew before long. She perks up slightly when she receives a bowl of it. "...Thank you. I-I have had worse though. So I wont complain about it." She smiles slightly then with her face darkened again, she consumes the stew.

With talk of what to do next, she notes that with all the rations, they could probably map out at least a few more sections of these lands. But when it turns to the Radishes and those Kobolds, she looks up, slightly confused. "Um, I think you can do that better Korinne. While I can speak their language, it doesn't mean I can say the right words. But anyway, I think that most likely they are the same tribe. That field is nearby after all."

"You're probably right, but it can't hurt to ask," Korinne replies. "I mean, what are the odds right?"

She waves Mikmek over.

As she poses her question to Mikmek, she glances over at Kavalina and grins. "Not even a week with us and you've already had one 'adventure' of sorts. Has it been anything like you expected so far?"

Kava smiles, "Not at all. I had never expected to solve diplomatics of Kobolds. Rather amusing. Some Orc ancestor of mine long dead would be rather elated at my rushing of the enemy."

"To be honest neither did I," Korinne chuckles. "Actually, I'm not really sure what I expected. Lots of traipsing around through the woods mainly? I know that's what I told my family, anyway! The thought of bandits bothered them enough..." she frowns. "They'd just worry even more if they knew about the big spiders...kobolds...fey..."

Mikmek says,

Chief Sootscale adds,

You realize now that there are only 10 kobolds left in the tribe, including Chief Sootscale, so even if they abrogated their treaty, they would hardly be a match for you.

Having struck a bargain to keep the kobolds from being a threat earns you 100 xp each for completing that quest, plus the xp value for "defeating" the kobolds, which is another 320 xp. This means after you get a good night's sleep and head out in the morning you are level 3. Once you return to Oleg's you'll also be eligible for the reward.

Following Cassie's suggestion to head west and then up the river?

Via translation by Korinne or Telmarni.

Hearing that the kobold's have sent scouts into the forest, the one place they have yet to tackle, Cassandra becomes interested. She pulls out her notes and the map she and Hatch had been working on. With some mediation, she offers a trade of knowledge to fill in some more detail the areas they will be headed to to next. She also adds any sightings she has of wild game in that would be safe to hunt. She especially warns them away from the area where they had met the pack of wolves. They'd pose a threat to humans and a lot more to a kobold.

"Um, I think you can do that better Korinne. While I can speak their language, it doesn't mean I can say the right words. But anyway, I think that most likely they are the same tribe. That field is nearby after all."

"They stuffed themselves so badly a wolf pup could have killed them. And if they like them that much, we can have someone farm them as a trade good. I imagine that's what could most offer. Food. Food for ore if this is a working mine."

Nodding in agreement with Cassandra, about even a wolf pup could have killed them, Telmarni sighs. "They did seem to be a bit... Out of it when we met them... And since they are so few in number, they don't pose much of a threat. And could be re-"

She stops speaking and looks down at her scimitar. "Weird... It felt like something tugged on my weapon or something. Did anyone walk past me or something?"

I agree with Cassandra's suggestion, going west and north along the river! Also DM, how much time will be feasible for Carinna to learn draconic?

Carinna was pretty happy with the results they achieved so far but also impressed that many new 'problems' were being created that she had never anticipated before, the most urgent in her mind is her lack of language knowledge. When she was younger and her uncle Daramir taught her about politics, he always said about the importance of knowing your 'commercial partners' language and also about the importance of embassies and ambassadors... she was aware that they had not founded a kingdom yet but good relationships were always useful.

Walking towards the others, Carinna has a proposal. "Hum... I was thinking if any of you could teach me how to speak this draconic language... not that I do not trust you for the translations but mostly because it slows us down too much... another interesting thing would be to teach one of the kobolds properly how to speak our own language, so future negotiations will be easier. What if we talked to the chief about making Mikmek some kind of ambassador? He could better teach me his language and in return I'll teach ours..."

I'm assuming that we're probably camping somewhere near the kobold home that night and then heading out the next morning?

The Next Day...

When Korinne rises and helps pack camp the next morning, there's a curious new addition to her possessions - a small brown bat that clings to her backpack. "Look at this!" she exclaims as she holds up the pack. "She must've followed us out of the Sootscales' cavern; I saw a few bats in there in the corners when we were looking around yesterday but I never thought any of them would actually get this close to people."

She attempts to shoo the bat, who clings stubbornly to the backpack and emits a rather irritated series of squeaks. "And I can't get to leave, either! If I move her off the pack she just circles around and then lands right back where she was." She shakes her head. "I promise I didn't feed her or any other critters so I'm not sure why she's even here at all. But she's not tried to bite me either, so that's something right?" As she carefully shoulders her pack, she shrugs. "Maybe she'll fly back to her home once we saddle up and get moving."

"Anyway, that's a pretty good idea about the languages Carinna," she continues. "I know I'd be happy to help and Telmarni too, but learning it directly from Mikmek or one of the other kobolds would be interesting - maybe there's a local dialect that's different from the standard? Ohhh, maybe I'll sit in on some of those lessons too if I get a chance!"

As they continue to pack and make ready to get moving, she looks up as Telmarni speaks. "No, not me. Maybe one of the horses brushed against you?"

Oh, I didn't think it was a new day yet. >.< Lets see...

Night outside of the Caves

Morose and keeping to herself, Telmarni spends the night once again keeping watch and practicing her swordsmanship. Her thoughts continue to return about the shaman and her own past. Why... I thought... No, they are all over, aren't they. People using such dark magic like that. I don't know what to do. Finishing up she sheathes her sword, she hears a deep, yet calm voice speak to her. You just need to do right by others... Startled, she looks around, wondering who spoke. Was that Vance? No, too deep for that. Shaking free of her thoughts, she flies up into a tree to keep watch for the night.

The Dawn of a New Day

Helping others get ready, Telmarni stays quiet about last night, only mentioning the tug. "I don't know, I heard a strange voice last night... It was weird. Right after I finished practicing last night too. Might have something to do with my sword? It was strange to begin with, being black and all that." She draws her scimitar to show it to Korinna. "See, it is black..." Looking upon the blade, Telmarni does notice that it is glowing slightly. That's new. But, is it me, or does it seem to be glowing?"

The next day

Kavalina finishes a long set of prayers and looks to the Strix,"The divine call us all in different ways. For me it is the beauty of creation, of all things," she says as she fixes her hair into a short ponytail. Taking a swamp cloth, she wiped and dirt and grime from her glaive, checking it for any imperfections.

"I'll see what I can do."

Spellcraft: 1d20 ⇒ 19