GM Carimac's (PBP Gameday VI) #2-15: Shades of Ice—Part I: Written in Blood (Inactive)

Game Master CariMac

Ain't no one needin' no saves so long as this stick's got magic innit. 'N ifi it runs out, it'll make a fine piece o' kinlin' fer burnin'. Just ta be official, I spends a charge o' Endure Wintery Doom 'n Gloom on Ms. Carina Villasani.

Just to be clear, is Spackle or Archon using there wand?

I am using my wand on the last two requests from Prothero & Carina.

I have two uses from Spackle, and one from Archon on Solstice. Solstice did you still want the wand to arrive via boat?

Rafarta cracks a small smile as the would be suitor leaves without another word. "Thank you Solstace. Some of the men around here can be troublesome. I'm on duty, and not interested in making dates after work or during my break." She sighs.

Rafarta answers Spackle. "I do have a moment to answer question. You are clearly not from around here. Did you need to know where to find an inn or a shop? I'm here to help."

"Well, we be hearin' ye mightin' be able ta tell 'bout a pair a characters we've been hearin' 'r in town. One Hjort Fastaxe and a hot-headed priestess by the name o' Runa White. Got any stories ta share?"

I have two uses from Spackle, and one from Archon on Solstice. Solstice did you still want the wand to arrive via boat?

We determined Solstice would not need one for cold weather due to her boon, at least under the current weather conditions so she will skip the charge and the delivery.

"They are a troublesome pair, worse than that good we just got rid of. We need to find them before they cause more trouble."

@Solstice No delivery. Got it.

“Can’t say as I remember the name of the place, but when they tried to hire my cousin, they told him to meet them at some hole in the market. I don't know which hole in the market it was. Any other questions?”

"Well, now that ya mention it, what kinda work was yer cousin lookin' fer? Is he more than just another blade fer hire?"

When the conversation with Rafarta is complete, Prothero offers a suggestion, "If we don't find all the information we need from talking to the people on our list, perhaps we could go to the market and one or two of us could pretend to be looking for work, like Rafarta's cousin? Of course, Hjort won't be hiring anyone any time soon."

With a sly chuckle, "Well, as of seven hours ago, 'e does have five positions ta fill."

Again, waiting until we are away from Rafarta for this conversation. Hoping we did not kill him as we defended ourselves.

"...Of course, Hjort won't be hiring anyone any time soon."

@Prothero

Solstice begs her leave of Rafarta (after she answers Spackle's question).

"Shall we keep asking questions or try to find this hole in the market? I'm getting a bit chilly and would't mind a little action to warm me up."

We found out the GM misnamed the one we killed. That was NOT Hjort.

Right you are, I had forgotten that we got that correction. Thanks.

Even though he wouldn't be much of a social butterfly if he talked, Zero is definitely living up to his new nickname....

Zero follows the group along, not doing much besides acting the bodyguard. His training, innate stamina, and gear keep him from the worst of the cold, but still he rubs his stone hands together vigorously to further stave it off, practically sharpening them in the process.

Seeing icicles tinkle off the monk, the bard stops and retrieves his wand. "Not certain ifin yer stone through 'n through there Statue, but best not ta take no chances. Unless ya gots a vow o' stayin' cold 'r sumthin'." The bard waits for some acknowledgement from Zero.

If it's cool, give Zero a love tap off the wand. If not, I shall respect that.

"Asking about one will likely lead to the other anyway,"Carina adds to the conversation., "so we might as well ask about both. However, can we pause our investigation for now? It's starting to get dark, and when that happens, we'll all be wanting a warm fire, with or without magic."

Last count we've been at this for 8 hours, so i thought it wise to bring that up.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Rafarta shakes her head. "Nah he's just a blade for hire. Nothing special about him. Between you and me he's kind of dumb. Wasn't dumb enough to head to that tavern though. His mama probably had something to do with that. There's better work to be found around here."

She waves as group leaves.

One more hint/townsperson to go. I'm going to roll the Gather Information roll to see how long it will take for you to find the last piece of information. If you want to wait until the next morning, split the time between today and tomorrow, or find the info today those are all options.

Gather Iformation: 1d6 ⇒ 2

I say we go for it with the last one on the list, then call it a day.

As with the previous efforts, Prothero lets others take the lead. Being a bit further along in life than his companions, he opts to hang back and do his best impression of the shy but decent uncle. Unfortunately, he ends up coming across as the creepy half-brother.

Diplomacy, Aid: 1d20 ⇒ 1

I take it we are on to this fellow - Thorngrin Brightbeard, male gnome outcast. So what are the available skill rolls for this one and what it the setting?

"Sounds like a plan, friend Spackle. While I have no such vow, I tend to not directly ask for such things. I likely do it because I feel it makes me a burden, which is, of course, foolish. I will gladly accept your offer."

I figured I would ask about it at some point, but then I forgot and my rolls were quite good. Let's do it!

Thorngrin has been in Trollheim for nearly a year, and though he dreams of leaving, the harsh weather always seems to prevent that from happening. As a result, he knows a great deal about the locals, especially anyone residing or working in the market.

You approach the smiling cheerful gnome. Hiya I'm Thorngrin. I hear ya looking for something or someone in the Market. You've come to the right gnome. I know just about everything that's going on in this place." He ends his statements with a cough. It's clear he's down on his luck. He also looks sickly, and his clothing is well worn, and covered in mud spatters. There are a couple of healing bruises on his cheek.

Know Local or Diplomacy again. Also I apologize for the silence. This weekend just go too busy.

Know, local: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Diplo: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Excited to see another gnome so far from home, the bard spends fifteen minutes talking about everything except the information they need. He takes a seat in a local eatery after offering to buy a fellow 'cousin' a meal (and what's a meal without a drink or two?).

"Well met Thorngrin. It's true we be lookin' fer a couple personalities 'round here. Sum 'er sayin' yer the body ta talk to. Maybe you could see fit ta tell us a wee bit 'bout Hjort Fastaxe and his friend Runa White. Nearin' as we kin tell, they're not ones ta cross ifin' yer lookin' ta stay healthy."

Diplomacy aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"Nasty cough you got going there. These northern lands will do that to you. Did you grow up around here?"

One look at Thorngrin both tugs at Carina's heartstrings and makes her tighten her guard. After all, Being a Varisian child of the road gives you both sympathy for the downtrodden as well as an eye for the tricks one uses to take advantage of said sympathy. After watching Spackle interact with him, Carina firmly placed the gnome in the former group and distinctly not in the latter.

"Any help you can give would be a great boon," she adds after Spackle brings up Hjort and Runa.

Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

"Looks like she could use a little help. What have you done to treat those injuries, may I ask?"

Prothero preemptively failed to aid in Diplomacy on this encounter already, so he'll just keep quiet.

I'm back, finally, and I should be able to post frequently at this point. I apologize for vanishing a few times, it was unexpected. I do need to catch up on most of these social encounters, as I'm not really tracking much of them.

"Thank ye cousin. That's nice of you buying me food, and a drink or two. It's been a long time since I've seen another gnome. It's good to just get to visit." Thorngrin finishes off his meal and his third drink.

"Let's get down to business then. You wanted to know about Hjort Fastaxe and his friend Runa White. You're right they aren't people to know if you want to stay healthy. I try to stay away from the the Horned Helm, but sometimes I'm not give a choice. They’ve been there for weeks—months maybe. I tell ya, that Hjort can throw a punch, and don’t get Runa started about religion—she’s likely to talk about it long enough it starts a fight and the way she ends fights ain’t fair, ain’t right, and just ain’t normal. Runa is a dark-haired woman from Cheliax, and Hjort is a large brute with red hair, a red beard, and a scar across his left cheek.” After sharing the information Thorngrin will continue to chat with Spackle as long as he will hang around.

I'm back, finally, and I should be able to post frequently at this point. I apologize for vanishing a few times, it was unexpected. I do need to catch up on most of these social encounters, as I'm not really tracking much of them.

Welcome back. It's alright. Weather and jobs get in the way of fun all the time.

"We heard they were in some 'hole' in the market? Do you know what that might refer to?"

"Yep the Horned Helm is certainly a "hole" in the market. I'm sure that's the place."

"Well, sounds like we know where we're going next," Prothero says abruptly, standing from the table and heading for the door.

I believe it's evening, or perhaps late evening - seems a perfect time to catch someone at a bar, no?

Carina looks thoughtful for a moment. "Hjort has known that we've been in town for most of a day by now, "she finally states, "and has had plenty of time to prepare for us. While I'm not very expended, we are going after someone who as a vendetta against the Society. We should be at the top of our game when we confront him."

-Posted with Wayfinder

Prothero shrugs noncommittally.

I'm fine with pushing on or resting, as I have fewer limited resources.

What do the others think? Do you want to rest or push on? I'll wait until tomorrow am and then move forward with the majority vote.

Solstice is only down 2 first level spells and is up to continuing.

While it may not make a difference gameplay wise, the characters have had a long day. Spackle would opt for resting up. I as a player am good moving forward, even to just avoid some potential nighttime shenanigans of getting attacked because he knows we have been poking our nose into things. So, let's go for it.

I'm not sure I understand Spackle's position - he'd opt for resting up, but TriShadow would go for it. Which of you wins in that debate? ;)

I don't really care either way. I'm good on spells and could continue on, but if others would rather we can rest. I was under the impression we had already gotten a room off screen.

What Spackle said is what I'm getting at. Beyond the timing of whenever we reached Trollheim,(I'm assuming midmorning) we then just spent 10 hours canvasing the city for information. Carina's fine resource-wise, but in character, she's had a long day, and would want to rest, especially before going into what she knows is a fight.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Makes sense. Let's rest!

Again, Im good either way. Resting is fine.

Officially, my vote is to go to confront them now (unless we have a compelling reason not to). People wanting to rest is compelling enough for me, as forcing any player into a fight before hand may violate the 'good, clean fun' rule.

The group heads back to the warm inn. They find the meal to be filling and the company good. The night passes uneventfully, and they wake up refreshed and ready to head to the hole in the market that is the Horned Helm.

The Horned Helm is a low-slung, two-story building of questionable construction leaning heavily over a shoddy corner of mud and brick in the dankest, filthiest parcel of land in all of the market. It has no windows, as they’ve all been broken and boarded over; its only door looks like a simple plank of wood covered in scratches, burns, and probably blood stains.

Noise, heat, and smoke pour out from under that door and rise to a staggering crescendo of laughter as the door swings lazily open and two bodies are unceremoniously dumped into the rutted, frozen mud streets outside. A battered sign hangs above the door, swinging on two chains, one shorter than the other. It bears the faded image of an Ulfen helm with two ridiculously large horns.

Prothero studies the battered door of this thoroughly disreputable establishment, imagining what his family in far-away Taldor would think if they could see him now. Dismissing the thought, he lays a hand on his chest and calls upon an inner reserve of energy to defend himself in the fight that's sure to come. "Might be useful to take them alive, see what we can learn from them," he suggests to his companions. "I'm ready when you all are."

Use 1 ki point for barkskin. Will get someone to use his wand of mage armor on him as well.

The gnome offers to assist the monk, tapping and shaking the wand repeatedly as he experiments with how to actually activate the magical protection held within.
"Well, 'old on now..."
UMD: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
"Wait a minute..."
UMD: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
Yer suren' it's got a charge o' magic left init?"
UMD: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23
"Almost got the hang o' this stick o' yers..."
UMD: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
"AH HA! There ya go Prothero. Simplist o' things. Nuthin' to it."

Ah, a rowdy bar. Reminds me of home... which I left."

While Spackle is messing around with the wand, Solstice user a pair of wands to cast Heightened Awareness and Mage Armor on herself.

When she's done she says, "Ready when you are."

Zero drops to one knee to check if the two people are still breathing. Should the result satisfy him, the oread rises up, cracks his knuckles and displays a message. "At least I needn't worry about being heard amid that din," it reads. "Ready."

After the night's rest, Carina stays impassive as the group moves to the Horned Helm. As everyone else is buffing up, Carina pulls her own wand and taps herself with it, followed quickly by a brief unwrapping of her bladed scarf to cast a spell on herself before laying it on her shoulders like a shawl of sorts. "Shall we?"

Mage Armor from wand, and Heightened Awareness. Zero, If you want me to use your wand on you, just say the word.

You enter the Horned Helm. On any given day, the atmosphere inside the Horned Helm can easily be described as equal parts insanity and rage. Those who wish to pick a fight and throw punches against Trollheim’s hardiest brutes come here to do so, and most don’t spend an evening in the Helm without taking a punch or three.

Inside the Horned Helm, the crowd is unfriendly. The crowd immediately starts up cat calls and hurls drunken insults their way. The bartender is the worst. This enormous, bearded man wearing leather armor and conspicuously missing his right arm is the loudest and most vile—every insult he slings is met with raucous laughter from the crowd, who in turn insult the bartender’s insults and then hurl more at group.

The temperature inside the Horned Helm is stiflingly hot. This is because of two enormous iron furnaces crammed full of coal, wood, and anything else flammable that radiate the scorching fires of Hell themselves. Most of the crowd are sweating excessively, which only adds to the room’s dank stench.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23

Prothero nudges Spackle as they enter the chaotic scene inside the Horned Helm. "Don't look right away, but I see someone matching the description of our friend, far side of the bar," he says, with a subtle nod in that direction. He then catches the eyes of the other Pathfinders and flicks his glance in Hjort's direction.