GM thunderspirit |
Quietly, quietly, quietly makin' dots.
Valgrim |
An elf dressed in woodland leathers armed with a longbow and a scimitar sits patiently on a log awaiting others.
Mordenaar |
An obsidian-haired man of Kellid blood grabs a stout at the bar. His comportment is easy going. He's relaxed in manner, and quick to smile. He keeps half of his hair tied back and his beard with a day of stubble. While the other patrons find him to be friendly and harmless, adventurers can see otherwise. The tops of his scabbards are worn, indicating that he draws steel frequently. The scabbards hold a pair of gladii, a weapon you don't choose out of convenience, only through training. Though lean, the man is muscular. His large deltoid muscles bulge like corded rope. While his eyes linger over the buxom lasses, they also dart to every weapon and spell pouch in the room.
In the process of reducing my PbP, getting ready to focus. Looking forward to it (as always TS.)
GM thunderspirit |
Heh, funny you posted this...I've been working on the setup for this since Gameday IV closed. :-)
Your party has known each other for a short while, each of you hiring on as a caravan guard under one Silas Gribb, a competent — if somewhat unctuous — merchant, in the Taldan city of Cassomir, to escort the caravan of exotic foodstuffs upriver to the gnomish town of Wispil, then a load of rare Greenwood lumber from Wispil back to Cassomir.
The trip to Wispil was completely uneventful, despite your employer's near-constant furtive glances all about along the way. Gribb was thoroughly uncommunicative about his concerns, or indeed about much of anything, so after a couple of attempts were met with steely-eyed glares you decided instead to speak with each other rather than with him.
The return trip from Wispil brought you through the town of Belhaim, where the normal humdrum of a routine inspection suddenly gave way to the local sheriff producing a warrant for Gribb's arrest on smuggling charges.
The sheriff's deputies questioned you at length, eventually concluding you were not directly involved. They departed with Gribb in custody last evening, leaving you free to go, but broke; your bargain with Gribb was to be paid upon arrival back in Cassomir.
Stranded in Belhaim now, you know only each other and the kindhearted proprietor of the Wise Piper Inn, who was nearby when Gribb was arrested and took pity on your predicament; she let you know that Gribb had a rented room he kept at the Inn, to which you're welcome until the end of the month (about a week from now).
Feel free to introduce yourselves and get to know each other. We'll get rolling in earnest before too long.
Mordenaar |
Nice timing! So I find that no matter what I picture before play, it's the first few scenes that serve to build the personality.
Mordenaar is a North man who is looking to find fortune and glory. He just KNOWS that there's something out there that will give him a chance at greatness. He's not as savage a warrior as his clanmates, but he handles his blades with ease.
physical description at the top.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Achmed Ibn Saud |
Achmed is a six foot tall male ifrit with reddish orange skin and two small horns on his forehead. Dressed in red Kelish robes, he carries a longspear and a backpack. On his feet he wears fine soft leather travelling boots.
Valgrim |
Seeing the others at the Inn and maybe in the room rented by Gribb, the woodland dressed half elf says to the others "Well it looks like we will be sharing accommodations for a while and maybe meals at the inn. The name is Valgrim. I recently came from Kyonin.". Onlookers see the longbow and scimitar at his side with a green faith symbol pin on his cloak. He could be a ranger or even a druid or even something else...
Endar the Entertainer |
A young man wearing a sailor's hat and carrying a boarding pike enters the inn. On his shoulder is a small, scaly, birdlike creature with wickedly sharp-looking teeth. "Ahoy, friends! Me name's Endar! This here's Compy! Good ta' meet ya!"
Valgrim |
Looking at the mans face the half elf bluntly asks..."Did you really lose your eye or is the eye patch a fashion statement?"
Endar the Entertainer |
"Oh, it just helps me see better at night, you see? And of course the ladies love it! HA!"
Achmed Ifit |
"I am from Qadira. My people are more common there than in the northern climates."
Turning to Endar. "It is good to meet you as well". eyeing the bird creature on his shoulder. "Have you brought your lunch to the tavern?"
Valgrim |
"I've seen each of you during our travel as caravan guards but had no opportunity to speak to you all during the movement. Seems as Gribb has gotten in trouble again. He did say he was worried about coming here. I took it to mean the prices he was haggling over, not getting arrested." the woodsman says to the others around the table as he sips from his mug.
Endar the Entertainer |
The small creature on Endar's shoulder makes a rude gesture with its claws at the ifrit.
-Posted with Wayfinder
GM thunderspirit |
As evening falls the day after Gribb's arrest, you and your stranded companions sit in the common room of the Wise Piper Inn, dining on a tasty, if thin, venison stew. Talia Orem, the owner, drops a platter of fresh-baked bread on the table alongside some cheese and honey as she whisks past to break up an ale-infused discussion that has been gradually increasing in volume over the past couple of minutes.
Your brief experience with the people of Belhaim indicates that the town is full of simple folk — well-meaning, by and large, if somewhat ignorant or uneducated. Achmed has elicited genuine stares from young and old alike; still, the reactions have been of curiosity and awe, not hostility. Valgrim has met the same, though considerably less pronounced, since half-elves are far less rare than the planetouched.
As the evening stretches on toward night, the throng has begun to disperse and the din settle. Suddenly, the walls of the inn rattle as though shaken by a nearby thunderclap.
Mordenaar |
"What the Hells was THAT? It wasn't raining" Perhaps a bit too hastily, Mordenaar's gladius slides from the scabbard as he stands...
Seriously? I don't have Knowledge (Nature) ranks?
Valgrim |
Sitting around with the others Valgrim says casually "Do the rest of you feel prying eyes on you whenever you walk through town?" just before the supposed thunderclap. Curious, Valgrim goes to the door to look outside.
K Nature: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
"Thunder perhaps....perhaps not though."
Endar the Entertainer |
"I have no clue, my friends. I suppose we should find out, though... I'd prefer to know if the building is about to collapse onto our heads or such nonsense."
Mordenaar |
Sitting around with the others Valgrim says casually "Do the rest of you feel prying eyes on you whenever you walk through town?"
"I AM the prying eyes..." Mord lets the comment hang before nodding to Achmed's suggestion and heading outside.
Mordenaar looks over (with prying eyes) and sees another capable soul GMTrex's character. "Hey, you look like you can handle yourself. Come with us."
GM thunderspirit |
You race outside the tavern to see a huge plume of dust plume rising from somewhere to the northeast. As those around you join you in gawking at it, a citizen hurries up to Talia with news: The Witch Tower has fallen!
Endar the Entertainer |
"Ah, the Witch Tower, my dear boy! It's thought to be haunted... the last remaining structure of a castle which was destroyed by the Taldanes more than 100 years ago. If it's been destroyed... well honestly it probably will not affect anyone directly, but it would probably be good to find out WHAT destroyed it."
Mordenaar |
At Endar's words Mordenaar turns to the tower and sniffs the clean air. "So be it. I'll fight the dead if I have to, but I feel the call to adventure. Let's get to that ruin."
GM thunderspirit |
It'll take about two minutes to get to that spot.
As you try to maneuver through the curious on the streets, you overhear all manner of things: it must be because Sheriff Benhovy is out of town! there were dozens of dead kobolds found among the rubble! you know I'll bet those strangers that were with the smuggler are behind this! we've got trouble, right here in Belhaim city! it's gotta be that crazy old wizard who built next door — Hunclay always looked a little off!
Gonna wait for Trex to check in before moving on. FYI, I have a game tonight, so further updates may not be forthcoming this evening. :-)
Valgrim |
Valgrim grabs his gear and follows Mord out the door towards the scene of the accident. "Let us pray there are no fatalities."
Kinn |
Who are these vagabonds? And can I trust them? Kinn asks silently, but follows along--he'd stepped outside with do-gooder's curiosity himself. He'd been wandering through this part of Avistan to clear his mind; he felt stifled at the temple in Sothis, and not just from the oppressive heat.
Dressed in traveler's clothes, he doesn't stand out from the group, not like how the group stands out from the crowd. A long blade of elven make is slung across his back, but it's his scimitar that's seen more use. He straps a shield to his arm and hurries along behind, careful not to make eye-contact with Valgrim.
Have no fear, I am here!
Valgrim |
Seeing the elven warrior outside the building as the group runs towards the accident Valgrim calls out "Γεια σου φίλε...Είστε εδώ για να βοηθήσει?" in an older and woodland dialect of elven.
Hello friend... are you here to help? sorry used a greek translator. closest thing i could find to elven script for free unless anyone else knows where to look
GM thunderspirit |
I typically use Google Translate. It's not perfect, but it comes relatively close.
Kinn |
Kinn sighs and reluctantly turns to respond, though he does so in Taldane. "I am." He turns quickly back to the task at hand and moves to the other side of the group, away from the archer. He pretends to be looking at something in the distance over there. In a way, I suppose that's true. I always seek to bring the light to dark places. But what makes that pointy-eared busybody think he gets to ask what I'm doing here?
In other campaigns, I've seen and used Welsh. The script itself isn't very unusual but the phonetics and spelling are reminiscent of Elven.
GM thunderspirit |
At the site of the collapsed tower, two locals putter about aimlessly. One stands with hands on his hips chewing on a stalk of grass, while the other wanders around the site scratching her head.
Someone from the crowd, shaking her head, suggests checking on the wizard Hunclay to see if he knows anything about what has happened. This sensible idea only servers to set the two amid the debris into a debate — more of an argument, really — over who should knock on the wizard's door, lasting several minutes.
Valgrim |
will fool around with the script until Valgrim finds a script Kinn is comfortable with
Kinn |
Ha, well you might be waiting a long time. *I* am happy with Greek, but Kinn is not comfortable with Elven anything, period. :)
"Hello there," Kinn interrupts the two locals. "I couldn't help but overhear." He speaks at a measured pace, enunciating clearly to be certain they can hear. "Perhaps we might all pay Hunclay a visit, together?"
GM thunderspirit |
Mordenaar brusquely walks past the argument toward the wizard's domicile net door. As he does, he spies two small, scaly humanoid forms partially buried in the debris; he sees a third, this one charred and black, lying on the wizard's doorstep.
With a heavy thud, Mordenaar bangs on the door. After a moment, he does so again. No one answers.
Mordenaar |
The slayer quickly relays what he sees (Knowledge to ID the species?). With blade in hand he prepares to open the door... then he remembers everything he knows of wizards, and checks the door for traps. Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10 Finding none, he opens the door quietly and slides in. Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 Not an auspicious start.
Once inside he scans the room for hidden surprises: Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
GM thunderspirit |
Oops, sorry — DC 5 Kn (local) to identify the humanoids.
When Mordenaar reaches for the door, several onlookers shriek and scamper away, fearing what opening the door of a wizard's home will bring upon Belhaim.
At that moment, a woman with a regal bearing arrives at the scene, already listening to a number of locals reporting the events. She looks over the two arguing officials with clear exasperation, and as she scans the crowd her eyes fall on your group. You lot there. I am Lady Origena Devy, Baroness of Belhaim. May I ask who I address?
Mordenaar |
Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Assuming I'm not getting attacked, "Sorry ma'am, concerned bystander is all. Looking to help."
Mordenaar looks about at his fellows before looking back at her, hoping someone else jumps in, "Name's Mordenaar."
Achmed Ifit |
Achmed lowers his longspear when lady Origena approaches.
"I am Achmed my good lady. We were investigating the tower's collapse. We see there are two dead humanoids here at the doorstep"
Valgrim |
"Greetings M'Lady. As my companions have already said we are here to help in this catastrophe."
GM thunderspirit |
Ah. You were the unfortunates left here after the scoundrel Gribb was arrested, yes? She approaches with a slight smile, trailed by a young man bearing similar features but none of the grace — or the smile. Unpleasant business, that. But Oppara insisted, so...
Her voice drops to just barely above a whisper as she goes through the customary formal greetings. Well, then. Today is your lucky day. Mulle and Hodd there — she gestures to the now-sullen pair that had been arguing — can't handle this without Sheriff Benhovy to hold their hands, and I'd like to know what actually happened here. You seem a capable bunch; if you go in there and look through the rubble — find out what happened, why there are kobolds in my town — I'll pay you a tidy sum. Say, 500 gold crowns. What do you say?
Valgrim |
"I'm sorry how much was that you said for each of us...500 gold crowns?" Valgrim blurts out as if his ears deceived him...
GM thunderspirit |
Lady Origena chuckles at Valgrim's remark. Each? Did I say each? No, my good man, that's a total sum, not an individual one. How you split it between you is your affair.
Kinn |
Kinn bristles at the insinuation that kobolds shouldn't be in town, but he keeps his expression calm. "I will find the truth, ma'am, as sure as the Dawnflower brings the dawn."
He kneels to examine the kobolds. Untrained Heal Take 10: 10 = 10 Are they dead? How did they die?
GM thunderspirit |
Mordenaar |
Damn, I wish I was a better negotiator. She just threw out that number. She could do more. "Works as a start for me m'Lady. Where is the sheriff?"
Mordenaar pokes around a bit. "Kobolds? Huh... And aren't we here to ask the wizard what happened? There seems to be a lot going on right now..."
Take 10 Heal for a 15. Anything to add to Finn's conclusion?
I'll look through the rubble for clues. If there's no rush I'll spend the day going over it with a fine-toothed comb (Take 20 for 26.)
Endar the Entertainer |
"Oh my dear lady, I'm sure we'd be happy to help out! But looking at all that rubble, it does look dangerous to me. Perhaps in addition to the sum you're offering, you could outfit us with a few useful items of equipment? Some digging equipment, and some potions which may heal us in the unfortunate event that one of us is injured, perhaps?"
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13 Not the best party face, here. :-P