I'm so glad I don't have to work in those temperatures and really don't envy you. Take care of yourself.

I may well be unavailable for quite a bit of next week.

Got a show going on which will be taking my attention. Please can you NPC Isat as needed if things need to move and I haven't shown up.

Thank you for letting us know. Break a leg. What is your part in the show?

Out of character, what does everyone want to do?

Thank you for letting us know. Break a leg. What is your part in the show?

Out of character, what does everyone want to do?

Do? Find out more about the big bad plan from Levi. See what lovely life-threatening information that gives us.

Yah, I'd like to hear him say a little more. I don't even know what to ask of the other clowns in this debacle.

Either that or help Paper go and kick the asses of the guys who burnt his house.

After that start 'interviewing' the other names we've got.

Got a feeling that doom is going to overtake everyone we try to talk to.

Just hope Levi's still alive when we get back to Hroth's hideaway. Can't see us being very popular talking to a strange woman in a graveyard at night without him there to reassure her.

I am seriously not that much of a bastard. There is a plot that happens without you. That plot is altered by your actions. There was a chance to see the Nubian run to the house. There were listen checks to hear the men on the roof. There were clues that someone was in the house with you. Patrick just flubbed the check. I run an old school type of game, where there is a simulation running on a timeline in the background. All of you have background ties to what is happening.
The market was all Patrick's doing. The wagon did not make a delivery, so Agrippa went to check on it. He failed his spot checks. You all failed initiative. Things happen in the world.

Just letting you all know that I operate an organic game, but there is logic there. I am not just arbitrarily slaughtering people that you know. That said, Rafi is looking for Levi. You have caused a lot of damage to a crime boss. There are religious reasons for the attacks.

I am still waiting for Radavel to join the dots about Rufinus...

It feels very organic which I love. There's a world that's going to happen regardless of what we do. It makes the choices more important.

The comment about Levi being in danger was a bit of meta-gaming rather than a snipe and if it came across like that, I really do apologise. It was absolutely not meant that way.

I was simply thinking that we've upset a lot of people, Levi is wanted by some extremely unscrupulous men, maybe we should head back.

Alaric is Rufinus other want-to-kill. Interesting. Can see us possibly changing the course of (known) history here.

I am seriously not that much of a bastard. There is a plot that happens without you. That plot is altered by your actions. There was a chance to see the Nubian run to the house. There were listen checks to hear the men on the roof. There were clues that someone was in the house with you. Patrick just flubbed the check. I run an old school type of game, where there is a simulation running on a timeline in the background. All of you have background ties to what is happening.
The market was all Patrick's doing. The wagon did not make a delivery, so Agrippa went to check on it. He failed his spot checks. You all failed initiative. Things happen in the world.

Just letting you all know that I operate an organic game, but there is logic there. I am not just arbitrarily slaughtering people that you know. That said, Rafi is looking for Levi. You have caused a lot of damage to a crime boss. There are religious reasons for the attacks.

I am still waiting for Radavel to join the dots about Rufinus...

Your pater familias lets you stay in the house for free, and makes no demands of you, other than a letter a week. It is the Moonday. You must write a letter, and give it to a messenger for dispatch on Tyrsday morning.

Things to remember:

Levi's wife is hiding out, waiting for her husband in the graveyards outside the new Theodosian wall.

Rafi is at large.

Hrothgar is wanted.

The Goths threw down a gauntlet to Juvenus.

Juvenus spends time at the baths.

A churchman is involved: One Carpus Thanasius was supposedly the master of Alcaeus, the man with the pulped face on the rooftop.

Modius: You knew Rafi and his men.

Paper: Your identity is known to them. Your house is damaged. You have a letter to write today.

Isat: Stratos Kopteros is your tie to the order, and can probably help you all if you find him.

Hrothgar: There is a reward for you. Only a few Goths know your face.

Hey Tal,
I thought we were going to check on Levi? Are we going to the courts to find the man Isat is searching for? Or to lodge a complaint about my villa? I'm just a bit confused.

My understanding (and I'm a bear of little brain today) is that we were going to check out Levi, found we were being followed and made an abrupt change of plan.

Isat's thinking was roughly that if we were being followed, taking the tail to the court wasn't a disaster and gave us a chance to catch Strateros if possible. Taking the tail to Hrothgar's might well bring down another ambush by letting Rafi know where Levi was.

Something like that anyway ...

Very happy to go with majority here.

Things to remember:

Levi's wife is hiding out, waiting for her husband in the graveyards outside the new Theodosian wall.

Rafi is at large.

Hrothgar is wanted.

The Goths threw down a gauntlet to Juvenus.

Juvenus spends time at the baths.

A churchman is involved: One Carpus Thanasius was supposedly the master of Alcaeus, the man with the pulped face on the rooftop.

Modius: You knew Rafi and his men.

Paper: Your identity is known to them. Your house is damaged. You have a letter to write today.

Isat: Stratos Kopteros is your tie to the order, and can probably help you all if you find him.

Hrothgar: There is a reward for you. Only a few Goths know your face.

Who is Lycurgus?

Who is Alcaeus Simonus?

Alcaeus is probably the chap Rufinus duffed up and Modius found on the roof. I think ...

So many narrative goodies - like muchly.

Alcaeus is probably the chap Rufinus duffed up and Modius found on the roof. I think ...

So many narrative goodies - like muchly.

Lycurgus is the man who wants the book that Levi has hidden. He is the BBEG who set Rafi on Levi and allowed Levi to hire Juvenus and the boys. He might not be in the city. Rafi is his representative. Levi never got specific. He just said that a man called Lycurgus is after him, and that if Lycurgus gets the book, he will change the world with the power it gives him. He mentioned that the book would let Lycurgus speak "With the voice of God"

Rafi is a mercenary and a cold killer. He killed the heretic that mentored Modius, and attacked Levi. He led the attack on Paper's house.
His trademark is severed ears for those who hear heresy, and severed tongues for those who speak it. His men piss on their victims to show their contempt.

Juvenus is a small time pimp and gangster. He is in a trade arrangement for pagan or rebellious Goth slaves with the Arian Goths led by Alaric and Ulfridd. Alaric is after Hrothgar for an event from the homeland.

The Goths at the fish market were from a tribe that was oppressed by Alaric. Their "wise one" was also killed ritually, with ears and tongue severed, and with urine on the corpse to defile it. That is why they did the same to Agrippa, but they did not do it happily.

The Goths called for a battle on the fish dock at sunset.

Hope that clears up some confusion. I assumed that you all were on top of the subplots and plot.

Hrothgar is not talking much, as he might say something uncharacteristic of his "8" wisdom.

I will be very busy these next few days. Feel free to run Paper as an NPC if the situation warrants.

Hrothgar is not talking much, as he might say something uncharacteristic of his "8" wisdom.

Radavel. We are sort of waiting on you to tell everyone what is going on. If you don't want to write in character, just paraphrase what he says. After you deal with this complication, we are moving onto a new chapter. Please log in and fill the others out on your unusual circumstances. This is a chance to do something a little lengthier, and establish your character a little. Have fun.

Sorry. Been busy. Will update now.

Smiggly smoop!

Nimco pucajul foutumsch.

Tal, I may not be able to post in the next couple of days. I am coming down with the flu. Please do not hesitate to NPC Hrothgar. Thanks for your patience.

Get well, bro!

Thank you for letting us know. Hrothgar is easy to NPC.

Does anyone have any questions about anything in the game so far?

I am coming down with the flu.

Thank you for letting us know. Hrothgar is easy to NPC.

Does anyone have any questions about anything in the game so far?

Please, enough with the gibberish already! Oy gevalsh!

Everything is cool, Tal.

It's a great story.

Thank you.

Excellent, excellent story. So many layers and things to think about. Hope Isat isn't too much of a pain.

I am glad you are enjoying it as much as I am.

I hope Radavel is O.K.

I would like a short break from the game. I will post again on Wednesday. That should give everyone a chance to think through their character's reactions to the bizarre events that just took place, and where they find themselves now.

As I said above, the setting is not purely historical. I hope no-one minds a bit of traditional dungeon crawling as a change of pace. If you manage to escape the tomb, and the hunters, You will have a chance to get back into the real-world play of earlier, but your characters will have changed a little. This is a magical place that you are in, You have stepped into the realm of the mythical. That said, this is still a low fantasy game. This is an exception, rather than the new rule. I like realism in my games. This place is still going to be grounded in the culture of Ancient Greece.

Tis all cool.

@Radavel. Hope you're feeling better. No saving throw against flu and it tends to linger.

Taliesin - can you NPC Isat out of trouble for the next couple of days if needed. I'm away from this afternoon (Friday) til late Sunday/early Monday.

Of course. Have fun. Before you go, I have a question. I had an idea...Isat is asking for help from Persephone. He is in an altered realm, where the walls of the real are thin. Would you be willing to have his prayers answered in an overpowering way, by him tripping out of his skull, and really getting in touch with the root of his power? After your return, convert him to cleric or druid? Adept is working fine at the moment, but if we all enjoy this game enough to carry it over into mid levels, adept is going to feel a little limited.

I know, and like, that you are a roleplayer first, and that the rules are strictly an armature for you to tell the story with us. I am much the same way when I play. It is completely up to you. If you do want to switch to a divine class, this is a good time to. It would also give Isat a chance to fall into the background. If you don't, then we could just all take a break until you get back.

Hrothghar: swing thine axe.

Of course. Have fun. Before you go, I have a question. I had an idea...Isat is asking for help from Persephone. He is in an altered realm, where the walls of the real are thin. Would you be willing to have his prayers answered in an overpowering way, by him tripping out of his skull, and really getting in touch with the root of his power? After your return, convert him to cleric or druid? Adept is working fine at the moment, but if we all enjoy this game enough to carry it over into mid levels, adept is going to feel a little limited.

I know, and like, that you are a roleplayer first, and that the rules are strictly an armature for you to tell the story with us. I am much the same way when I play. It is completely up to you. If you do want to switch to a divine class, this is a good time to. It would also give Isat a chance to fall into the background. If you don't, then we could just all take a break until you get back.

I think you must have read my mind. It just seemed so right that he'd be blethering about in the middle of a combat with mountains of undead not knowing what to do. I think he probably is a cleric at heart and now would be the perfect time for him to make that leap. Adept is going to get very limited, much as I love the concept of mixing the arcane and divine.

Yup. Let's go with this. Send my guy down to the depths. I'll be very happy to go with that. Plus - so much fun to write, which as you've noticed, is why I like doing pbp so much.

Over to you. I trust your judgment entirely on this. I'm loving this story and the way the characters evolve. I can only guess how much work you're putting into this, but it's so much appreciated that you're giving us a whole world to play in.

You can make one turn undead check, before the lights go out :)

We will use Pathfinder turning rules. Turning heals allies.

You will be a second level cleric. Choose domains for Hermes or Persephone. If you want to worship a concept, rather than a deity, that is possible, but deities are more likely. You could simply worship eleusis itself.

Hermes is god of magic, so the magic domain seems fitting.

Entirely up to you.

Channel Positive Energy
When you channel positive energy, you unleash a wave
of positive energy in a 30-foot burst. All undead in this
radius take 1d6 points of positive energy damage plus
1d6 points of positive energy damage for every two
cleric levels you have attained beyond 1st (1d6 at 1st
level, 2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th and so on) and must f lee from
you (as if frightened) for 1d4 rounds + your Charisma
modif ier. Undead in this radius are allowed a Will save
that negates the frightened condition and results in half
damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your cleric level + your Charisma modifier. Undead who take
damage greater than their hit points crumble to dust
and are destroyed by the power of your deity. If a f leeing
undead is subject to channeled negative energy, it is not
commanded, but does receive a new saving throw to
dispel the f lee effect.
Living creatures within the area are healed a like amount
by this wave of positive energy. You can choose whether
or not to include yourself in this effect. Hit points gained
above a living creature’s total are lost.

Excellent.

Do I need to roll anything to channel? If so, what? The DC on the undead Will check is 14.

I'm teaching all day, but when I get back tonight I'll sort out some kind of proper fluff post for Isat.

EDIT: I'll also upgrade him to Cleric once I get back. One domain should be fire I think - Zoroastrianism is the connection and it seems right that he'd try to fuse the two strands of his faith and power. I'll have a think about Persephone.

Have posted a basic channel and collapse type thing. If I've got it wrong, could you improvise until we sort out what I actually need to do. With apologies to anyone who dies because I've messed up.

Trance journey up. Mostly spoilered. Updated orisons, spells and such, but need to check feats.

He took Scribe Scroll (aka Make Potion in his case) as a class feat as an Adept. Would you like me to swap this for something else? Improved Channeling would make sense, but I'll go with whatever you prefer me to do.

Here is the feat I would recommend, considering the healing power of the turn undead ability.

Extra Turning
You can channel positive or negative energy more times
per day than most.
Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke creatures.
Benefit: You can turn or rebuke undead two additional
times per day.

You can keep brew potion, but it is mostly a downtime feat. I tend to keep things moving.

Agreed. Not even Isat is going to stop to fix a potion when there's places to go and things to be done. Going with Extra Turning.