Bram Blackfeather's page

Voted.

I had fun with that - working in a bookstore, I still had to wrack my brain for a lot of entries...

The PCs all wake up in a usual place for them (ie: their favourite tavern, their homes, what-have-you) and find the weather a little unusual (ie: it's a bit too warm for this early in spring, or a tad too cold for this late in autumn). Over the next few hours that they're up and about, they start to notice things are a little bit off: there's one extra spell in the Wizard's spellbook, the rogue has a bit more cash, the priest has an extra potion or two...

They've lost two weeks. Everyone around them has recollections of what they've been up to for the last two weeks (at least, in part, such as, "I saw you off with your horses, milord, but where you went, I'm not sure.")

Short version of what happened was a quest they didn't win, where the villain (psionicist? enchanter?) wiped their memories of the failed adventure, and planted enough clues and left acting "informants" around to lead the adventurers in the wrong direction - he's set them up to go find something he doesn't think he could get to (be it because of his race or alignment or some other quality of himself) and then plans to ambush them once they recover it for him.

Basically, he'll leave them to figure out they've lost their memory, and bets on them trying to figure out what happened, and then using his plants to guide them to the ruins/reliquary/whatever where the Item-He-Wants is. Once they recover it, he pounces.

They got the rat, but haven't yet found the keyring of skeleton keys... Hrm. Good point. I can maybe work that into a follow-up.

Mind, they didn't clear out Jzadirune on their way back down again, and so now they might be bumping into things on their way back up... Thanks for the thought!

A travelling circus has come to town for a night, and it puts on a play for the city about a love affair gone wrong, a jealous husband, and a betraying friend that ends in murder. After they move on, the events seem to unfold among a noble house of the city.

The next night, in one of the farmsteads.

After that, at the local temple.

One a night, the citizens of the town seem to be forced to enact this play, and it's up to the adventurers (some of the very few who seem to be free to leave the city, since anyone born there can't seem to get outside the city bounds without passing out) to track down the troupe, and figure out how they did what they did, and how to stop them.

What I'm most curious about at the moment is how much editing/corrections will be made based off of the messegeboard?

For example there are threads about an error in Ike's tactics, Fetor not using the new metamatic feat he alone posseses, Hookface being both male and female....

So James, are you using the messageboard as a guideline for changes in the hardbound edition? Is it actually possible that things we have posted may become part of the HC?

Don't forget the Stormblades having illegal feats... (he said, being anal).

The party is approached by a halfling caravan's spiritual leader, and invited to dine with them. They are introduced to a young halfling sorceror, who is nervous and shy, and seemingly quite sad. The spiritual leader, who is perhaps a cleric of Yondalla, asks the party if they would ward the young halfling, as he is causing strife among the people of the caravan, and Yondalla has sent visions that he might be 'saved' by leaving the caravan with some such as the players, or 'doomed' if he leaves with others. Since the party has such a good reputation, the spiritual leader is hoping it is the right choice.

He later takes only one of the PCs aside, and explains more of the truth: the halfling sorceror was born on a horrible night, when the caravan had been attacked by undead (your choice). His mother did not survive the assault, and had to be buried specially to stop her from rising, and the boy's birth was rushed and dangerous as his mother was dead just prior to his birth.

All of the halfling sorceror's spells show a sort of 'taint.' He seems to favour - against his will - the various necromantic spells, and as such, the Caravan, who knew his origins, consider him an evil force to be, doomed to become what killed his mother. He isn't trusted. The cleric of Yondalla, however, knows the boy is trying with supreme effort to walk the straight and narrow path of goodness.

If the PCs don't take him on, another, darker group will kidnap the halfling and raise him to give in to his darker impulses. If the PCs do take him in (perhaps as a cohort), he could unfold a long story that might eventually find a way to release his taint and be cleansed...

A husband and wife family of talented silk weavers who arrived in the city a few years ago quickly became favourites in the merchant quarter, even among the nobles. Their works are sturdy and elegant both, and they're a kind folk, if a little quiet.

Recently, however, no one has seen the wife for weeks, and the husband seems nervous and somewhat jumpy. He maintains that his wife is away visiting her family, and yet he still seems to be buying food not just for one, but for more than two. At night, strange shadows sometimes appear in the store where they live on the second floor.

When a local guild thief tries to rob the place, the halfing's bloated body is found in the river, having torn free from what it was weighted down with.

The PCs can easily get things all around backwards if they try to case the store and see the medium-sized spider in a webbed room below. The husband defends it with his life - is he charmed? Or did he do something horrible to his now-missing wife in the name of the vile beast?

The vile beast <I>is</I> his wife. He and she both are Araneas, and came to the city when their community was wiped out by adventurers using <I>fireball</I> spells before trying discussion. The wife is pregnant, and must remain in her spider form for the duration. Though the husband wanted to sneak her out of town, she wanted to stay, thus the predicament they are in...

If the PCs figure it out and are helpful, they'll have to protect the family from the Thief Guild, not to mention the gossipy and worried townfolk.

If one were compiling some query letter ideas for submission, would it be allowed to use sites or locations given in the "Complete" or "Races" books?

Specifically, if I had an idea for which "Three Falls" is perfect (as detailed in the 'Races of Destiny,' pg 28), would that be an okay, or a not-okay? I mean, on the one hand, you know there are maps, but on the other, is this in some way copywrited, and not a part of the Open Source notion?

Thanks to an elf ranger whose Search rolls make me think she's qualified to be a detective, the group has pretty much bee-lined right to the Malachite Hold's Big Bad. They'll be trashed if they do walk through the next door (they're tired, almost spell-less, and had the unkillable goblin/hobgoblin fight where they should have mopped right up but ended up playing a game of "who can roll the most consecutive 1s.")

I had Maple and the prisoners from the forge area in the Malachite hold know where the auction was likely to be, know that there was "new stock" going up for auction the next evening, and have a general idea of where the prisoners are kept (but the kids won't be there, of course) to divert the group, along with Maple and company also desperately wanting to be led back up to Jzadirune and into Ghelve's locks if at all possible... The group was happy enough to retreat (I think they sensed the DM "Or, you could all race to instant death" vibes).

I had Maple spin a convincing story that if she and the other kidnap victims are seen above-ground before the PCs rescue the kids, they'll endanger all the slaves, as those working with the slavers in the city will get involved - but if they stay hidden, they don't know anything has happened.

In the meanwhile, since the group managed to take out the stone-spike and the polymorphed orgre, I figured Kazmojen, even with his Intelligence, is no dunce, and he'll beef up security a bit, and it might be a bit harder to get at him. The group will go for the slaves (I'm tempted to put a false "slave" in the group) first, and then try for the kids thereafter. It's made things a little longer, but hey.

If it weren't for the elf finding every secret door, they'd've had more encounters, found a bit more treasure, and gotten to 3rd level. As it is, the group is approaching Kazmojen, and two of them are still 1st level (they missed two nights), two more are 2nd level, and the other three are 3rd level. Though they're a large group, they're still little guys, and one swat or two knocks them down and out (the poor Human rogue nearly died under the collapsable cupboard, heh).

Did anyone else have issues with this (or other) parts of the A-Path with their group finding the most direct route and walking towards destruction?

Well, they've tried a few on so far, but they're only at the Malachite Hold as of last night... the following have been discussed:

"Callis the Fabulous, and some others." (This was rejected by everyone but Callis, oddly enough).

"The Ones and Only." (Due to the last gaming session, where I saw more 1s rolled trying to kill a goblin and a hobgoblin than I've seen in one session, ever. Also voted down, as it seemed pessimistic).

"The Ashborn," (and/or the more colloqual: "The Ash-holes") This may win, as it refers to the fact that those in the group who grew up in Cauldron are all pretty much from the low end of the bowl. It also has a nifty Pheonix motif to it.

I'll second that. I love the "Complete Books," and would love to see an adventure or two using the Daggerspell Guardians, for example.

Mayhap they could be a bit of the focus, however, at the WotC website, as downloadable one-evening adventure sorts, sort of how they have the "use this book this evening" ideas. The free downloadable adventures on their site aren't terrible, but if they focused on some of the "Complete" books, I'd be happier to go download and use...

Or I could get off my butt and do something myself. I'm still working up the courage to get my rejection slip, er, to send in my idea to Dungeon, so it might take a while... ;)

A master weaponsmith Spellsword known for making amazing magical blades was defeated by a dark necromancer a few generations ago, who used a wish to "bind you in your own blade, to amuse me for as long as I exist!" He basically turned into an intelligent sword, except he cannot see or hear anything unless he is held by someone, at which point, he can "ride" their senses and see/hear/smell/etc what they experience. The necromancer toyed with him often, using the blade/spellsword to kill innocents, power dark rituals, etc, and then one day things were dark for a very long time. The sword dips in and out of legend, and the bearer always seems to be assaulted by undead or other minions fitting a necromancer, and the blade is often lost again. It is eventually picked up by one of the party...

...is the necromancer still around? (he has to be, as the wish was until the fellow didn't exist, but the fellow is now a lich, and the lich always tries to get the blade back, as it was his favourite torture toy)

...can the fellow in the sword be freed? (yep, just kill the lich, and he'll appear again, outside his blade, a little worse for wear for being unbodied for a few generations).

Huzzah. We've only just begun, but at the rate my group games (last night was our third session, but being grown adults with nasty schedules, we are still only at the start of the Malachite Fortress of 'Life's Bazaar') it might still work out for me.

I'll buy it. I have to admit (he checks to the left and the right) that I manage a bookstore and thereby get an employee discount, so it's not as nasty a punch to my wallet (mind, since I work at a bookstore, it's not a very deep wallet to begin with, ba-dum-bum).

Way to go guys. More info on the Striders, right? :)

The players are visiting a small village that angered a goddess of the home and hearth or fertility in the past (perhaps a human village where a caravan of halflings were driven off or killed thoughtlessly or out of racist malice, and one of those killed was a pregnant halfling maiden). Since the event, every mother in the village has died in childbirth, though the infants survive. The population may already be showing signs of decline, or it could be a relatively new curse and effect. Either way, travelling women tend to go missing, kidnapped to the noble's castle to sire a child and heir. Between the frightened villagers (who are so ashamed of the event and the curse it led to that they tend not to speak about it at all) and the oppressive priests and aristocrats (who seek an easier way to break the curse, even though the goddess so offended was clear that good acts and sacrifice would do it just fine) want the PCs to get lost. Except, of course, for the father of the latest missing daughter... who barely explains his daughter's kidnapping (but not why) prior to his assassination.

Zachary Aslaxin II, male human aristocrat 1/ranger 2/cleric 1: CR 3; medium humanoid (human); HD 4d8; hp 18; Init +3; Spd 30ft; AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14; BAB +2; Grap +3; Atk +6 melee (1d6+1/18-20, masterwork rapier) or +6 ranged (1d8+1/x3, mighty masterwork composite longbow [+1 Str]); Full Atk +4 melee (1d6+1/18-20, masterwork rapier) and +2 melee (1d4+1/19-20, masterwork kukri) or +6 ranged (1d8+1/x3, mighty masterwork composite longbow [+1 Str]); SA combat style (two-weapon fighting), spells, favored enemy (humanoid (reptilian) +2); SQ turn undead, wild empathy; AL CN; SV Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +6; Str 12, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Skills: Concentration +6, Diplomacy +4, Heal +5, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (nature) +3, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +3, Survival +8.

Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Track, Weapon Finesse (rapier).

Languages: Common.

Cleric Spells Prepared (caster level 1): 0 – guidance, mending, purify food and drink; 1st – cause fear (DC 13), entropic shield*, shield of faith.

*Domain spell. Domains: Luck (reroll 1/day), Strength (feat of strength 1/day).

Possessions: Masterwork chain shirt, masterwork rapier, masterwork kukri, masterwork mighty composite longbow [+1 Str] with 20 masterwork arrows, wand of cure light wounds (10 charges), wand of light (35 charges), pearl of power (1st level), noble’s outfit, silver holy symbol, leather pouch containing 7 gp.

Changes: Zachary’s saves needed adjusting, and instead of taking weapon focus (rapier) I had him take weapon finesse (rapier) as (a) it suits the group’s theme better, and (b) it gives him more bonus for his feat. He didn’t have to spend a feat on exotic weapon proficiency for the kukri, as in 3.5, it’s not an exotic weapon, so I gave him mobility instead. He had some skill points left over, so I nudged a few into Knowledge (nature) since he is, after all, a ranger.

Todd Vanderboren, male human aristocrat 1/rogue 3: CR 3; medium humanoid (human); HD 1d8+1 plus 3d6+3; hp 22; Init +7; Spd 30ft; AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14; BAB +2; Grap +3; Atk or Full Atk +6 melee (1d6+1/18-20, masterwork rapier) or +6 ranged (1d6/x3, masterwork composite shortbow); SA sneak attack +2d6; SQ evasion, trap sense +1, trapfinding; AL CE; Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +3; Str 12, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8.

Skills: Appraise +6, Balance +5, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +1, Disable Device +8, Disguise +3, Forgery +9, Gather Information +1, Hide +9, Intimidate +1, Jump +3, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) +5, Knowledge (local) +8, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +6, Listen +5, Move Silently +9, Sense Motive +3, Tumble +9.

Feats: Deceitful, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse (rapier).

Languages: Common, Dwarven, Gnome.

Possessions: +1 studded leather armor, masterwork rapier, masterwork composite shortbow with 20 arrows, 3 sleep arrows, elixer of hiding, elixer of glibness, noble’s outfit, masterwork thieves tools (bonus not included above), leather pouch containing 34 gp and 4 pp.

Changes: I didn’t mess with Todd’s hit points, though they’re a bit higher than average rolls. I put in all the skill synergies, except for Sleight of Hand (which you can’t use untrained anyway). Since Todd can’t qualify for both Weapon Finesse and Weapon Focus, I chose Finesse (it’s more useful for him), and tucked in Deceitful to match his write-up as he “keeps the true extents of his depravity well concealed.” As a result, he loses a bit of a punch with his rapier, but gets a tad more slippery (and merges well with his eventual levels in Assassin, which requires Disguise anyway). His equipment had a bit of a tweak in that the 3.0 potion of hiding became a 3.5 elixer of hiding. I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent for the potion of glibness, but I simply named it an elixir of glibness and assume it does what the previous incarnation did. Perhaps a potion of nondetection or misdirection might have been better.

Cora Lathenmire, female human aristocrat 1/fighter 3: CR 3; medium humanoid (human); HD 1d8+3 plus 3d10+9; hp 33; Init +1; Spd 30ft; AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17; BAB +3; Grap +5; Atk or Full Atk +7 melee (1d6+2/18-20, masterwork rapier) or +4 ranged (1d8/x3, composite longbow); AL CN; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2; Str 14, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 12.

Skills: Appraise +4, Bluff +5, Handle Animal +7, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +4, Perform (dance) +1, Ride +10, Sense Motive +1.

Feats: Blindfight, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (rapier).

Languages: Common.

Possessions: Masterwork breastplate, +1 light steel shield, masterwork rapier, potion of bull’s strength, composite longbow with 20 arrows, noble’s outfit, leather pouch containing 12 gp and 10 sp.

Changes: Cora didn’t require a whole lot of tweaking, with the exception of a few skill points. She had to put one skill point into Perform (bear with me here). If she wants to qualify for Duelist, as they have her listed, after reaching 8th level in fighter, she’ll have to spend all three fighter skill points earned as a human fighter from 4th to 8th level on Tumble and Perform. (ie: at 4th through 8th level, she can gain a +1 to Tumble, and a +1/2 to Perform). So, right now, at 4th level, she has to already have a half-rank in Perform, in order to reach the requirement of 5 ranks of Tumble and 3 ranks of Perform by the time she’s a 9th level character (and can thereby qualify for Duelist at her 10th level). She also has to take the Weapon Finesse feat, Dodge feat, and the Mobility feat before then. I left Weapon Finesse until she reached 9th level, as at 8th level, she could raise her dexterity to 14, and at least that way it’s not a complete waste of a feat (since it would make her dexterity bonus match her strength bonus). Dodge and Mobility can easily be tucked in prior to then with all her fighter bonus feats.

Here's my take on the Stormblades (one at a time) as their original 4th level selves...

Annah Taskerhill, female human aristocrat 1/bard 3: CR 3; medium humanoid (human); HD 1d8+1 + 3d6+3; hp 19; Init +1; Spd 30ft; AC 16*, touch 11, flat-footed 15*; BAB +2; Grap +1; Atk or Full Atk +4 melee (1d6-1/18-20, masterwork rapier) or +4 ranged (1d8/19-20, masterwork light crossbow); SA bardic music, countersong, fascinate, spells; SQ bardic knowledge, inspire competence, inspire courage +1; AL CN; SV Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +5; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 16.

* Includes +4 bonus from mage armor.

Skills: Bluff +10, Diplomacy +18, Forgery +7, Gather Information +12, Knowledge (local) +9, Knowledge (royalty and nobility) +9, Perform (sing) +10, Sense Motive +9.

Feats: Dodge, Negotiator, Weapon Finesse (rapier).

Languages: Common, Elven, Gnome.

Bard Spells Known (3/2; caster level 3): 0 – dancing lights, detect magic, light, mage hand, mending, read magic; 1 – charm person (DC 14), cure light wounds, expeditious retreat.

Possessions: Masterwork rapier, masterwork light crossbow with 20 bolts, light steel shield, wand of cat’s grace (15 charges), wand of mage armor (30 charges), 2 potions of cure light wounds, noble’s outfit, masterwork lute, gold ring (80 gp), leather pouch containing 40 gp.

Changes: I upped Annah’s hit points by two to follow the typical pattern of alternating one-above and one-below the mid-line of hit points you normally see. Since she couldn’t qualify for both the Weapon Finesse (rapier) feat and the other two listed in her stats (both Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus require a BAB of +1, and she had to have taken Aristocrat as her first level, so she didn't have the BAB pre-requisite for her first two feats), I gave her Dodge to make her a little harder to hit, and Negotiator, as it suits her character description of “knowing how to say exactly the right thing at the right time.”)

It's not that I'm completely anal, but...

Well, okay, I am.

I re-did the Stormblades as most of them can't quite be written over to 3.5 with the feats they have. To have "Aristocrat" as a class, it has to be your first class, so they all began 1st level with a BAB of +0. Which means, for Todd, Cora, Annah, and Zachary, that two of the three regular progression feats (the ones taken at 1st level) can't be Weapon Finesse or Weapon Focus (as they've got a BAB of +0). I gave them all Weapon Finesse at 3rd level (except for Cora, who I waited till 9th, as she needs Weapon Finesse to qualify for Duelist, but has no earthly reason to take Weapon Finesse as her Strength outweighs her Dexterity, so I had her bump her Dex to 14 at 8th level, then take Weapon Finesse when it ties her Strength bonus).

This meant that most of them ended up with one bonus worth less on their rapier attack rolls, and that Annah couldn't have the whip (she can't manage two feats that require a +1 BAB pre-requisite, so I dumped the whip and have her firing ranged instead if she can), but that instead of taking Weapon Focus (rapier), Zachary is better off taking Weapon Finesse (rapier), as it gets him *more* of a bonus than the focus would.

I'll post here if anyone is as obnoxiously anal as I am. But it didn't sit right with me for them to have skewed feats.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. :)

I think we'll never have to resort to someone else playing the characters for absent players, since the group is actually 7 people if everyone shows... Nice thought, by the way, of merely adding in some lower CR folk if the 7 or 6 show, and how easy it is to drop one if they don't all show. Why that hadn't occurred to me is beyond me.

XP is an interesting issue with a large group - the seven stay lower level longer with the CR set as normal (we're playing the Shackled City adventure path right now), so this 'add a few little fellows' to round it out is a great idea.

...what little tricks have you come up with?

By far the most successful (and plot-interesting) versions of dealing with this dilemma (as most of my players are around their early 30s late 20s and end up with life, job, kids all throwing random 'oops, can't make it!' at them) were both based on a movie. A terribly badly synthed but really fun movie called 'Ladyhawke.'

The first version was to deal with the married couple who tried for a babysitter but often failed, so one would come, and the other would stay, and they'd alternate. In game, they were cursed. A Rogue and a Paladin, both of whom (for very different reasons) wanted a dark evil transmuter dead, got whammied by his polymorph curse and were merged. At random intervals (oddly enough, the length of an entire gaming session), one would have the body, be themselves. So, the Rogue would game with the rest of the party, learn things, give advice, be a tad larcenous... and when the session ended, if the player of the Paladin came to the next session, the Rogue would fall to the ground, writhe in agony - and turn into the Paladin.

Who had no idea what was going on, where she was, and what had that snivelling little jerk gotten her into this time?

It was great fun.

The other version was for a larger group, and based more directly on 'Ladyhawke' in that if you couldn't make it, your character went all animal-form for the duration of the story, functioning more-or-less as an animal companion of equivalent style and personality (the halfling rogue was a ferret, the half-elf ranger was a wolf, etc). There was still a bit of 'oomph' to replace the lack (ie: a critter with an attack bonus, your hit points, etc), but no one could use the missing character's spells, equipment, etc.

It was fun, and the villain responsible was always just too far out of reach to fix it, until we moved on to new characters, at which point we fought (and usually won) and regained our stability of human(oid) form.

Any other creative (even if ripped off from old movies) ideas out there for dealing with the no-show PC?

The next time the rogue picks a wizard's pocket, slip him a key. The key has a version of 'teleport' and 'knock' on it, and he'll soon learn that it will cask 'knock' if he manages a Use Magic Device check on it (it's actual activation method should be rather obtuse, like only working when the user wears a white silk glove or something, so that the rogue has to keep activating blindly).

When he fails miserably and ends up with a misfire, he'll be a tad confused to find that the door opens up into the wizard's home away from home (the key's other use, but one normally keyed to the wizard himself and usually requiring a drop of his blood), a tower built in a small pocket demiplane, where all of his 'inventions' are quite hungry, since he hasn't come round to feed them since the key was stolen...

Surviving is one thing, getting home is another.

Heh. I just played with the syllables and pronunciation:

He was Lord Or-Bye-Us Vhalantru, and even my seasoned folk didn't bat an eye.

My young gaming group are:

Callis Dewtreader: CN Human Male Druid 2 (the running joke is that he's more "callous" than "Callis," he's on the hunt for a staff known as "Shalm's Song," which was stolen from a family he helped, and I added a fifth stormblade, Annah's younger brother, an Aristocrat/Wizard to wield it).

Jayna Ashborn: CG Human Female Rogue/Enchantress 1/1 (aiming for 'Arcane Trickster,' the 'Ashborn' is her appelation from being raised at the Lantern street orphanage, and being a foundling from somewhere on Ash. Turns out her folks are former adventurers who Vhalantru added to his stone garden)

Gaspar Freeman: NG Human Male Fighter/Cleric of Pelor 1/1 (aiming for 'Radiant Servant of Pelor,' he's the son of the two higher up level priest types who had that 'tragic accident' that is never explained; I decided it was arranged by Ike Iverson)

Ev (her full name is elven and long and I can't spell it): CG Elf Female Ranger 2 (aiming for 'Beloved of Valerian,' and boy is she a tad haughty and virtuous)

Draken Merchant: CG Human Male Wizard 2 (aiming for 'Incantatrix,' a tad greedy and power-hungry, but stuck with morals about the little guy suffering)

Dryden: CN Halfling Male Rogue 1 (joining us mid-way through 'Life's Bazaar' as a rescued prisoner, who ran afoul of the Last Laugh guild and wouldn't mind a bit of evening up)

and

Talia Half-Elven: N Half-Elf Female Bard 1 (also a mid-way joiner, like Dryden, who once was the focus of a romantic triangle between Fellian and Fario, and took off before she could make up her mind, she's being scouted for the Striders, though she doesn't know it, and I'll do everything in my power to have her fall for Skiriol prior to his throat-slashing. Not that I'm cruel).

I <I>adore</I> the setting of Cauldron, as snooping ahead to the other adventures let me plant contacts and seeds throughout the character backgrounds. Also, it's fun to listen to the groups chat away with Cauldron-themed discussions (including Ev's rather undiplomatic use of the term 'Ash-hole' to refer to lesser born people from the lowest street).

I'm also going to introduce the Stormblades just after the events in 'Life's Bazaar.'

We've just begun the path (and being a group of working adults, the cast of characters is going to give-and-take quite a bit over the course, depending on who can make it), but the Cauldron "locals" all have in their background notes that being 'on the wall' is the goal of most adventurers in Cauldron (ie: it's street cred to have one's adventuring group named on Skie's Treasuries' walls). At the end of "Life's Bazaar," they'll interrupt the Stormblades telling their tale to Skie, and that'll set things off on the wrong foot. I'm intending to play the two against each other in a race to be "on the wall."