Hi All, So this week is the last week of Grad school, but then I will be visiting family for two week (and graduating). The good news is that once I get back, I should have more time at night to post since I will no longer be doing homework!
This week is the final week for Grad school and then I will be off visiting family for two weeks. The good news is that once I return, I will have more time at night to post since I won't be doing homework!
This week is the final week for Grad school and then I will be off visiting family for two weeks. The good news is that once I return, I will have more time at night since I won't be doing homework to post!
Ndombe sees two thugs approach the window he is looking out at and start to climb the wall to the window. Cevil sees nothing at the window he is looking out at! Ndombe gets a surprise round action. Initiative:
As you drag the bloody carcass out, the witch doctor appears, She cries out in a feeble voice, They have done it! The strangers have removed this plague from our village! The townspeople start piling out of their huts cheering you all. They seem to take no notice of the fact that Shalissa wasn't among you the night before! The Shaman offers you as a reward, two items: a grisly, shrunken monkey head and a treasure map she claims she took off the corpse of a Sargavan soldier. She tells you that the monkey head is a Zenj spirit fetish, which the shaman says can be used to banish evil spirits and exorcise demons, while the map notes the location of a sunken ship in the Lake of Vanishing Armies that contains a chest full of gold ingots. Zenj Spirit Fetish: The bearer of this shrunken monkey head can use it to cast dispel evil. While the spell is in effect, the bearer can make a melee touch attack with the head to banish an evil creature fro another plane back to its home plane, or dispel one evil spell or one enchantment spell cast by an evil creature. This use discharges and ends the spell. When the spell ends, the fetish becomes a normal, nonmagical monkey head.
No worries! The way this creature was battered, I wasn't sure if it was still going to be up before you got to it!
You secure the villagers in their huts, but did not need the help - they know what is going to happen! A few hours after dusk, you hear guttural sounds coming from outside the hut. you hear the sounds of whatever it is, sniffing. Then a second later a creature busts in and roars!
This massive, shaggy beast uses long and muscular forearms to raise itself onto its hind legs and beats its chest like a gorilla. Despite its ape-like stance, its frame is far heavier and its features more primitive, its powerful muzzle and gnashing canines bespeaking terrible, bestial savagery. Initiative:
Sven hits red!
This Saturday I will be visiting family for two weeks. I'll try to keep up, but you know how it goes.
Dog's Tongue looks at Tal as if to say 'Really?' Then he smiles a most wicked smile. He shouts to the other redcaps, Aklo:
This is Tal Makes Many Widows. I told him about Manyjaw and my attempts to overthrow him and he, too, laughed at me. He said he would tear Madjaw from limb to limb and then he will have your respect and take control of the clan. He mentioned something about milking Madjaw's mother and making goat's cheese or something. The redcaps jump and shout in glee in anticipation with some gold coins passing hands. One of the redcaps runs to an abode that is slightly bigger than the others and exits a few minutes later with a satyr holding a set of panpipes. The satyr yells, Who is this Tal fool that wishes to die today? I will feast on his bones tonight! More gold passes hands among the redcaps!
Ignoring Sven as it seems like Rask is willing to work with her, she says We must repeat the steps of the forge's creation of course! Then you will see what Agrimmosh truly is! @Sven: You think you or some clerics from Janderhoff could relight the forge and dedicate it to Torag.
OK all. Think about what the old crone said and think about what you have seen and done. The first was Mymrith the Maker, priestess of Fandarra, who prepared fallen warriors for the afterlife by anointing their bodies with sacred clay. She lined the forge with the clay to contain the fire within. The second was Aduromi, the Priestess of Crystals, whose veins ran hot with molten metal and who could temper steel to a hardness that would cut diamonds. She brought with her the secrets of the fire geodes, which once ignited would burn for a century. The third was Jogrothir the Hunter, guardian of the sacred horn Drakesbane, which he used to call the ancient drakes native to the surrounding peaks. Jogrothir brought the forge to life, for he alone was able to capture the dragon’s breath, the only flame hot enough to ignite the fire geodes. The last was Rosag, the Preserver of the Forge. A great priestess of Minderhal, Rosag held the secrets of water—both its ability to temper metal as well as its capacity to quench the sacred flames. She performed the Blessing of Rosag, the final incantation that stoked the fires and sanctified the forge. Only by following in the footsteps of the blessed ancients, by repeating those acts which have been undone, shall the fires of Minderhal’s Forge once again blossom.
There's five, no wait, there are fifty of us. Oh! Sorry! There are 500 of us! The thief says with a chuckle.
With Nkechi in tow, you all return to Eleder to complete your preparations for the upcoming expedition. Your faction leader invites you to discuss their plans with several expert advisors. Your faction leader suggests that you all set out before the main expedition with Nkechi, acting as “trailblazers” for the rest of the expedition, which will travel a few days behind you. Your faction leader gives you all a map of Sargava and the southern Mwangi Expanse, which together with Yarzoth’s notes should enable you to find Tazion. It is suggested that you travel light and stop in the city of Kalabuto to restock on supplies. Your faction has allies in the city who can make arrangements for your stay and continuing journey. You are warned not to stay at an inn, and to limit your interaction with locals who might be working for the rival faction. When you arrive in Kalabuto, you should make contact with a dwarf named Cheiton in the Shrunken Head, one of Kalabuto’s most popular taverns. He can be recognized by the distinctive cave-and-pick tattoo on his shoulder. Cheiton owns a house near the tavern, and you can safely lodge there while preparing
According to the map, the fastest route to Kalabuto is to travel overland through the wild scrublands and savanna, along the older trade routes that skirt between the Bandu Hills and the Laughing Jungle. These routes were used primarily by early colonists, most of whom were prospectors seeking their fortunes in salt, gold, and diamonds. While several successful mining operations remain, the trails are far less used than they were in the past, particularly because merchants using them are easy targets for brigands and wild beasts. This same remoteness should lessen the chance of you encountering the allies of rival factions seeking to block or sabotage your mission. The caravan routes lead to the edge of the M’neri Plains, at which point they can break from the trail and head west to Kalabuto. Once you have resupplied in Kalabuto, you should follow the Upper Korir River north into the Screaming Jungle. Here the terrain climbs upward through a series of rocky falls and churning rapids, greatly impeding passage via boat, and in many places the water becomes too shallow to navigate, so overland travel is recommended over riverborne travel. Leaving the Screaming Jungle, the trail continues to follow the Korir until it comes near the northeastern Bandu Hills and then turns east. At this point, the trail leaves the river, heading almost due west through the northern foothills of the Bandu Hills until it reaches the southernmost reaches of the Mwangi Jungle. Somewhere beneath those trees lies the Azlanti outpost of Tazion, which should show the way to the lost city of Saventh-Yhi.
A few days later, Arael approaches you all and says that he has heard it through his contacts that a man by the name of Jarvis Alebrecht wishes to meet with you and offers a chance to learn more about the Council of Thieves in the Parego Dospera.
The day of the meeting, Duke escorts into the hideout a nervous-looking blond man who relates the following: Friends of Westcrown—I come to you with a singular offer. I have long lived on the edge of legality in this, our city, but never have my plans or desires run along routes that might put the city in peril. I have heard the whispers that the Council of Thieves had something to do with the destruction of Aberian’s Folly, and I know these rumors to be fact—as I suspect you do as well. As you have doubtless learned, the Council of Thieves has not the best intentions for Westcrown. I may live on the other side of law, but I have no wish to see Westcrown suffer, for it is my home as well as yours. And as you now find yourselves aligned against the Council’s machinations as well, I think we can find common cause to work together. My trade is information. Sensitive information. One of my most talkative contacts, a certain black-market pesh merchant named Goren One-Ear who keeps his shop in Parego Dospera, has fallen silent. It worries me, for he had long claimed to have ties with the Council of Thieves. Indeed, when the manor burned and fire scorched the sky, Goren contacted me with a short but cryptic message. He claimed that the fires and destruction were linked to the Council—more precisely, to the grandchildren of one of the Council’s leaders (whom Goren had hinted on multiple meetings with me was none other than nobleman Vassindio Drovenge). Worse, he indicated to me that there was a coup wracking the Council, and that these grandchildren were all but assured of seizing control if they could engineer the death of their grandfather, and that if they accomplished this, things would grow dangerous indeed for the Council’s enemies. You see, here we share a dangerous commonality. My trade in information has long made the Council uneasy, but I have always been sure to give as well as take with their agents. Likewise, if word on the street is to be believed, your group has done much, indirectly or otherwise, to vex the Council. Yet as long as the traditionalists held power in the Council, things maintained a balance. These upstarts—these Drovenge siblings—care nothing for tradition. If they claim control over the Council’s resources, no Wiscrani is safe—particularly not you or I, who have already troubled the Council on numerous occasions. Goren One-Ear claimed to have new and important information about the burgeoning coup in the Council—he also wanted out of Westcrown. I had promised him funds and aid in escaping the city under the Council’s collective noses in return for everything he knew about these Drovenge siblings, their plans, and both who they intended to strike against and how these strikes would go down. Yet this was two days hence, and I have had no contact with Goren. I fear the worst. If you can investigate his shop in the Dusk Market alley in Parego Dospera… if you can find any clue to his fate or any notes he may have hidden in his home… I am prepared to pay you the funds I had set aside to aid him in his escape from Westcrown. Certainly, the information Goren possessed can help you as much as I, if not more!
I might be able to take you all on, if one of you can take over our ROTRL campaign....
When you let Rotilius Havelar, a general of the Sargavan Guard, know that you are accepting the Grand Custodians offer, he is delighted. Splendid! Besides finding the lost treasures of Saventh-Yhi, we can use this opportunity to bring Sargavan culture and values to the savages. We can eventually pave roads in the formidable jungle and start trade routes! The natives will be perfect to build our towns and roads as they are used to the heat and jungle conditions. Splendid! He claps his hands joyously. We have already started preparations! He then motions toward Ndombe. If it is all right with you, I'll take your servant there, what was his name? Dembe? and he can work with the other servants that are packing for the expedition. Unless you cannot spare his services? He looks at Ndombe. I assume you speak the common tongue? The rest of the factions do not take kindly to being rejected. You find that the library is suddenly closed to you as the librarians do not want to anger the Pathfinders. Word on the dock is that the Free Captains have promised to sink any ship that ever carries you to sea. The Aspis Consortium has let it be known that if they want to carry Consortium goods, merchants better not give you a discount. That night, you find a mantis-headed dagger stuck in the middle of your sleeping quarters impaling a note written in some red liquid that says cryptically, 'Sleep well'.
On Saturday I will be visiting family for two weeks. I will try to keep up, but just in case, I am throwing it out there.
Yes! Sorry to see you go! I really liked how you saved Cordwin's bacon with those water blasts!
Starting this Saturday, 09/20, I will be visiting family for two weeks. I hope to keep up with posting, but can't guarantee it.
Fergus hopes he is not chosen for the kiss. He guesses that Sorshen-and Remy, are attractive by human standards, but they are not stout enough like a good dwarven lass is.
Agreed mate, Borden says to the Halfling, but let's hear about the Anti-plague elixirs. Mac is glad when the human also volunteers. So I won't be the only fool volunteering for this crazy job! He thinks to himself as he nods to the stranger. When Harran introduces himself, Mac nods in acknowledgement. I believe I am a stranger to you both he nods in Mia's direction and to the lady. Mac's the name. So much for picking their pockets...unless...
Mac's Meal: The light made Mac open his eyes. Dawn already? he thought. It was only a few hours ago that Mac and his fellow dregs of society had turned in. It was easy to pick the pockets of those who were too inebriated to notice. He thought about trying to go back to sleep but the smell of his fellow 'roommates' made that impossible. Pickpockets are not known for their hygiene! He yawned and carefully extracted himself from the arm and leg weeds of the others and carefully and silently made for the door. If anyone else was awake, they hardly noticed - or cared.
He was hungry as he had such a busy night he had forgotten to eat. The coins clinked softly in his coin purse, but Mac thought why should he spend them if he didn't have to? He stopped at a horse's trough and washed up as best as he could while finer folks gave him looks of disgust. Ella had been kind enough to feed him and he saw no reason to discontinue the service. He grabbed the delicious meal thanking the girl profusely when she mentioned she knew something he might be interested in, Mac cocked his head to the side and with a smile said, You have already done me a great service by providing my breakfast, but I am always interested in information!
I know this was not easy for me and I am sure that it was not easy for the others. There were a lot of great submissions. After thorough deliberation, the following candidates were chosen: Krayn La'jal
To the ones that were not chosen: I will keep you in mind for future openings. To the ones that were chosen: Please chose your final avatar (if you have not done so already) and pop over to the gameplay thread to check in. Please have your tag updated with the following: Gender Race Class(es) Level(s) (HP XX/XX AC:XX T:XX F:XX Saves F:+XX R:+XX W:+XX CMB:+XX CMD:XX Init:+XX Perc: +XX Favorite Skill: +XX) Thanks again for the interest in this humble game.
@Taimat: 1 Trait, plus a Campaign Trait, with the option to take a 3rd Trait if a Drawback is also taken. @djpika: I usually don't allow anything outside the CRB or APG unless I have played with that person before, but the existing players will have a say to the final selection, so I say throw it out there and they can decide if it fits with their character progression and RPing style. @Brother_Guiness: See response to djpika above. Arcane
Dotting For Interest
The shadow reenters the room and goes right up to Tal.
He misses! The thieves re-enter and shoot crossbow bolts at Edric and Richard.
Sherix, Richard and Tal ready actions to attack anyone who walks through the door. Edric taps Tal with the wand.
Edric taps Mera with the wand.
Cordwin will aim his crossbow at one of the ones Skarn is not engaging.
I have not been down to the lower areas. That is Crosael's domain and I am just as glad to let her have it! I don't know if you have met her in person, but she is a vile, cruel woman. I avoid her as much as possible! He takes the card from Mera and places it in his vest pocket-close to his heart.
•The Council of Thieves is alive and well—rumors that it long ago disbanded are false. •There’s a schism building in the Council between the traditionalists and a new group that wants to have more direct control over the fortunes and citizens of Westcrown. •The schism is led by the son and daughter of one of the Council’s oldest and most respected leaders, Vassindio Drovenge. •Vassindio’s granddaughter, Chammady, is a beautiful but dangerous assassin and an accomplished swordfighter. •Vassindio’s grandson, Ecarrdian, is the more dangerous sibling, a charasmatic and brilliant charmer who is also, much to the Drovenge shame, at the very least a tiefling—some whisper that he is actually a half-fiend, and others that he is actually the son of the archdevil Mammon. •The Drovenges and their followers have entered the endgame—they’re making various power plays now throughout Westcrown to seize control of the Council and, soon thereafter, will attempt the same of Westcrown’s government. •There exists a handful of powerful enemies whom the Drovenge siblings particularly want to see murdered—these include most of the loyalist leaders of the Council of Thieves, a semi-legendary swamp hag known as the Mother of Flies said to know the secret (and weakness) of Ecarrdian’s bloodline, and the PCs themselves. •The Drovenge siblings hope to make peaceful contact with Liebdaga the Twin and, in exchange for freeing him, hope to recruit his aid in taking control of Westcrown. Even if the thieves currently attempting this are defeated, as long as Liebdaga remains alive or in Westcrown, the danger of such an alliance being forged remains. •Before the Drovenges’ agents can contact Liebdaga, they are struggling to master the deadly dungeon that imprisons him in order to reach him. This is the Nessian Spiral below the ruins of Aberian’s Folly. Research and divinations have indicated that successful navigation of the Nessian Spiral would be made vastly easier for the one who manages to gather three important items—a copy of the contract used to imprison the pit fiend Liebdaga, a Stygian Keyrod used to manipulate and control the machinery that maintains the devil’s prison, and Liebdaga’s devil talisman. The thieves suspect that the only copy of the contract was either destroyed in the explosion or (more likely) is in the possession of the now-missing mayor of Westcrown—they have agents scouring the city but have not yet found him. Liebdaga’s talisman itself has, apparently, been recovered from the treasury below, and is in the possession of the diabolist Avahzi, the commander of the thieves attempting to navigate the Spiral. Only the Stygian Keyrod has so far eluded discovery, but divinations indicate that it should be hidden somewhere in the Nessian Spiral.
Apologies! It has been a busy week with class. I will try and get a post up tomorrow.
Gundar looks around and no longer sees Temur. He dishes out the last of the soup and hurries to The Rusty Dragon as fast as he has ever run in his life! If they all left without me the goblins will be the least of their worry! Unfortunately the streets are unusually busy and Gundar just missed several collisions with his fellow pedestrians. He arrives at The Rusty Dragon winded and heaving. He turns to Temur, Ye..[WHEEZE]..could've..[COUGH COUGH]..told me...[WHEEZE]..you were..[HACK SPIT]...leaving! he finishes with a fit of coughing.
If I was DM'ing this, I would have 5 of the cutest, non-threatening mice run by right now! :D
The Lord-Mayor bows to Mera and kisses her hand. Fare thee well, goddess of the stage! I wish thy would cometh with me for I will find you patrons anon for thy craft! Thy beauty would be toasted in palaces throughout the land instead of dying a peasant's death! At this he looks pointedly at Raveen. He then whispers in her ear. @Mera:
Avoid the thieves and devils and make your way into the Nessian Spiral, find the key rod to shut down the Stygian Cooling Chambers, and then make your way to the Spiral’s center to banish or even destroy the pit fiend, certainly weakened by its long imprisonment as a fuel source, before he can regain his power and escape. If no one stops him he hops into the carriage, raps on the roof and is off, all the while waving a handkerchief at Mera.
The Council of Thieves? You never heard of them? I don't know if they would be happy or dismayed that you don't. The Council is a thieves guild that has ruled Westcrown's criminial underground since before Aroden. I have heard there might be some internal strife within the ranks and I am sure that one side or the other can somehow use a pit fiend to get the upper hand. I was able to secure my copy of the contract before Crosael could. He pulls out the contract and a quill and ink. I will sign this contract over to one of you. This should grant you a bit of leverage against Liebdaga when you confront him, and you might even be able to use your ownership of the contract to bypass some guardians or traps in the Nessian Spiral. He reads the contract silently before muttering, Ah! Here it is. It says, 'The undersigned shall be considered bound by this contract, and shall be granted access to the Nessian Spiral’s workings should the need for repairs or adjustments arise.' The Mayor continues to read the contract. And here it mentions that there might be a way to shut down the infernal engine safely. Somewhere in the Nessian Spiral are five “cooling pools,” where waters from the River Styx are drawn in from the Great Beyond to regulate the infernal energies drawn off of the pit fiend, and in the event of a “cataclysmic failure,” the flow of waters from the Styx can be shut off with the application of a device called a Stygian Keyrod once kept by the Spiral’s Keepers. Shutting off this flow of unholy water should throttle the engine’s energy output, and while this could cause the engine to falter and fail, it is a much preferred solution than the destruction of the engine and subsequent release of its occupant. It says right here, 'This contract remains binding and legal for all perpetuity so as long as the consigned component of the infernal engine be a viable source of power, as witnessed here by Signatory Vaccha, Kolyarut of the Scriptures of Adamantine.' Who shall I sign it over to? Linguistics Check DC25:
You confirm that the contract has no hidden clauses that could be used against any of you. As for what are the people of Westcrown going to do if I am not here? Once that pit fiend gets out, there will be no Westcrown. The difference is, that I will still be alive. I have room in my carriage if you want to come with?
Fergus' eyes open wide at the site of the Mithral and he lets out a low whistle. By Torag's Forge! It has been a while since I have seen anything so beautiful!
It does a DM proud to be able to throw out a moral conundrum and trust that your players will RP it in character and without throwing the game off the rails. Bravo to you all!
So he became a window instead? Cordwin asks not sure what to make of this house of horrors.
I am going to assume that you will search the room and opponents for treasure even if those actions aren't specified. I will be listing the treasure in the discussion thread so that it is easier to keep track of. B23-Mausoleum Treasure +1 repeating heavy crossbow with 20 bolts, golembane scarab
Skinsaw man? Who's that? Is he the one with the teeth and the razors?
Oh! We can see you are very busy and know you have important work to do. Our discussion with Grayst won't take but a minute and it might be for the good of the town. We will be gone before you know it!
Mera attacks Richard and Tal misses Mera. Rdric casts protection from evil, but Tal still has a murderous look in his eyes! Richard casts Hideaous Laughter on Tal which he easily shakes off.
Cordwin again speaks in a soothing voice to try and coax more information-after all, getting information is his specialty. See! Doesn't that feel good to get it out? But there is something else! That something else is weighing you down. Speak it aloud and the weight will be lifted from your shoulders!
Searok does not like the look of the drowned man and keeps an eye on him in case he starts to 'swim'!
@Lorelei: I am sorry to see you go and I am going to miss you throwing shade at the Pathfinder! :D. I hope to see you on the boards in the future. Arael is currently level 3 so if some one wants to level him up to level 5, that is fine. (Since I know what is coming, I don't feel I can so it without knowledge.) His character stats are in his profile. PM them to me and I will update his profile. Janiven is also an urban ranger could also accompany you. She is also Level 3. If anyone knows of a replacement, feel free to have them join. Speaking of which Lorelei was a druid in my Serpent's Skull game. If anyone is interested.
Searok again tries to batter the prone creature.
I would punch ye in yer nose, but that might improve yer looks! Searok roars as he brings his hammer down again.
I read this quickly and saw 'I'll just execute Searok' and my first thought was 'What did Searok do to deserve the DM Finger of death!'
As he is tying up the derro, Searok glares at Makall. These are not dwarves! he says indignantly, I can't think of a worse insult! "Can we knock them out or something?" I can punch them in the nose! Searok says as he begins to pummel the bound derro. See if anyone thinks ye are dwarves after this!
Thank you for your time GM Red. I hope to see you on the boards again either as a player or DM. I am up for continuing if everyone else is...
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