At present you have no idea which room Davkul is looking for, nor even whether it is one of the below ground or few above ground ones; the maid came from the hall, which has access (via the stairwell there) to both.
“Arrows. Cold iron tipped, sized for gnome sized bows. Also ones sized for larger folks' bows.”, the dwarf bends down under the counter, rummages a moment, and brings up a bucket, which he dumps onto the gnome height counter. “Crossbow bolts. Also cold iron tipped, and likewise sized for small and larger crossbows.” He brings up another bucket which he dumps on the counter. He seems exceptionally angry, and peering into the buckets, Nim and Bronx can see that they are full of the broken and charred remains of dozens of snapped arrows and crossbow bolts. “Fey pranksters broke in last night and smashed, snapped, and burnt our entire supply of prepared cold iron tipped arrows and bolts. Word is now on its way to Citadel Adbar requesting the services of a senior cleric of Moradin. Once he arrives next month and wards us- touch granite- one of those wretched fey won't be able to come within thirty paces of this place. Tell me what you're looking for in the melee line and I'll see what we've got- we tend to keep most of that under lock and key. And I will be delighted to offer you a discount on the purchase of any cold-iron melee weapons, my friends, if you can solemnly promise me that you're seeking them to drive those wretches out of this area.”
Davkul & Seebo:
Spoiler:
Time: approximately 08:46
You have concluded your breakfasts at a leisurely pace and are on your way out of the dining room, when, her face as white as a sheet, and in an apparent state of some distress one of the halfling maids comes stumbling into the dining room from the hall. She collides with one of the other staff, and you overhear her communicating to her fellow worker something about ‘He’s dead... Mr. Pophilov... I went to give him his wake up call and he was just lying there... it’s horrible.’
Davkul:
Spoiler:
You recognise ‘Pophilov’ as being a slang term from the Undercommon language for ‘nobody’- although it is seldom used as a name for that very reason, except perhaps amongst criminal/clandestine fraternities where it sometimes stands in as a joke alias.
The last thing Nim and Bronx hear, as they finish their breakfast and set off, is Donnie professing apologies that following the events of the previous night he would prefer less of a hectic time and that the rest of you should carry on in his absence.
Nim & Bronx
Spoiler:
You head out of the boarding house, onto the streets, and go in search of a place that looks likely to be able to supply your needs. The snow has been trampled by passers by along the middle of the streets to an extent now, making passage easier for folks such as gnomes and halflings who might otherwise be upto their waists in the snow.
Time: approximately 08:50, 30th Nightal, 1383 DR
Nim and Bronx soon locate a workshop which looks like it might be promising, smoke pouring from a forge chimney, the ring of metal upon metal emerging from inside, and the signboard by the 'customer entrance' announcing 'Gedrik Ironfounder & Family'. Entering to the 'clang' of a bell arrangement above the door, rigged to sound as the door opens and closes, the wave of heat which hits you is in sharp contrast to the crisp winter chill outside on the streets. Inside the building is something like a small barn, with various anvils, workbenches, and cupboards littering the roughly tiled floor, with posts of ironwood propping up the smoke-stained crossbeams and the roof. Various tools and suits of armour hang from hooks, and racks of hunting and kitchen knives, metal collars and pins for wheel axles, nails of all sizes for building purposes, fire irons, cauldrons for cooking, and even the occasional metal bath are strewn about the room. The centre of the room is dominated by a large forge and bellows arrangement (and its attendant chimney stack). Several dwarves in working clothes are moving hither and thither about the area. One of them having noticed the clang of the bell on the customer entrance (as you came in) comes across to stand on the workshop side of the customer counter (which has two surfaces- one for gnome & halfling sized folk, and one for 'bigger folks') from you. It's difficult to make out beneath the grease and sweat much about the dwarf although he has dark eyes and is (probably) one of the fair skinned (at least when they're cleaned up, anyway) 'shield dwarves' normal to these parts. His beard is tucked carefully behind his overalls.
"Yes?", he growls in a somewhat dour tone.
The PCs are currently split into two groups who will have little idea of what is going on with each other- Seebo & Davkul, and Nim & Bronx. Please post with spoilers addressed to the other person(s) in your group and to me appropriately.
Seebo & Davkul:
Spoiler:
Time: approximately 08:40, 30th Nightal, 1383 DR
If the pair of you could please agree where you're going to be going and doing what, first? Black Baz, by the way, being the night porter, will likely have retired to his own home and bed by now, although you could ask around here to try to find out where he lives. Mrs. Prestwick is likely to be in the kitchens, supervising the clearing up operation from breakfast, for sometime yet. It is possible that some of your fellow boarders may have third or fourth hand information, if there are particular questions which you're interested in pursuing.
Will post again later today, after giving thought to the situation with Donnie's player having bowed out. Apologies for this hold up on my part. At present, Nim and Bronx are outside in the street, looking for a store, and Seebo, Donnie, and Davkul are inside, still discussing what to do (in game) for the rest of this morning.
sorry to say i think i have to bow out of this game its a little to crowded for me, and i'm also struggling to find to the to post. i'm pretty sure the group will be fine without me. all the best of luck.
Acknowledged; sad to learn it, but if time in Real Life is short so be it. Continue to read, by all means, and thank-you for finding the time to explain that you are unable to carry on.
Raven 34:
Your holiday dates are duly noted, although they leave me wondering how long easter holidays run for on the south coast!
Bronx & Nim: I will start dealing with your trip as soon as Donnie confirms if he is staying with the others, in town, or looking to go off with you two- unless the next twenty-four hours sees no response from him, in which case I will start posting for you anyway. Nim, please make sure you have added the 10 GP Seebo has just given you, to the inventory in your profile.
While I am not going to go with you, I will add 10g of my own funds to assist the pair of you in purchasing some Cold Iron armaments, since my own armaments primarily come from my own spellbook. That should be enough to maybe even get Nim a glaive instead of just a dagger.
That having been said, I would like to make an inquiry about purchasing a Cold Iron shaft cap for my quarterstaff, just in case I ever get into dire straits again.
Davkul:
If Bronx indicates that he accepts the donation, please make the necessary deduction from the funds in your profile. Also could you please clarify are you interested in going out to the store with Bronx & Nim, or in waiting behind to discuss things with the others, and going looking for gear if/when they decide to move?
On our way out of town, Bronx and Nim (and anyone else that might join us) will stop and see if there are any cold iron arrows (20 for Bronx) and a medium cold iron dagger or something (for Nim). Since cold iron is only twice the price as a normal item, we should probably be able to afford some of those, at least I think Bronx has 2 gp left for his arrows. If there are any in town and available.
Actually, given the geography, (Mrs. Prestwick's boarding house being on the edge of town, the ridge you want to look at immediately behind it) it will require *going into* town to find a gear store or workshop which might stock such items. Do you want to take your pony with you back into town, Bronx, to tie at any hitching post or the like in the snow-covered streets outside any store or leave it at the stables at the boarding house to collect on the way back out to the ridge?
Bronx & Nim head outside, Bronx to the stables to collect his pony. (Fortunately it's a hardy northern pony capable of coping with a certain amount of snow on a forested slope, although in many places Bronx is going to be reliant upon Nim or anyone else handy and on foot going in front to push/trample through any deep snow.)
If anyone else wants to go with them, if they could please indicate so by the end of this weekend, after which spoiler tags for actions are going to be requested all round if different PCs are going to be engaged in different activities in different places.
It occurs to you that (as an additional line of inquiry) anyone intending to stay in town instead of heading off into the woods might, by asking around (Gathering Information), be able to turn up information on that big bear (and maybe the chain it was wearing) if it was a long-term resident of these parts and at all known about in local stories & gossip. Additional things which you could ask about may have also occured to you.
It occurs to you that some fey who are around love woodland settings for pranks and ambushes if they’re expecting possible visitors to come calling.
Whether you make the Wisdom check or not, Bronx:
Spoiler:
There are some additional anti-fey options available for activities which could occur to you such as:
Pooling coins and going looking for cold iron weaponry (if any) that may be available in Deadsnows.
Checking for a sage or expert in Deadsnows who knows anything about fey activity in the area.
Now that the local mercenaries seem to be taking some sort of belated interest in last night’s activities, try to determine if they (or their employers) might secretly be in league with fey- or at least demonstrating pro-fey sympathies.
”DM Charles Evans” wrote:
“I have just had a *gods awful* journey from Waterdeep, although at least the gods seemed to have had a change of their hearts and to have been looking out for me those last three miles. Some sort of nasty imp or pixie thing shot my pony out from under me, a couple of miles out from this place, and Yondalla knows what it might have intended for me if a couple of travellers hadn’t happened to be riding through the sleet only a couple of hundred yards behind me. Some sort of big-folk travelling entertainer or professional illusionist, she said she was, and her priestess bodyguard. How it screamed with disbelief as the priestess whacked the nasty thing out of the air with her staff to break-up into a puddle of foul smelling ichor on the ground- urggh. There wasn’t anything they could do for my pony- some sort of nasty poison there must have been on those darts- but they trotted alongside me, as far as the edge of town, where they said that they had to go about their own business….”
- Fenwick said something about a traveller and her bodyguard. Are these people still in town? Do they know anything useful?
Other information, equipment, (or ally???) gathering ideas may have occured to Bronx as well.
If Bronx makes a DC 9 Knowledge [Nature] Check:
Spoiler:
Bronx recalls that there are stories of particularly obnoxious ‘ice sprites’ with abilities primed to drive those whom they encounter to distraction; they are said to frequent snowy areas and dislike both cold-iron and fire. If there are any in these mountains, with all this snow around, their territory may very well have temporarily extended down the ridges with all this snow that has fallen overnight.
Davkul: I would like to draw your attention to the fact that on page 4 of this thread:
Spoiler:
Fey were mentioned several times in your conversation with Fakcal, and the church of Midnight may even have cropped up; you might (if you had not already done so) like to go back and take a look over it again.
It is approximately eight minutes past eight in the morning now. Over a foot and a half of snow has fallen on the streets of Deadsnows overnight, with quite possibly more in the woods up on the ridge. Any tracks you made last night will almost certainly have been obliterated..... With regard to the question of do you have time to go off through the woods, travel maybe three quarters of a mile to locate (whilst again possibly contending with low cloud reducing visibility conditions in the upper stretches) where you got up to last night (most likely identifying the spot when you get there by the dead bear unless someone has moved that), and retrieve the metal chain (with ornamental leaf), and get back to town for noon.... well probably not (given Nim's Search & Survival skills) without help.
"I cast detect magic before bed last night and got these results:
Satchel: Moderate aura of Transmutation
Illuminated page: Strong auras of Conjuration, Illusion, & Transmutation"
just to clarify is the illuminated page is the map of deadsnows?
The illuminated page is the old looking one with the (mostly green + gold) colour drawing on it, which Davkul drew out of the lead scroll tube, along with another (much more modern) page which was covered with scribblings (in common) and drawings of trap mechanisms (see one of the posts I made on March 16th, back on page 7 of this thread for decriptions of these). The map of Deadsnows (drawn in silvery grey, with notes scribbled on it in fey using elven alphabet, as usual for fey) was found in the satchel. There was some sort of short message on the illuminated page (and by the way no one has made any attempt to appraise the page as a whole yet, in terms of financial value as a work of art, I note) but nobody suceeded in a decipher script check to read it.
Seebo:
In addition to my previous post, please roll the Spot check rather than take 10, since you will have been concentrating on preparing for your devotions at the time, and not necessarily paying attention to how Nim (still likely sound asleep) was.
Seebo:
Since you had the spell casting-capacity left, and seem to have genuinely misunderstood Nim's HP situation, on this occasion if you make a (retroactive) DC 10 Spot check I will allow the additional cure of 1 HP to Nim to have occured before you had your morning prayers, you having noticed then that he was still slightly hurt.
Having (I assume) acquired your breakfast order details, the member of the boarding staff who had been waiting by your table bustles off to the kitchens, leaving you a degree of privacy given the levels of noisy eating/chatter from other diners.
Nim was on 9 hp the previous day out of his total of twelve, received 1 hp healing before retiring to bed, and having rested has regained 1 hp/level equalling 1 more. Nim is currently on 11 hp, and has a few minor scratches and grazes left from yesterday's escapades.
By the way looking around at one another, it should be fairly obvious to each of the four of you to have turned up thus far for breakfast that a good night's sleep for your group seems to have generally been in short supply last night- although things were not bad enough to actually have penalties in game terms.
A member of the boarding house staff bustles up to the table to check Davkul and Bronx's choice of drinks to accompany their breakfasts and if they require honey in their porridge?
As Seebo, Nim, and Donnie have not yet posted since retiring for the previous night, they are currently absent from breakfast.
“Dark hair, fur cap, traveller's clothes...”, one of the dwarves obliges Davkul with a description as best he can. “Leastways that’s what I heard, but the fellow’s been dead for several days they said, though hidden by pixie magic or something like that until yesterday. Dead pony as well, but they left that out there. Just brought the poor wee fellow in to the shrine in case anyone in town might be able to put a name to him and claim the body for burial. Don’t know what’s got into the wood folk in these parts this past month or so. Disappeared from sight, apart from occasional very ugly bits of mischief.... As to the shrine... it’s the meeting-hall like building with the big oak tree in front of the main entrance out on the east side of town. First thing they did, after taking over the shrine, the clerics of Silvanus got a senior priest in from somewhere else to put that oak there for them, as part of the rededication. Only oak tree in town these days, all the ones which were here before Deadsnows having gone the way of building materials or pit-props.” A concerned look appears on the face of Davkul’s informant. “Do you think that you knew him? I heard that something had been at his face, and that he may not be a pleasant sight.”
Davkul:
Dora brings you a glass of good wine, although she looks slightly bemused when you don’t drink all of it, but seal some of it up in a vial from your spell component pouch.
And at this point I shall take it that you have all headed off to bed….
Bronx:
Spoiler:
Your dreams of the night are filled with the maddening cackle of fey, gathered around a map of Deadsnows, pointing and gesturing as they shove pebbles and buttons across it, and plotting an appointment for murder. Worse still, treacherous gnomes who worship evil deities are working with them, and a piping shrilling wind cries mockingly in the background. You wake several times during the night, in a cold sweat, having to search your room to reassure yourself that there aren’t any fey hiding in the corners, mocking you whilst you sleep.
Davkul:
Spoiler:
You dream of Fenwick, translucent and reproachful for overlooking something. ‘Why didn’t you ask me if I was dead, Davkul?’ he wants to know. ‘Or who killed me?’ In the background, distorted cries of ‘The Kelly-Lee, The Kelly-Lee’ echo mockingly through the snow covered forests above Deadsnows, rising above the squawks of outlandish birds.
Donnie:
Spoiler:
Your dreams of the night are disturbed, by a high pair of ornate golden gates, beyond which you *know* that terrible things lurk, and in front of which a hauntingly unfamiliar elven woman stands, as guardian. Runes of great and terrible power are woven together to define those gates, and you wish you could work out whether it was vital to know more or not to do so for some reason….
Nim:
Spoiler:
In your dreams of the night, you are trying to climb the tree again, to reach the satchel, only the satchel keeps getting further and further away, as the tree keeps growing higher and higher as you scramble to reach it. The corpse of an enormous bear, its head torn off by something monstrous and white is sprawled at the bottom of the tree.
Seebo:
Spoiler:
Your dreams of the night are disturbed by the clatter and rattle of bones, the cold exhalation of the grave, and a sense of brooding menace. In the background, a chorus of dwarven voices seem to be chanting a funeral dirge, and words like spikes of iron shadow fence the boundary of a graveyard despoiled of its dead.
Morning (approx. 08:00), 30th Nightal, 1383 DR
Morning finds a crisp blanket of fresh snow lying at least a foot and a half in depth outside on the streets of Deadsnows; occasional teasing flakes drift from leaden grey skies above, with the promise of perhaps much more to fall later in the day.
Chatter in the dining hall of the gnome, halfling, and dwarf lodgers is loud and cheerful however, with speculation over last night’s events running riot amidst the smells and clatters wafting through the dining hall from the ramp to the kitchens. Mrs. Prestwick’s staff are at full stretch for the usual breakfast shift, the boarding house full. Among the thump of ale tankards and more refined clink of tea-cups, dwarves who were on the last shifts (before the mines closed in anticipation of tonight’s anticipated festivities) have been spreading the latest scandal to hit the town’s taprooms, this one regarding the halls of Deadsnow’s shrine to Silvanus. Amongst the personal possessions of the halfling traveller whose body was discovered and brought to their doors yesterday afternoon, the priests of Silvanus were fairly certain that there was a lead scroll tube, but at some point during the afternoon or evening, that particular item appears to have vanished. Accusations are reportedly flying over which of them may have taken it and why- especially since the contents are believed to have been unknown.
There are reports, also, that- now that daylight has arrived- members of The Company of The Sable Bow have been seen rather unenthusiastically wading through the snow around the back of Mrs. Prestwick’s boarding house, trying to determine whether or not it might be worth pursuing reports circulating that a halfling was chased into the woods last night by strange ‘beetle’ creatures.
I’ll assume that you turn up and seek one another out at the breakfast tables, amidst the steaming bowls of porridge and the scent of fried breakfasts in the order of posting. Seebo is presumably delayed in his and Nim’s quarters by religious observances. Please remember to ‘reset’ daily abilities, etc, as appropriate, now that you have rested.
Davkul: Assuming that everyone is about to retire to bed, will you prefer to get up early and prepare all your spells before breakfast, carry out preparation but leave some slots open, or wait until after breakfast?
And whilst Nim has removed the satchel with him, he has left the map on the table, so unless he comes back to collect it, could someone else please add it to their inventory?
Dora seems almost relieved that Bronx asks her to fetch him a mug of ale disappearing off to the kitchens at speed and returning promptly with a tankard of Chuckoaster's Best (a dark, strongly flavoured ale, brewed locally by a halfling family who moved up from Luiren during the local gold rush, and stayed in town to make ale).
"No charge tonight.", she tells Bronx. "Compliments of Mrs. Prestwick."
Bronx sits sipping it, ready to head to bed once the others have finished what they're doing.
50 XP further to all PCs for events after leaving the boarding house. If anyone wants to review background + recent events and post a 'journal style entry' (or 'meditations before bedtime' in the case of those without writing materials) summarising some of their PC's thoughts regarding events leading upto this point, then feel free to do so.
Nim and Seebo say goodnight to the rest of you, and wander off (past Nightsong) out into the hall, pulling the door shut behind them again, and down the stairs there to the lower parts of the boarding house and their hired room.
Donnie:
Spoiler:
Overlooked an aura when I last posted. The spell-scroll which Davkul is studying has a faint aura of necromancy.
Davkul finds that the second scroll looks to him like a spell scroll, with a couple of spells scribed upon it in emerald green ink and with showy (and likely as not unnecessary) gold-leaf highlights.
If players are expecting to be absent, it helps if I have some notice of it, so that I can try to take it into account and find a way (if necessary) of making sure that any respective PC isn't likely to be called upon for anything dramatic, or at least agreeing dice-rolls for if they are likely to be.
The Easter Holidays (or their equivalents in countries other than the UK) are coming up shortly, and CD/Seebo posted on the discussion thread that he will be away for several days; if conversation is still occuring here, in game, at that time, I will be happy to continue for a while, whilst Seebo meditates or otherwise stays quiet in the background. Otherwise, things may have to pause until he gets back.
At the moment (and possibly after breakfast tomorrow morning, depending on anything else yet to happen tonight) the PCs have an opportunity to discuss ideas, things which have happened so far (and general background which I posted last month in the discussion thread), and what steps to aim to take next. If you have any questions about possible character knowledge, world background or potential services/goods available in Deadsnows please ask, either here on the discussion thread.
"30th Nightal, that's today! Maybe we should go take a look. See who and what is going on."
Actually, as far as you know, it is now approximately 10:30 PM at night on the 29th still- unless you were up on the side of the ridge in the forest much longer than you seemed to be.
Black Baz emerges from the ramp to the kitchens, at this point, one of the young halfing women boarding-house staff, Dora, with him. Black Baz nods at you in passing and comments:
"Hrmm. I'm back to my post now."
Then he passes under Davkuls familiar, out into the hall, pulling the door shut behind him.
Unless Davkul instructed otherwise, Nightsong does indeed kick up a brief racket here, as Black Baz goes past, although it drew little more than a glance and 'hrrmph' from the night porter.
Dora comes forward to take drinks orders if necessary. She's looking slightly flustered (but not annoyed) as if she has been called away from something else to come here and take your orders.
Would you think that it's likely that you will have lost concentration on the detect magic over the past couple of rounds, or would you think that even whilst running in fear it might have been possible to maybe keep a hold of it with concentration checks?
As this seems to be a discussion thread, I would gauge that based on how far he was running in fear - between outright fear and 'running' I would say 'no' off the cuff regarding maintaining concentration.
This has been an interesting PbP to read so far Sir Charles and crew. :)
Turin:
Davkul was running as the result of an effect similar in end result to cause fear (having failed a will save) for a duration of 2 rounds; as it turned out it was moot in the circumstance anyway (since they didn't express any desire to hang around attempting to detect magic in the brief discussion which followed. Unfortunately the PHB isn't too clear on the interaction of fright and maintaining concentration; had it been a panic I would have thought that concentration would automatically expire, the 'drop anything that you're holding' being both literal and mentally figurative', but I see a grey zone where it might be possible for a concentration check each round (treat as a distraction) for fright situations.
I seem to recall posting some information in the Discussion thread a while back about a certain merchant by the name of Juzilan Greyfrost, and since Donnie has been in town the longest, it seems to me that Donnie would be the one most likely to have noticed and remembered this fact. As far as information regarding certain leading figures (the elven mine owners & the captain of their merceneries) goes, there is a good chance that it will not have changed much since the spoiler-tagged information I posted addressed to you in between the boarding house fight and the setting of into the forest. Lady Mayor Arletha Icespear is likely to be at home in her manor house.
I would like to mention a certain group of gnomes, Seebo, Nim, Donnie, Davkul, and Bronx who make me smile at times (or sometimes thinking *they're doing what?*- but in a fun sort of way.)
Nim opens the satchel and finds a piece of paper folded into four inside. Opening the piece of paper out onto a table, Nim discovers that it appears to be one of those ‘pictures of a place from above’ that some folk call maps. This one has been roughly scrawled in a silvery-grey substance, with lots and lots of comments added in a script that is unfamiliar to the majority of those present.
Also in the satchel are a couple of small stubs of a silvery grey substance which look like they could have been used to sketch the map.
Bronx:
Spoiler:
All the notes are written in Sylvan, (employing the usual elven alphabet for such) and it appears to be a rough map of Deadsnows, with various important buildings labelled, a crude ‘key’ to the labelling scrawled on one side, and written in one corner, up by a building a little way out of town labelled ‘Redstar Mining Company Offices’: Juzilan Greyfrost: Noon, 30th Nightal
Davkul:
Spoiler:
Although the satchel looks to you like Keswick's (as I mentioned when you first glanced at it earlier) you recognise neither the style of the execution of the map which Nim has just pulled out, nor of the unknown hand which has written upon it.
Donnie:
Spoiler:
Although you do not recognise the language, the letters on the map are those of the elven alphabet.
Seebo:
If you make a DC 5 Craft (alchemy) check:
Spoiler:
With your basic alchemical knowledge you recognise the silvery-grey substance as graphite, which besides its laboratory applications is often carried around by artists or scouts for the purposes of making sketches in circumstances where bottles of ink and quills will not be convenient.
<Fails a belated Will save in a moment of extreme frustration...>
AURGGGGGGHHHHH! Regains composure and starts hunting for alternate unwitting PCs to unleash multiple Cthulhu mythos monstrosities upon....
Davkul: What happened to the languages in your profile? Are they being clipped off the bottom by the message boards when I bring it up? Whilst they are unlikely to have any bearing on your ability to comprehend the phrase on the illuminated page, I was wanting to be certain of them for when I respond to Nim opening the satchel, later today. I have double-checked the discussion thread, and during character creation you said that you would be posting them in your profile.
Davkul: Just to point out that as far as you know, the other PCs have no idea where or how you obtained these documents, nor any other context by which to assess them.
Davkul draws out the plain lead scroll tube, given to him by Fenwick, unstoppers one of the ends, and draws out the contents.
The contents appear to consist of a highly illuminated page, apparently torn from a manuscript of some sort, which looks from the yellowing of the parchment to be *very* old, and a much more fresh and 'modern' sheet of paper, which seems to have been carelessy rolled up with it and stuffed into the tube; the latter is covered with scrawlings and dozens of diagrams. Davkul smoothes them out on a table.
Davkul:
Spoiler:
The modern piece of paper seems to have been written/drawn upon by Keswick- he had a habit of sometimes mixing papers up with one another you recall. You're concerned about the state of his mind when he was writing/drawing since the diagrams show a rather haphazard labelling of components rather than his much more methodical usual style.
The old piece of parchment about the size of a piece of A3 paper is occupied by what seems a historical or religious depiction. In the background there is a stone wall, through the arched windows of which terrible monstrosities are hinted at, in a dark place. In the foreground, a variety of elves seem to be kneeling, their backs to the viewer, seemingly in veneration of or to receive a blessing from the main subject of the illumination, an elven warrior-priestess (if the style of her armour and the religious thurible which she swings in one hand are anything to go by- the other hand is apparently raised in benediction). The whole illumination (except the black ink used for outlines and for the scenes in the background) has been mostly executed in a rich dark emerald green ink and shining gold leaf. Whilst the main central figure seems benevolent and reassuring, looking at the things in the background, through the arched windows, leaves a rather unsettling general impression of tentacles and eyes....amongst other things.
Underneath the illumination is a single sentence or phrase in a script that none of you recognise.
Waiting on Decipher Script results here if anyone with the skill wants to try their hand at it, since the margin of success (if any) determines how much information is gleaned.
The modern piece of paper seems to be covered (on both sides) mostly by a series of diagrams intended to depict the internal workings and mechanisms of a variety of lethal traps intended to slice, stab, or otherwise insert various bladed implements into someone activating pressure plates or trip-wires.
Underlined twice, in the middle of one side are the words: Silmerhelve plate? Daggers-Kelwyn Finesmith Adbar Midwinter Fair? (Nim is illiterate, therefore will not know that it says this unless someone tells him.)
The dining area, by the way, like the hall has wooden floorboards and white plastered walls. A faint odour of this evening's meal still lingers, although the tables have long been wiped clean and cleared of the dishes. The furniture in here is mostly sized for gnomes and halflings, with the exception of one table and a set of benches in the northwest corner sized for dwarves.
The dining area is a broad room, some thirty feet long, by twenty feet wide (long axis running north-south) which occupies much of the rear part of the ground-floor level of the boarding house. A ramp (for ease of serving trolley access) to the west leads down into the underground kitchens level to the west, and there are also two dumb-waiter arrangements set into the west wall which communicate with the kitchens and cellar levels. There is a large fireplace just north of the entrance from the hall on the eastern wall of the dining area, in which Black Baz will poke up the embers for you, before wandering off to the west to see if he can roust up some serving staff to see to drinks. At this time of night, the long tables and benches are empty, since Mrs. Prestwick has a 'no visiters in the area outside of eating hours' rule. There is a hatch let into the floor along the northern wall, with a ladder descending to the lower residential areas, but this is kept padlocked shut at night to stop visiters from sneaking up into the dining area and through to the kitchens for 'midnight raids'. The only 'public' access by night is from the door to the east, back to the hall where the porter is usually stationed. This is the doorway which Davkul has just stationed Nightsong on. This doorway has a door (opens into the dining area) which can be pushed shut as well, by the way.
I note that you did not update your equipment list to include a couple of the acquisitions that you have made since starting. Please remember to update it to include the scroll that Fakcal gave you.
Donnie:
Spoiler:
When you next look for it, you can't seem to find the fur hat which was found discarded in the snow in the fire-break earlier in the evening, when the group of you were first following the trails out of town. You could have sworn that you had it tucked away safely somewhere, but you can't seem to locate it.
If the torch did go out it may have been a bit tricky getting another one going anyway with the snow, so we’ll say you got by on lowlight vision and took a bit longer....
You cross through the whirling field of falling white that is the fire break, assisted in keeping your bearings by the occasional sounds coming from the stables around the north side of Mrs. Prestwick’s boarding house, and after perhaps half a minute of stumbling through the driving snow regain the assuring solidity of buildings. Making your way around the side of the boarding house, and into the deserted street, you shuffle upto the front porch, and after much shedding of snow and pounding upon the front door, are admitted by the cranky gnome night porter, a retired sell-sword by the name of ‘Black Baz’ who wears a black patch over his left eye. (Word is that he used to ride as a guard on the caravan trails up and down the Sword Coast.)
“Common Room’s shut tonight.”, he mutters. “Closed for the next few days for renovations. Beetles chewed up the furniture or oozed on the carpet, or some such vandalism.” (There seem to be more aspidistras in the entrance hall now, those from the common room having presumably been moved out here. The polished wooden floor of the hall shows no signs beyond a few scratches of the recent invasion by those strange ‘beetles’, so cleaning up operations in the hall seem to have been virtually completed.)
After a few more moments, whilst Black Baz pushes shut the front-door and bolts it again, the gnome returns his attentions to you.
“Harumph. You look like some of the fellows who I hear whacked some of the beetles. I dare say that Mrs. P. might waive her normal rules for such things, and let you warm yourselves by the embers of the fire in the dining area. If you’ll follow me through- but mind you stamp your boots and shake your cloaks free of snow first- and then I’ll go check if that’s okay and see if any of the staff will find you something to warm you up inside. Bad day for halflings it seems. Word is some late travellers coming into town from the north found a dead halfling a little ways out in a spot just east of the road that’s had a reputation for bad pixie tricks this past ten day....”
You've been gone from Deadsnows for coming upto a couple of hours now, and the duration of an average torch is only about one hour, so if someone wants to have done so, they can have lit a fresh torch during the journey back; either that or the one which Bronx lit could have been an unexpectedly long-burning one, that you've been up and down the ridge with. (And it should be guttering out about now.) My fault for not paying more attention to the length of time that torches burn!
39. Saving throws allow the players a sense of having some say in their character's own destiny. And they offer the DM's beloved villains a chance to (albeit temporarily) resist the PC's most powerful attempts to meddle with their plans.
Notes the mention of the Wand of Wonder made by Pres Man earlier.
40. Oh yes. Charged items add depth to issues of resource management.
41. Wish, the ultimate non-epic attempt-whacky-things-for-a-price spell.
42. Magic is divided, thematically, into 'schools' which add flavour to magic-use and offer a basis upon which spells and/or items can be developed to support or oppose a particular type of magic. Schools of magic also facilitate some spell-casters having options to focus their studies on particular areas of magical study, sometimes at the expense of other areas.
Very well then....
After this brief pause, you resume your trip back towards town, and before much longer, have dropped below the level of the drifting clouds completely, although the snow continues to fall more steadily, and soon you are relieved to have followed (and deepened with the tread of your boots) such a trail on the way up, giving a reliable guide to follow on the way back. Occasional strange bird calls, and the swish and thump of a tree branch shedding its load continue to echo through the forest.
At length you reach the edge of the trees, and look out into a swirling maelstrom of white. Seebo (still carrying the torch) has to be careful to shield to avoid it being snuffed completely out. Some sixty feet across there, currently hidden from sight in the snowstorm, is Deadsnows (unless the town as been swallowed up by a planar rift or some equally bizarre occurance during your absence). Nearby is the pine where Nim practised his tree-climbing exploits earlier this evening. What next?
In particular here, I am looking for a group decision as to what your next intended port of call is going to be, whether it is the boarding house or some other location- and what you will be looking to do there.
Eventually you reach a point where the tracks you made coming up the ridge in the first place seem to have come up by different routes....
I think I have the Dumb today, I can't seem to make sense of this statement. Are you saying we came down at a different spot than we went up?
I meant to say that Seebo, Nim, Donnie, & Bronx can see the tracks which they made coming up, but it looks like someone else (Davkul, most likely) had taken a detour at some point- or entirely different route- which only converged with Seebo, Nim, Donnie, & Bronx's trip up through the trees at this point. If this person was Davkul, he might remember this and have something to say at this point; this is why I have 'paused' the description of the return to Deadsnows at this point, at least in case any sort of discussions are going to take place. I'm trying to be fair to assumptions and or character knowledge that one or more PC's mght have, whether or not anything which may result from it will turn out to have any immediate impact.
Since everyone has expressed a desire now to head back to town, I shall post on the basis that you are all heading back that way, as a group, down through the forest.
You set off back towards town, the cloud sweeping the slopes thinning a little and becoming more irregular as you head back down; although the snow, if anything, seems to be becoming heavier, as if harsher weather is starting to move in. Occasional strange bird-calls continue to echo, although more distantly, through the trees.
Eventually you reach a point where the tracks you made coming up the ridge in the first place seem to have come up by different routes....
Seebo, Nim, Donnie, and Bronx:
Spoiler:
This is a short way above where you encountered the trapper.
Davkul:
Spoiler:
This is a short way above where you took a detour from following the tracks of the others after something tried to ‘drop’ on you from that tree.
Edit:
If Davkul hadn't lost concentration on his detect magic when he fled, the duration is long expired by now.
Random DM Percentile rolling (1d100=71)
Hmmm. Nothing to report there then. Carry on posting. I'm still waiting for confirmation that Davkul will go back down with the others and/or if he wants to do anything else.
Edit:
Davkul:
Spoiler:
You're uneasy about something which is still lurking up there and causing disturbances in the Shadow Weave. If you want to send Nightsong back up to the shelf, please give specifics of exactly what, word for word, you are instructing Nightsong to do. Also please make a Will save on the behalf of your familiar and post the result. (No requirement on my part for spoiler tags here from you.)
Donnie didn't really have time to get a good look at the chain and leaf (circumstance penalty factored in) but in the event of making a retroactive DC 18 Appraise Check the official guess answer is:
Spoiler:
Donnie thinks that the chain and leaf may have been very badly tarnished silver.
Davkul:
Would you think that it's likely that you will have lost concentration on the detect magic over the past couple of rounds, or would you think that even whilst running in fear it might have been possible to maybe keep a hold of it with concentration checks?
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