Hey, all. I hate to do this--and I really didn't want to add to the PbP-unreliability statistics--but I'm going to have to quit running this PbP. Honestly, I just don't have the time, anymore. As strongly as it started, it's a shame to see it fall by the wayside.
I considered just letting this game die silently, but it wouldn't be fair to you. It's a little difficult to admit that I bit off more than I could chew; there's just too much going on in my life, between work/wife/child/moving/assorted RL responsibilities, to do this PbP justice with such a fine group of roleplayers (as all five of you are).
I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to admit failure, or let you all down.
At any rate, I trust you'll find (or are already part of) other PbPs. I wish you luck with any games you become a part of.
Hu5tru, halplm, PirateDevon, Dragonborn3, and GeraintElberion . . . I've had fun playing Kingmaker with you all! Hopefully, I'll see you around on the boards. :)
Keeping your eyes peeled as you dance, you do not see anything amiss. You do, however, hear a small, high-pitched voice from above that seems to be saying: "Go, bigginses! Dance with your great feet!" This is followed by what sounds like a deep-throated chuckle.
Tityanna:
You hear a small, high-pitched voice from above that seems to be saying: "Go, bigginses! Dance with your great feet!" This is followed by what sounds like a deep-throated chuckle.
After about half-a-minute, Shadow--who had been performing a clompy tapdance along to the music--becomes himself again. If it's possible for a horse, he looks slightly embarrassed, but unharmed. The music ends as quickly as it had begun, leaving only the forest-sounds and Shadow's neighing.
After Tityanna begins to dance, the music seems to be accompanied by a series of giggles and handclaps.
Malaswyn, Ray, and Haldaval:
The save DC is 12; if you fail the save, you begin to involuntarily dance, caper, and shuffle your feet. This does not hurt you, but it does pretty much consume your time; you are efeectively staggered while this music continues.
Malaswyn, you've made your save.
Tityanna:
If you'd like, you've successfully aided either Malaswyn, Ray, or Haldaval in a special Diplomacy check (with your Performance), should one of them wish to take it. They'll get an additional +2 to their roll. Harsk can assist, as well, but you may need to let him know. Tityanna will need to vocalize who she wishes to help.
Judging from the party's reduced movement rate (because of the dwarf), it may take another day to a day-and-a-half to reach what you believe to be the Thorn River Camp. Likely, you'll get there sometime tomorrow afternoon.
After a quick breakfast, the party presses on into the Narlmarches. This leg of the journey is largely more of the same, except the leafy underbrush gives way to great swathes of nettle and blackberry after a couple of hours. The day has grown warmer, a welcome change to Gozran the First's frigid morning.
GM's Screen:
Hex: 2d100 ⇒ (56, 37) = 93
At around lunch-time, the party breaks for a bite and a regroup.
Perception (DC 20):
An unseen presence is nearby; you feel as though you're being watched.
As you eat, a pleasant and lively ditty seems to suddenly begin nearby. It sounds like a tiny fiddle or violin. The jaunty music is so catchy, so contagious, that you feel you must dance to it; your feet begin to itch and twitch, your palms begin to sweat, and a strange euphoria seems to fill your heads and flutter your hearts.
Malaswyn, Ray, and Haldaval (including Shadow): please roll a Will saving throw vs. sonic mind-affecting effects. Tityanna and Harsk: you feel the euphoria and the desire to dance, but do not need to make a save. You may dance, however, if you feel like it. ;)
With your hand extended, you catch several of the tiny petals. They feel very light, so light that it's almost as if they don't exist . . .
The tiny petals fall for perhaps half-a-minute, and then cease. They cover the area around the camp, like a light dusting of red-and-violet snow, ebbing gently in the occasional breeze.
GM's Screen:
Camp: 2d100 ⇒ (97, 81) = 178; 1d5 ⇒ 2
The remainder of the evening continues without incident; indeed, the night passes with nary a prank or prowler.
3 Gozran, 4711 A.R.
This morning is much like the previous: dawn filters through the canopy in cheery rays, warming the slight chill of the night's passing. This day's wind gusts a bit stronger than yesterday's, but isn't enough to cause any problems with the campfire. The birds are up early with their morning-calls, and a pair of red squirrels chitter and chase each other through leafy branches, leaping tree-to-tree and playing tag up and down trunks.
The fire burns merrily as the group sits around the fire, sharing pie and palaver. The forest's night-sounds are ever-present, accompanied by a constant wind that rustles the canopy above. A few gusts whistle through the leaves and branches, sending a few twigs and leaves down amidst the party. Then, oddly enough, tiny motes begin to drift down, motes that look like . . . flower petals?
Indeed, tiny red and violet wildflower petals are raining down.
Perception (DC 20):
Although you cannot see or hear an intruder, your gut tells you that you're not alone; someone (or something) is very close, watching you.
I was actually waiting to see if you all were going to share the pie and/or try any more "gifts" to the fair-folk. I assumed the weekend was just going slowly! :)
I'll go ahead and post on the IC thread a bit later (Imogen calls . . .).
My husband has gifted me with a cold. On top of jetlag and acclimating to a climate that is 10 degrees Celsius cooler and wet. I am self medicating with cold remedies, but feel rather craptacular at the moment. I, a woman with some cooking skills and a lot of time, ate beans from a can for lunch because I had that little energy.
Just soz Harsk knows, I thought what he said was pretty keen. I'll try to get a post up this evening.
I'm sorry about your cold! Luckily (*knock on wood*), neither me or my little family got sick on our trip. I loathe being sick; I understand your pain! :(
Harsk's monologue was indeed keen.
Posting has gotten to a jumpy start, for all of us. It's funny what a week off can do to PbPs! I'm pretty much having to re-read the latter few pages of the gameplay thread to reorient myself with the game. ;)
My tabletop game hasn't resumed, either, as of yet (although most of us are meeting this weekend for a kingdom-building session, even without the Ruler's player present). I enjoyed my trip, but I'm having a time getting back into the swing of things. :)
As the party continues the journey, the rest of the daylight hours pass without incident. Although the forest seems to be just as thick as it's been all day, you find a small clearing that should suffice for a makeshift camp.
Survival (DC 16):
The clearing is scattered with old leaves, but the leaves look almost too perfectly placed to you. In the depressed center of the clearing, you see a hint of ash amidst the soil. This area may indeed have been a campsite, and not that long ago; the campers may have attempted to hide their trail.
After the dwarf recites his tale, the forest is silent for a full minute before the birdsong and insect-hum resumes. Very faintly, above the tree-boughs, a light clapping sound fades in and out, followed by what sounds like a high-pitched sigh.
A gentle breeze rustles the leaves and branches; the light under the canopy seems a bit brighter.
Please make a special Diplomacy check with an additional +1 to the roll. If you're adding a story of Torag, feel free to roleplay it out and add another additional +1 to the check.
Yeah, I am home (in a city southwest of Oslo called Hoten), I am just suffering from extreme jet lag.
I will get into my long game games more when my brain has landed fully. We're also in the process of moving at the moment, so... busy busy. But I can have something up tonight, I think.
I'm glad to hear you made it home. You just flew forever and are moving? Ouch! That's two things I generally dislike! ;)
If nobody objects, I think I'll move the game along to when the party camps. Does Tityanna still wish to share pie (and Diplomacy checks) with the party/fey mischief-makers? Is Haldaval dead-set against the fey's antics?
I'll give it a little time, to give everybody a chance to respond. It might be a slow start getting back to this, but that's okay (real-life, and all)! :)
Good deal. If you'd like to post some general Mala-antics for when you're unavailable, feel free. About how long should I wait before activating "autopilot" for him?
Hu5tru:
That sucks; I hope your journey gets a little easier. My trip was Imogen's (my daughter's) first flight; she did pretty well, but freaked out on the way home (cabin-pressure, I think).
Feel free to post when you feel up to it. I hope you make it to Oslo safely! :)
I got back home from my trip last night! It was pretty fun, seeing my old stomping grounds.
At any rate, I just wanted you all to know that I've returned. I hope this PbP doesn't sputter and fizzle due to my week-long departure! I'm looking forward to running this again!
Although this game and my tabletop Kingmaker were put on hold, I was able to run a one-shot for a small group of my old friends, so I had some gaming-action whilst vacationing. Also (and here is where I possibly display my age), I managed to ship all my 1E AD&D/oWoD/micellaneous RPG-stuff home; a dear friend of mine held onto it for all these years and magnaminously gave it back to me. I've got a bunch of retro RPG stuff to look through now, woo-hoo! :D
Alright, all, as a reminder: I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow. I'll be back October 30th (coincidentally, my anniversary). I will try to post while away, but there are no guarantees. Likely, when all is said and done, I'll be available by November 1st.
Feel free to get stuff done before then, or roleplay even after I'm gone. :)
FYI: I'm leaving in about an hour for my tabletop Kingmaker game, so I'll not be available until later this evening. I hope you all are having a happy Saturday! :)
By all means, you can try anything you'd like! Malaswyn attempted a Qadiran dance, for example (although it didn't quite work for him).
I'd allow it to be a "gift"--a secret-sharing, if you will--with a +1 modifier to your check. As far as having nothing of worth . . . the party does have 3 potions, and Tityanna has plenty of candy to spare; she could "loan" you some.
Keep in mind, if Tityanna successfully assists you, you'll get another +2 to the check.
EDIT: By all means, everybody, feel free to be creative with your gifts. In fact, I'd allow Malaswyn's dance to be an appropriate gift (with a +1 mod), but it still wouldn't help much (this time).
If you would, please let me know when you're ready to move on to the rest of the day's journey. Hopefully, we can stop in a good place before I disappear for a week on Monday. :)
Ray and Tityanna:
Since both of you made your Knowledge (nature) checks: When it comes time for it--such as when the party is camped and wanting to share pie with themselves (and possibly the fey), each person that wants to try to "make nice" with the fey creature(s) is going to make a special Diplomacy check. The DC is pretty high. Either one (or both) of you, since you have a good idea how best to deal with the fey, can make a DC 10 Diplomacy check to aid another (the PC making the check); a success will give the PC in question a +2 to his roll.
I will allow a Perform check instead of a Diplomacy check, if the PC in question would rather use that (a houserule, but it makes sense to me). Any gift consisting of sweets/bling/booze/potions will give a base +1 to the check. In addition, even barring the aforementioned items, other gifts may suffice (the more expensive, the better). Each 10 gp of worth will add a +1 to said PC's roll.
Tityanna has succeeded in her check (the Perform [oratory] roll).
Please alert me if I was unclear about my breakdown! :)
Malaswyn spots a small clearing that may work for the purposes of his Qadiran dance. It's relatively free of roots and underbrush, aside from a few ferns.
The wind rustles the leaves overhead, and the birdsong trails off into a few sporadic chirps; then silence. The low hum of a tree-bug seems to be the only present sound, occasionally punctuating the silence with short, droning bouts.
Perception (DC 20):
Something is watching, somewhere fairly close, as if in wait.
From far up in the trees, snickers and giggling is heard, followed by a hiss: "Shh!"
Knowledge (nature) DC 15:
These "pranks" may indeed be the work of mischevious fey creatures. They're likely having fun at your expense, given the non-lethal nature of the "pranks" (so far).
Such trickster fey can often be befriended with bribes; gifts of shiny bits of jewelry, alcohol, sugary food, and potions are particularly useful, although items that incorporate cold iron are generally hated.
It is quite possible that the fey may want a gift from each one of you, in order to end their antics.
The woods-noise continues unbroken after Tityanna's offering and Haldaval's request; there appears to be no response.
Assuming the group continues on its way . . .
As you continue on your journey, the forest grows thicker as you progress, darkening your way and restricting your movement. The undergrowth--bushes, vines, and tree-roots--make the trip a little more difficult as you make your way through the woods.
Perception (DC 6):
Up in the trees, a sing-song voice seems to chant something that might be a spell or prayer, its rhythm seemingly in time with the ambient bird-calls.
Perception (DC 20):
You are not alone. You feel a . . . presence . . . somewhere in the vicinity.
As you ride, you suddenly feel yourself sliding off of your saddle, almost as if it were slicked in warm butter. After sliding around embarrassingly for a few moments, you manage to catch yourself, and remain in the saddle.
As Haldaval leads the way, the party sees him suddenly start to slip, as if he were about to fall right out of the saddle. He manages to catch himself by wriggling upright and grabbing the reins in an undignified manner; he remains mounted, although his position looks unsteady, at best.
Can we take 10 on knowledge checks that don't involve identifying monsters? I know that you cannot take them in combat, and the only thing really novel about the bard's ability to take them is that it is as a standard action, not a full round.
Yes. If you're not in combat (or otherwise distracted), you may take 10 on Knowledge checks. In fact, you may retroactively take 10 on your last Knowledge (nature) check, if you desire, now that you know you can. :)
The night passes without incident. You all sleep well enough, despite the chill. Harsk, if you're still hurt, don't forget to heal 1 hp for a full night's rest.
2 Gozran, 4711 A.R.
This morning greets you more pleasantly than yesterday's; though the night was cold, dawn's rays caress you with the gentle promise of a warmer day. The wind is gentle, the sky is clear, and the earth smells of newness and life.
Tityanna:
You notice that the five honey-sesame bars have disappeared during the night. Not a single crumb remains.
Packing up camp, you continue your foray into the Narlmarches. The once-lone trees grow closer and closer together as you travel, copses joining to become a true wood. The canopy filters the light overhead, leaves broad and green, while at ground-level small thickets and ferns grow in clusters.
Knowledge (nature) DC 10:
Most of the trees are deciduous in nature, largely composed of oaks, beech, rushleaf, and smaller scrub.
The forest is fairly easy to traverse despite numerous roots and ground-foliage; the land itself is more-or-less flat, and the trees tend to clump together, creating numerous clearings. Woods-noise fills the air, an ever-present cacophony of birdsong, insect buzz, and the occasional skitter from thickets and shrubs.
You feel a slight tug on your belt, where your hammer is stowed. When you look down at it, your hammer is still there . . . but, loosely dangling from the hammer's head, is a tiny wreath made of little yellow wildflowers.
EDIT: Thank you, Tityanna, for inadvertently reminding me! :)
Perception (DC 20):
You are not alone. You feel a . . . presence . . . somewhere in the vicinity.
As you likely know, a special Diplomacy check is called for when you leave a "gift" for the fey-folk. I'm going to go ahead and allow your spectacular Perform (oratory) roll in its place; they both use Charisma, and you have neither trained. Plus, it just ruled. :)
The Levetons join the party outside the Post as you begin your trek to the southwest, toward the Narlmarches. Oleg stands with an arm around Svetlana's waist; Svetlana waves to you as you depart, calling: "Erastil bless and keep you, friends!"
As the day progresses, the morning's chill lessens a bit; by noon, you can no longer see your breath in the air before you. The short-grassed plain near the Post gives way to taller swaths of grass, with an occasional low-lying shrub breaking up the sea of pale green. Amidst the tall grass, wildflowers create bursts of bright color in scattered patches, proclaiming Spring's coming to the world. Although blessedly free of mosquitoes, myriad insects chirp and hum in the vast plain, accompanied by sporadic bouts of birdsong. The day is crisp and beautiful in the Stolen Lands, a stark contrast to the shouts and violence of the morning.
By the end of your day's travel, lone trees and copses begin to appear, heralding the edge of the Narlmarches. You break camp just outside the forest, under a fiery sunset.
Oy, sometimes it takes me longer to get things done! I'm still getting used to this whole fatherhood thing. ;)
I finally managed to put the little one to sleep, and am now doing more game-related things. Looking over what you all had posted about watch-preferences, I realized that you had already made one, the night you first stayed at Oleg's! So, I went ahead and used that (if I may be so bold). As far as the marching order goes, I hope this is what you all had in mind.
Alright . . . so, I figure the following is the watch order:
*Late Afternoon/Early Evening: Tityanna
*Post Sunset/Late Evening: Malaswyn
*Evening to Midnight: Haldaval
*Midnight to Pre-Rise: Harsk
*Pre-Rise to Early Morning: Ray
And . . . this is the marching order:
*Haldaval
*Ray
*Tityanna
*Malaswyn
*Harsk
EDIT: I just want to be clear . . . is anybody walking? Everybody riding? Anybody riding Puck the Wonder Pony™? I'll need to know the group's effective speed, as far as overland movement goes.
Question though, does Oleg have anything that could be considered an appropriate "gift" for the fey? I know wine is out now, but... chocolates? spices? anything "exotic" we could share?
Tityanna:
According to legends, shiny bits of jewelry, alcohol, sugary food, and potions tend to appease some fey-folk. There is pretty much no jewelry for sale at Oleg's, although Svetlana does have some stores of various spices in sizable amounts to aid in her cooking: cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, to name a few. She'd charge 1 gp per pound of cinnamon, 2 gp per pound of ginger, and 15 gp per pound of cloves--these spices are very dear, and hard to come by. She can part with up to 2 pounds of each.
In addition, she is a skilled baker (although you've only tried her bread); she has a few varieties of pies available: rhubarb, blackberry, and strawberry. She has one of each, and she'll give up to two of them to you for free, should you wish it. In general, she'd charge around 3 sp for a pie.
She does have some honey-sesame bars as candy in storage (she has a sweet-tooth, from time to time); she can part with up to 5 pounds of the stuff, at 5 sp per pound.
As with Oleg, special requests for cocoa and other specialized foodstuffs can be made; Svetlana can also provide baked goods or sweets, if she's asked in advance.
Malaswyn:
Oleg doesn't have any scale mail at the moment; he can have a suit delivered to the Post in about a week, if you desire.
Update: I'm almost finished with the Thorn River map; hence the lack of activity, on my part. I'm glad you were able to agree on distribution!
Other important (to me, anyway) items before thr group goes forth: standard watches (when camping), general marching order, and any last minute shopping! If you need anything from Oleg's, just deduct the price from your gp and let me know (we'll use the standard equipment values from the Core Rulebook for this purpose).
Also, I'll be posting a hex-map detailing where you are, where you've been, and if you've explored a given area. It's not important right at this moment, but it'll come in handy, later.
Ah, since we're talking business here, does Oleg have a cold weather outfit, or just the furs?
He's got one cold-weather outfit for sale, at the moment. As time goes by, Oleg will have more cash on hand for your selling needs, and he'll have NEW and IMPROVED!!! stock to sell.
Oleg gives the party a great deal on all the bows; he offers the party 360 gp for them (that's 72 gp for each of you).
I'll go out on a limb and assume that Tityanna, Harsk, and Haldaval do not want horses; Ray and Malaswyn do.
You're splitting the rations; Tityanna or Harsk claims the amulet; Malaswyn takes a longbow and all the arrows; Ray and Harsk each claim one of the flasks of alchemist's fire.
Correct me if I'm wrong: you want to sell the remaining longbows and the composite longbow to Oleg, but otherwise are letting him keep the rest as his own stock.
All right! Before the PCs do whatever they're going to do, I'd like to recap on the loot gotten from the bandits. If any of you wants any of these items/gp, please stake your claim (here in the OOC thread) before leaving, and add it to your inventory. Anything you don't want, Oleg will happily claim as new stock.
GM's Screen:
2d2 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
* A total of 65 gp.
* 3 longbows.
* 1 composite longbow (+2 Str).
* A total of 80 arrows.
* 4 suits of leather armor.
* 2 flasks of alchemist's fire.
* 8 days of trail rations.
* 6 horses, each with saddlebags & riding saddle.
* 1 silver stag's skull amulet.
In general, I've kept all the NPCs from the AP (although I've fleshed them out a bit more, as needed; sometimes--such as with Loy Rezbin--I've included them earlier, for verisimilitude). Thus, Akiros will make his appearance eventually.
In my home game, our baroness has a thing for Akiros, as well. The ladies dig ex-paladins, I guess. ;)
Well . . . I think it's less that Svetlana sees Tityanna as a marriage counselor, and more that she sees her as a fellow woman; she feels more comfortable speaking of such things with her (she's fairly conservative), as opposed to a man.
As to Tityanna's unwillingness to give Svetlana "Spanish fly": that remark had me in stitches! Too funny. :D
As far as the "Moon Radish Quest" goes, I've tried to add a little more than is given in the AP for the various quests that crop up; they feel flat, otherwise, so I've attempted to add a bit more personalization to them, when I can. If I'm treading on offensive ground with some of my AP developments, please, let me know!
All that said, I totally understand Tityanna's unwillingness to undertake a project that might be less than "in the open", so to speak. In Svetlana's defense--and, rest assured, I'll have her touch on it herself in the IC thread--she sees it less as "deceptive" and more as "productive" (no pun intended).
With the bandits dealt with, Svetlana continues cooking her breakfast; by the time the burials are complete, she's mostly finished cooking: more of her famous bacon, served with fresh bread and pork gravy.
Oleg seems to be in good spirits, despite the morning's events. He eats voraciously and talks boisterously with the group, even sharing a few good-natured jests.
Svetlana, on the other hand, keeps mostly to herself. She busies herself with cooking, cleaning, and other domestic duties with a rather bland expression. If spoken to, she smiles and comments briefly, but otherwise remains silent as she goes about her business.
GM's Screen:
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Sense Motive (DC 14):
Although she keeps a straight face, there seems to be a certain sadness in her averted eyes, as if she's close to tears.
Something just occured to me: how do you (the party) want to distribute treasure earned? As it is, the party's gotten a total of 50 gp and 3 potions from Oleg. Was anybody interested in claiming any of the bandits' loot? I can't recall.
Wow, that's a lot more detailed than I was getting into, but then, you roll for weather and what not as well.
Gosh... I wish I hadn't lost all my pictures of southern Norway in the spring and autumn. When there's no light pollution for dozens of miles around... low light vision is all you need to see at night.
I'll bet it's gorgeous out there. I've never been there, myself. My grandfather--of mostly Norwegian lineage--always wanted to visit there, but never quite got the chance before he passed away. :(
I'm not sure which part of Norway his ancestry hails from, but he loved the place. Even though he'd never gone, he wrote a ton of poetry about Norway and its various legends/myths (trolls, etc.). I think he's a big reason why I turned out to be an avid reader and gamer. :)
Well, I did make my own modified calendar (for use in my tabletop Kingmaker game); I've been using that. I'll post it in a bit so you can see how I've done the layout.
I like the Oathday thing, but I hadn't really thought of that. :)
As far as the game-date goes, it should actually be the 1st (it was probably a bit unclear, as I retroacively added the caravan stuff, but I meant for the arrival at Oleg's to be the day before that (the 30th, I believe).
I'll post later after my baby girl's down for her nap! :)
Eljas nods earnestly. "Oh, aye! I'm a keen shot with a bow, and've felled many deer for food. I'm a passable hunter, I say." He lowers his gaze modestly.
Sense Motive (DC 8):
Eljas answers altogether too quickly for your liking. Your gut tells you that, if given a bow to hunt, he'd likely try to shoot somebody with it and flee into the wilderness.
My tabletop game was last night instead of tonight, so I'll be more available today for PbP than usual.
Tityanna: Thank you for the offer! Were you thinking of an honest-to-gosh Golarion calendar or a summary of time-sensitive events? If a calendar, I'm pretty good about keeping track of things, but feel free to post what you have in mind on your profile; two heads are better than one, and all that! :)
