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You Me At Six – Paradise (cover, live)
Summary for Session 48: Questions and Answers Midnight 15th Desnus Out of the Sewers and to Safety The group makes haste back through the sewers, carrying the rescued prisoners with them. After nearly twenty minutes, they emerge a short distance from the Castle and cover some more ground on the surface, before utilising Mari' and Liella's magic to teleport to safety. The arrive at the small Ambassador's Grace vineyard outside of Korvosa, where Ishani and Liella see to the hideous wounds inflicted on Fermic. Marcus and Tain briefly question Lady Elizabeth while she eats, before allowing her to retire and rest. Fermic's damaged eye is removed and his wounds soothed with Abadar's healing light. He is left to sleep off the sedative administered by Liella. 16th Desnus Questions and Answers The next morning the group questions Elizabeth about what happened to her during her captivity. She speaks first of the attack, the slaughter of the servants and others. Marcus asks about the young artist, Scream, who was staying at the estate. He had apparently departed several days before the attack. Elizabeth ways tortured for several days at the Bannyer house, before being transported back to the city and into the dungeons below the castle. During her imprisonment, she would be tortured daily, and an SA agent would drain a small quantity of her blood. She says that sometimes she would awake to see the Queen watching her through the bars of her cell, but she could never be completely sure, because she would no longer be there once she had come completely to wakefulness. Elizabeth believes that Ileosa changed around the time of her first anniversary of marriage. Around this time she started to become cruel and distant to her old friends. The Queen had been spending a great deal of time searching for a gift for her husband, even delving into the vaults and storage rooms of the castle. Elizabeth first saw the Crown of Fangs at this time. Perhaps she uncovered, or was led to, the crown at this time. Shortly after this, Elizabeth began to be pushed aside and this new woman, Nadice took over as the Queen's principal advisor. Elizabeth supplies Marcus with a list of trustworthy spies within the Grey Maidens. Fermic's Tale Fermic tells that he used to run trade for his family. Nearly twenty years ago he was based mostly in Cheliax and he knew Elizabeth and Ileosa's families well. He also knew Trinia Sabor. He says he met the Queen again recently at a function about a month ago. He was keen to speak with her again, but when he approached her she failed to recognise him, despite the fact he thought she should. During his imprisonment he says two of the Grey Maidens took some care of him. They cared for his wounds as best they could and bought him extra food and water. Possibly they were Greystuv's spies? Fermic tells the group he is certain that Trinia is Elizabeth's half-sister. To Elizabeth's shock, Fermic states that her father boasted as much to him. And what's more he also boasted to bedding Ileosa's mother at the same time. Elizabeth cannot at first believe that her father had sired the three girls, but she does speak of a falling out between the families at some point and concedes that this infidelity may have been the source. Ileosa's father was a scholar and collected a great number of Shoanti artifacts among other items, but Fermic does not recall seeing anything matching the description of the Crown of Fangs among them. Suspecting that Elizabeth's father may have been involved in the Linnorm cult, the group presents the religious work of prophecies to Elizabeth and Fermic to see if they recognise it. Elizabeth says her mother kept a book just like this. Elizabeth says her mother was from "far to the North" but knew little of her background. Her name sounds much like a word Mari recognises from the ancient Shoanti tongue and believes it has some meaning as "prophecy" or "Prophet". She disappeared when Elizabeth was about 13, around 5 years before she travelled to Korvosa with Ileosa. There is Another Fermic draws Marcus aside to tell him more of what he knows. He speaks of a third family that was also close to the others during this period in Cheliax. A lovely young noblewoman who was a close friend of Elizabeth's mother fell pregnant at the same time. Her name was Hadria and she disappeared shortly before the birth of her child. Liella had been spying on the conversation via her familiar, Keiko, and arrived suddenly to question Fermic more. She asked about the woman Hadria, and as he described this woman, Marcus and Liella both shared a look of recognition - Teressa, the Sla Afl agent from the Bannyer Estate. Pressed further, Fermic admits he smuggled Hadria and her daughter from Cheliax and to Magnimar. Liella utilises her magic to travel to her home in Irisen where Teressa is kept as her "guest". She returns soon afterwards with the woman, and Fermic swears she is the spitting image of her mother. Teressa admits, yes her mother is Hadria and they had lived in Magnimar until recently. She had traveled to Korvosa several years ago to attend the University, where she was recently recruited by the Sla Afl. In Attendance • GM – Ollie
I know next to nothing about economics, but I know that at the end of the day movies only get made and TV shows only stay on air if the people who stand to make money from them have a reasonable assumption that they will make money. I’m not as sure about movies, I really don’t know the figures, but we seem to have a situation for whatever reason (people not watching, scheduling / programming issues, poor scripts, low budgets, whatever) where space opera type tv shows (gritty or otherwise) fairly consistently rate less well than ‘present day’ type Sci Fi (like Lost or Fringe or whatever the cool kids are watching these days) and definitely less well than non sci-fi drama and comedy ... which makes it a lot less likely that they will get made. If they DO get made, the people that make them will probably not want to spend too much on them for fear of failure, which leads, potentially to poor scripts, less sfx ... the sort of things that lead to a reduced audience. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Add to that that network execs will be watching the ratings on these type of shows like hawks, because they know that historically they don’t rate well ... and ‘because’ they don’t rate well are far more likely to shove them into ratings ghetto timeslots and mess with the schedules ... they have trouble finding a loyal audience, don’t rate well (surprise!) and get pulled. Once again, self fulfilling prophecy.
Summary for Session 47: Tonight There’s Going To Be A Jail Break Follow that Mage! 14th / 15th of Desnus (late night) Almost as soon as the mysterious stranger leaves Arius’s house, the companions determine to follow him in an effort to discover who he is. Mari darts into the kitchen and returns with a small sack of flour. She then casts an invisibility sphere over herself and Kedar, and the two sneak after the man, leaving a trail of flour behind them (that becomes visible once it leaves the invisibility sphere). Marcus, Tain, Liella and Max follow the trail of flour at a safe distance, having cloaked themselves with invisibility from potions or spells. Ishani and Celiano remain at the house. A few blocks away the man climbs into a waiting coach. Mari recognises the coat of arms on the coach as belonging to the Theumanexus College. Mari tells Kedar to hide and casts a spell to enable her to fly after the fast moving coach. From further back Liella sees the coach and likewise flies after it. The coach speeds quickly through the near deserted streets of half of the city and arrives at the gates of the Theumanexus College. A porter opens the gate and Mari, flying overhead, sees the coach pull up outside Verso Hall. The tall man gets out and stalks through the front doors. A short, stocky man who has been sitting beside the driver also gets down and follows the tall man inside. Mari remembers Agon’s description of the bank robbery involving the tall man who looked somewhat like Peryarv – he had a short, stocky accomplice. With the invisibility spells by now expired, Mari and Liella fly back to meet the others at the bridge across the Jeggare River where they relay what happened. The group decides they will try to find and question the stocky man. They find a deserted alley across from the College gates and settle in to wait, hoping to appear as hobos in their ragged cloaks if they are spotted. They take turns watching while the others nap further down the alley. Kidnapping and Questions 15th of Desnus (mid morning) Around 10 in the morning, Mari spots the short stocky man emerge from the College grounds. She sneaks after him, following him to a nearby bakery. He soon returns with two mugs of coffee and a bag of pastries. Before he can reach the gates, Liella hits him with a slumber hex and he slumps to the ground. Kedar and Mari drag him into the alley where Tain manacles and gags him and Marcus throws one of the ragged cloaks over him. Tain knows of a nearby small park that is usually deserted this time of day and contains a small, secluded copse of trees. They frog-march the man there. The man looks at them curiously but not fearfully as Tain attempts to detect evil (no evil), Mari casts detect thoughts (cannot detect his surface thoughts) and Liella hits him with several hexes and spells including charm person (he saves), zone of truth (he fails save) and a suggestion to “answer our questions truthfully and to the best of your ability” (he fails save). Tain tells him that he will come to no harm and asks him not to yell out, then removes the gag. Liella starts by asking him his name. “I will certainly tell you my name,” he says, then turns to Tain. “I see that you wear the holy symbol of Abadar, does your god’s law allow you to kidnap people from the street?” “Dark times are afoot, and it was necessary that we speak to without anyone observing us,” answers Tain. “But I am sorry for this. No harm will come to you, and you will be fully reimbursed for your dropped breakfast.” As a sign of good will Tain undoes the manacles. “I can see what you’re doing, just answer the question,” Liella says. “I will, but it would be most impolite to give you my name without knowing yours.” “Very well,” Liella agrees. “I am Ganfen,” says the stout man, and in return Liella tells the man their names. His eyes widen. “Yes, that is who you are,” he agrees, recognition setting in. “I had heard you were dead.” “The reports of our death were greatly exaggerated,” Tain replies, “though we would ask your discretion in this matter.” “News travels fast,” comments Marcus. “Your boss thought the same thing.” “Yes,” agrees Ganfen. “It was I who told him the news.” “Who is your master?” Liella asks. “Can any man be truly said to be the master over another?” replies Ganfen. “The philosophers of the East say that -” “Who do you work for, the man that you rode on the carriage with to the College last night?” Marcus interrupts. “Damn,” mutters the man. “Well, I’m compelled to answer ... I work for Lord Grustav.” “Lord Grustav who is also Peryarv of Magnimar?” Tain asks in clarification. “Well ... yes and no,” Ganfen answers slowly. “Peryarv is Grustav but Grustav is not Peryarv ... if you understand? No? Well ... I know you have spoken with Lord Peryarv before on several occasions – after that time you tried to kill him and all ... so you know that Lord Grustav died, and Peryarv of Magnimar was good enough to provide his own body for Grustav’s spirit to inhabit. Well ... it didn’t entirely ‘take’. The body has two separate personalities, one is a combination of Peryarv and Grustav, one is Grustav alone. The problem is they switch without warning, neither consciousness will acknowledge that they share the body with the other, and each one does not have the memories of the other ... it is very tiring. Between the two of them they never seem to sleep!” “Does their appearance change as well?” asks Tain. “Yes,” replies Ganfen, “As you would have seen when you met Grustav last night. It’s the only way I can tell which one is in control.” The heroes take a while to take this in. Tain breaks the silence. “Did you and Grustav break into a branch of the bank of Abadar on the 19th of Calistril of this year and escape with a quantity of money?” he asks sternly. Ganfen winces. “Yes ... I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that.” “Why did you do it?” asks Tain. Ganfen shrugs. “It was Lord Grustav’s idea, I couldn’t talk him out of it ... it’s difficult to make him realise that he has all of Lord Peryarv’s wealth at his disposal, he truly thought he needed the money to buy the remove disease scrolls ... plus he wanted to strike at Ileosa, and was of the ill-guided opinion that the money was hers.” “The money was in the custody of the Bank of Abadar,” states Tain. “Big mistake ... fortunately for you I am not currently working as an officer of the law, nor am I officially affiliated with the Bank here currently. We will discuss this at a later date. Grustav is against Ileosa then?” “Oh yes, very much so,” answers Ganfen, relieved at the change of subject. “Well, his current main goal is to stop the portal from opening, but he believes that the Queen is instrumental in this. Peryarv is more focused on stopping Ileosa, but generally the two goals intersect.” “What does Grustav know about the portal?” is the next question. “When Grustav was dead he had ... a dream? A vision? An experience? That he was in the lower planes, a guest of the Lord of Death ... a powerful being that is known to at times take the form of a gigantic red dragon. He saw legions of fiends waiting to come through the portal and he is fearful about what would become of Korvosa, or Varisia, or the world should the portal open. “He’s done some research into the purple dragon, the Lord of Death’s lover, since he has returned. Ever since she became stuck in this world she has tried to find a way to open the portal to bring him though. Ages past she went north to the lands of the Ulfen where she set plans in motion that would take many human generations to come to fruition. She established the Sla Afl – a female dominated group of spies and planners – and the Vanguard of the Amethyst Lindorm, a more male dominated and militant cult.” “Where does Ileosa fit in?” asks Liella. “We’re not exactly sure,” he admits. “But she seems a crucial part of the dragon’s plans. Whether it was planned that way from the beginning or she simply presented an opportunity, we do not know.” “Perhaps she IS the dragon,” suggest Liella. “It is possible,” says Ganfen. “But we know that Ileosa is or was a real person, with a child hood and a background back in Cheliax. She may have been replaced since then, or the dragon may have somehow manipulated things for decades.” “We need to find a way to separate her from the source of her power,” says Max. “The crown.” “The crown is the source of her power?” asks Ganfen. “What do you know of it?” “We know that it bears the teeth of a being that is related to or descended from the purple dragon,” answers Tain. “And that the church of Zon Kuthon are interested in it.” “Do you know their agenda?” asks Ganfen. The answer is no. “Well, I wouldn’t trust them ... they are the followers of the god of pain and suffering after all. They may be against Ileosa but it doesn’t mean they don’t share similar goals.” “How did you hear we were dead?” asks Marcus, changing the subject. “I have a contact in the Castle,” Ganfen answers. “But I beg of you, please don’t ask who it is. I will be compelled to answer, but if I do that person’s safety could be compromised.” “We won’t ask,” agrees Marcus. “But what else have you learnt?” “Well ... I have heard that Lady Elizabeth is being held in the deepest dungeon beneath the Castle. Lord Grustav attempted to scry her when I heard the news, and we were able to pinpoint her location. She was being tortured when he scried her, but she was alive still – at least at that time, two days ago. The truth is, although Grustav and Peryarv both are too proud to ask it directly, we need your help. We don’t have the resources to do all that needs to be done in this city.” “Well, our intention was to attempt to rescue Lady Elizabeth,” says Tain. “We just needed to know where she was being held.” Ganfen says that he can send them a plan of the dungeon where Elizabeth is being held – one that shows its proximity to the nearest sewer tunnel, although there is no entrance from the sewers that he knows of. The group ask him to have it sent to Arius’s house. He also asks what he should tell Grustav / Peryarv about this meeting – Tain suggests he tell him all, honestly; it seems that they are all on the same side, and he would prefer as few as possible secrets between them if they are going to be allies. Tain pays Ganfen for his spilt coffee and pastries and he returns to the College, whilst the heroes make their way back to Arius’s house, trying to keep their faces concealed and stay out of the way of Grey Maidens and Korvosan Guard. Freedom of the Press Part 2 15th of Desnus Marcus meets up with his contact from the Korvosan Times again, getting updates on the state of play in Korvosa. He learns that House Jeggare has not given up hope of opposing the Queen, despite their public shaming. Stephano Jeggare, Seth's cousin, has been rallying support behind the scenes. Other houses are also making quiet noises of discontent - House Bromathan, House Endrin and House Porthyria the chief among them. The merchant families and some minor houses are upset that no ships are let in or out of the city. Trade has ground to a halt. Recently, a Chelaxian merchant vessel attempted to run the blockade and was burnt to the waterline and no prisoners were taken. The Navy ships forming the blockade of the city apparently all have Grey Maidens and Sla Afl agents posted aboard to keep enforce loyalty. Some food and other trade still comes inland, through the gates, but this has tapered off recently. At the end of the conversation, Marcus hands over a small bundle of letters to be delivered to his supporters, as well as messages to Stephano Jeggare and Daniel LeRaung inviting them to make contact with Marcus via his agents in the city, and let them know others oppose the queen. Marcus also hands over a small sheaf of pamphlets, the first from the new printing press, and a pouch of silver. Tyson is instructed to post the pamphlets as possible and hire some trusting men to do so. The pamphlets contain material learned by Marcus and his companions about the Queen and her supporters. There is no direct "call to action" more of a propaganda campaign to build resentment. Strange Bedfellows The others wait at Arius’s house, catching up on sleep and awaiting the arrival of Ganfen’s messenger who turns up several hours later with a map of Lady Elizabeth’s last known location – a dungeon at sewer level, separated from a particular sewer tunnel by 3 or 4 feet of rock. Ways of getting into the dungeon are discussed. Tain suggests recruiting the assistance of Yelloweyes the wererat to guide them through the sewers to the right spot. The group finds her at her stall at the fish market, and Yelloweyes agrees to help in exchange for a future unspecified favour. She arranges to meet them later that night at a particular sewer entrance. Marcus buys sewer trekking equipment and the group discusses ways in and out of the dungeon, settling on Stone Shape spells as the best way to get within, and Clairvoyance to scout. Prison Break! 15th of Desnus (night) Yelloweyes guides the group through the sewer to the location near the dungeon shown on Ganfen’s map. Mari casts Clairvoyance to see beyond the wall into the dungeon. The layout matches what is shown on the map; a central corridor with barred cells on either side, a torture chamber in the middle and an antechamber at either end containing a stair up to another level (the sewer tunnel coming to within several feet of the southern antechamber). Mari spots Lady Elizabeth sleeping or unconscious in a cell at the far end of the cell block. One other cell appears to be occupied by a man who is also either asleep or unconscious (or dead). Ishani casts a stone shape spell to form a narrow tunnel into the cell block – enough space to crawl through. Kedar climbs through first, and sneaks up the nearest stair. At the top is a closed (but unlocked door leading to another cell block. No guards are evident. As the others come in from the sewers, Kedar heads through the lower cell block and up the stair at the far end to a similar result. Marcus pours lamp oil over the top landing of each set of stairs. He and Celiano then position themselves to stand guard at the base of the far stair, while Tain and Max take up a position at the base of the stair near their escape tunnel. Liella calls out softly to Lady Elizabeth, saying they are here to rescue her. She stirs, but appears dazed and confused, her arms wrapped in bloody bandages. Mari checks for traps on her cell door, she finds a mechanical trap but can’t seem to disarm it even with the help of Liella’s fortune hex. Ishani shoots the lock out with an acid dart. They wait a few moments for the acid to do its work. Meanwhile, the man in the other cell sits up and calls out. He can’t see, having a bloodstained bandage wrapped around his now empty eye sockets. He has also had several of his fingers chopped off. Liella asks him who he is, he answers that he is Fermic Endrin. Liella promises to get him out too. Ishani gets the door to Elizabeth’s cell open and partially heals her. Liella heals her further and begins guiding her out, towards the escape passage. Ishani also blasts the lock of Fermic’s cell door, however a moment later when he steps into the cell to assist the injured man an alarm goes off. As the weak and injured prisoners are led slowly towards the southern antechamber by Ishani and Mari, a guard runs down each stair (both managing to avoid tripping in the spilt oil). The guard at the south end is easily put down by Tain and Max. The other guard is able to avoid Marcus and Celiano’s initial attacks but is set to slumber by Liella. More footsteps are heard above as the ex-prisoners are led to the tunnel. Marcus runs up the far stair (being careful to avoid the oil) and wedges the door shut. A huge half orc (who looks like Six Foot Cubed’s bigger cousin) comes through the door at the top of the southern stair – he trips on the oil and tumbles down the stairs. Tain smites him and Max sets the oil (and the half orc) alight, but he is still not down and out. By this stage the prisoners and half the party are through the tunnel. There is hammering at the door at the top of the north stairs and more guards appear at the top of the north stair. Seeing the stair (and their half orc companion) on fire, they prepare to throw a bucket of water down. Liella casts a cone of cold, freezing the water, injuring some of the guards, putting out the fire, and killing the half orc. She then ducks out the tunnel, leaving only Tain and Marcus inside. As more guards arrive at the top of the stairs, Marcus throws a confusion spell into the middle of them. The guards begin fighting amongst themselves and generally getting in each other’s way. Marucs and Tain crawl through the tunnel and with everyone out, Ishani seals the tunnel shut with his second stone shape spell. The group escapes through the sewers. In Attendance • GM – Ollie
Summary for Session 46: Return To Old Korvosa 12th of Desnus (evening) Having returned from their adventures through time, the heroes make camp some way distant from the Bannyer Estate. In the morning, Tain sends Detressa riding back to the Vira Amaranta to update those there on recent events. Meanwhile the heroes – Liella, Marcus, Mari, Tain, Kedar, Celiano and Ishani decide to visit Thousand Bones to discuss the implications of their recent time travel. They make their way slowly and carefully, especially as they draw close to Korvosa, not wishing to run into anyone and therefore reveal that they are not, after all, dead. Everything I Thought I Knew Is A Lie 14th of Desnus The group seeks out Thousand Bones who is, as usual, fishing in the stream near his house. As he greets the heroes, Mari notices that a tattoo on his arm appears different to last time she saw him – previously it featured two coloured circles, now it has three, but all look equally old and faded. Liella begins telling him the tale of their recent adventures back through time. Thousand Bones is shocked (and in some cases angry or disappointed) to hear that not all is as he believed. “Everything I knew is a lie!” he exclaims at one point. “You knew the great warrior Suraki?” he ask when Liella tells them of their most recent time travelling expedition. Apparently Suraki, a former stone mason of the Gurukai, led his people to join the Shoanti, and was the warrior who led the charge against the daemonic army that came through the portal. He is disappointed to discover that Ranbus did not truly slay the first dragon, but is mollified by Liella describing his heroics in his last battle. Mari asks him about the tattoo, he says that each circle represents one opening of the portal to the lower planes that his people fought against. He tells the stories of the portals as he knows them. The first portal opened for mere moments, near the end of the construction of the ziggurats. Following this, the Gurukai tore down all but the southern-most of the ziggurats they had built and sought peace with the Shoanti, eventually joining to become one people. The second portal opened ten years later. Suraki led the charge of the Gurukai warriors, fought back the demons and allowed the Shoanti shamans to shut the portal. Both the purple and the red dragon that came through the portal got sucked back through. The events that Thousand Bones described differed from what Tain and the others had witnessed; they theorised that by having the Gurukai tear down the other structures and/or joining the Shoanti led to the change. Some years later the portal opened again briefly. The purple dragon came through and ravaged the area for many generations. It had offspring, and a number of its children and grandchildren were eventually killed by the Shoanti hero Ranbus (with help in some cases from our heroes as it turns out). At some point after that the ziggurat disappeared, none knew how. How it came to be in the cavern under the burial ground where the heroes had discovered it Thousand Bones did not know (or did not say). When the Shoanti arrived in these lands they built the ziggurat in what is now Korvosa in honour of the old ziggurat – in fact it is an exact replica of the southern ziggurat, or was until the Chelaxian settlers levelled its top and built Castle Korvosa on top of it. Old Korvosa and The Zone After speaking to Thousand Bones, the group discusses their next move. Marcus and Tain in particular want to check on ‘The Zone’ in Old Korvosa, given the obvious relationship between the portal that opened there and the ones they had witnessed. They also figured that Old Korvosa would be a safe a location as any to teleport into. Liella and Mari teleport the group (themselves, Tain, Marcus, Kedar, Ishani and Celiano) into the alley behind Scream’s tenement building, late at night. While the others hurry away, Marcus and Mari remain to leave some tokens suggesting Sczarni smugglers, then hide to see if there is any reaction to their magical arrival. A few minutes later two Acadamae mages teleport into the area and begin searching about, confirming that the Acadamae is once again monitoring high level arcane magic in Korvosa. Marcus and Mari sneak away to join the others. The group find Max, then go to investigate The Zone, which is still largely abandoned. Searching around the crossroads in the middle of the four blocks, where Tain had previously observed the portal opening, they find that the large scratch marks (about the size of a large dragon’s claws) are still evident in the cobblestones. They also find recent footprints on the ground, it appears that a tall human (or humanoid) has walked around this area within the past couple of days. Liella and Mari notice some magical runes inscribed onto the walls of buildings at the corners of the crossroads. They are Thassilonian runes for alarm and warding spells, and Mari recognises them as having the same magical ‘signature’ and style as the runes on the magical daggers from Kedar’s failed assassination attempt against the Queen. The combination of evidence of a tall man and powerful magic make Marcus and Tain think of Peryarv. The heroes ask Kedar who enchanted the daggers for him. He says he put out the word amongst some of his contacts about his intent, and some time later a mage contacted him, willing (even eager) to enchant the daggers for him. The mage never gave his name and was very careful and guarded. He was tall, but Kedar did not recognise him as the Magnimarian Ambassador. Although he doesn’t know his identity, Kedar thinks he could go through the same channels and get in contact with him again if back in the main part of the city. The Low Road to Arius’s House The lone remaining bridge across the straits is heavily guarded by Grey Maidens. The group heads west along the bank, trying to see if any of the other bridges have been re-built. They see that someone has laid planks along what remains of the pilings of one of the destroyed wooden bridges, just above the water level in such a way that they would be out of sight of anyone patrolling along the top of the wall on the Korvosan bank. There is a squad of Grey Maidens patrolling the wall – the heroes wait till they pass, then hurry across the narrow planks. Max almost loses his balance, but is saved from falling into the water by Tain and Liella. They hide in the shadow of the south bank until the guard patrol passes back again, then gets around the wall and into the city proper. Kedar heads off to try to make contact with the mage who enchanted his daggers while the others head to the agreed rendezvous point, the house of Arius the Wise (deceased). The house appears undisturbed since Arius’s death a couple of weeks ago, with various magical wards and mundane locks still in place. Mari is able to bypass them to gain access to the house. A search of the desk in Arius’s study reveals the three daggers where Mari last saw the wizard put them. Their magic is spent but the runes are still in place. A search of the rest of the house reveals little of interest, it appears that Arius took most of his powerful magic and sensitive documents with him to the Grey Tower. A Mysterious Stranger Kedar returns, saying that he has put the word out. Previously when he has had to contact the mage he has arrived relatively quickly. Within hours (some time after midnight), a tall cloaked man arrives at the house. He is tall and broad shouldered and has a shaved head (all like Peryarv) and bears some similarity in facial features – enough that the two men could be related, but not enough that they quite look like the same man, and there is no evidence of a mundane or magical disguise. The man does not appear to recognise the heroes (save Kedar), but Tain is suddenly reminded of the description of one of the men (dressed as Blackjack) who robbed the branch of the Bank of Abadar, and whom they at first took to be a description of Peryarv. The man refuses to reveal his name, but humors other questions put to him. He admits to enchanting the daggers for Kedar, saying that he enchanted them with the express purpose of killing Ileosa, with every contingency he could think of in place – he was most surprised to hear that they did not work. He also admits to placing the runes near the portal location in The Zone, placing magic that would warn him if the portal re-opened. The man claimed that he wanted to stop the portal from opening, as he knew that if it did open fully it would mean disaster for Korvosa. He explained that as the portals of old had needed the ziggurats and similar structures as foci, this portal required foci as well. They didn’t need to be built structures though, they could be anything, even people, though they needed to have something in common (for example, if people they might share a blood link or similar). The proximity and spatial relationship of the foci would determine where the portal would open. He doesn’t know why it had previously opened where it did in Old Korvosa, and could not be certain that it would open there again. He said that he had a theory that Ileosa, Elizabeth and Trinia Sabore might be focuses for the portal; if that was the case there would have to be at least one more. The mage seems not to know (or is unwilling to share) much more about the portal, what conditions might open it or how to close it – he seems almost as much to be looking or hoping for answers himself. No hard conclusion is reached and the mage leaves after giving the heroes a device to allow them to contact him again. Loot
In Attendance • GM – Ollie
Why oh why do I still insist on being a gentleman to women, when I am not interested in courting them. I still open doors for them, I still push in there chairs at the dinner table. I guess it's just hardwired into my brain.A gentleman is a gentleman regardless. I hold doors open for men as well as women. Likewise, I think of it as common courtesy.
Oscar & Martin – My Blood
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Dead-Beat
That's ok. If we ever meet IRL, I'll just smack the s$%~ out of you. then I'll buy you a beer.Sorry to emit you from the brief list of long time posters Aberzombie, I knew you’d been here longer than me but I didn’t realise you had seniority on Sharoth.I'm fairly certain he's been here longer than me.Congrats Daigle. Not that I know who you are...Daigle’s a long time message board regular (I think he’s been posting here as long or longer than folk like Sharoth and Heath), a contributer to Paizo products and an all round pretty cool guy. So long as it's a good beer.
Th' Magistrate tried to claim my wife in prima nupti on our wedding day. Until Daigle stepped over a largeish crag and smote him dead with a treant.Congrats Daigle. Not that I know who you are...Daigle’s a long time message board regular (I think he’s been posting here as long or longer than folk like Sharoth and Heath), a contributer to Paizo products and an all round pretty cool guy. I heard he was the first man to fly across the Atlantic solo ... without a plane.
I'm fairly certain he's been here longer than me.Congrats Daigle. Not that I know who you are...Daigle’s a long time message board regular (I think he’s been posting here as long or longer than folk like Sharoth and Heath), a contributer to Paizo products and an all round pretty cool guy. Sorry to emit you from the brief list of long time posters Aberzombie, I knew you’d been here longer than me but I didn’t realise you had seniority on Sharoth.
Congrats Daigle. Not that I know who you are... Daigle’s a long time message board regular (I think he’s been posting here as long or longer than folk like Sharoth and Heath), a contributer to Paizo products and an all round pretty cool guy.
Daigle! Way to go! ... ah, it doesn’t seem that long ago that you were a fresh faced youngster hoping that some peeps at Paizo might notice some work you’d done here and there ... now ... You’ve sold out man!!! ;-) Congrats dude.
Radiohead – Just
In my experience that is tight but achievable if everyone is prepared and stays focused, at least for low level play, I would imagine once you get up to mid levels things might tend to slow down a bit.
I had a 4 hour combat in Pathfinder before, and I only got 9 turns out of it. Though this had to do with a large group (8 people) dicking around, drinking, getting off topic, then taking up to 15 minutes deciding what the hell they were going to do, compiled with issues using maptool. It was the last time I gamed with that group. Our group sometimes suffers from those things too; there are certainly sessions where we don’t get much done for those reasons, but we tend to stay relatively focused during combats.
I haven't played 4e to compare, but that seems excessively long.According to the DM, all of the combat encounters have been really long throughout the entire campaign. Since he's never played 3.5 or Pathfinder, he asked me if 3.5 or PF combats run that long, and was amazed when I told him no. Was it bad combat management or just the nature of the rules do you think? Last time we had a battle go that long in PF it was 5 PCs, 2 cohorts, about 100 followers and assorted allied NPCs vs an enemy army, 3 dragons, various devils and some high level wizards ... and I think we still got done in under 4 hours.
Wheatus – Teenage DirtbagWhoah... hadn't heard that once since high school... I know, right? Except I'd finished high school about 4 or 5 years before this was released ...
You know I find it amazing, that in an old Dragon magazine there was an article apologizing for the Fiend Folio and how it fell flat. Yet it was one of the best books to come out at the time. Boggles the mind.The book that created the Gith? Say it ain't so! Genius is often not recognised in its time.
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